PV applications in Australia

For a vast, sparsely populated continent like Australia, effective remote area telecommunications, power supplies, navigation aids and transport route signalling are critical and expensive. PV provides an attractive alternative to diesel and central grid supplies for maintaining these links. Over the last 10 years, another PV market has developed in water pumping and in remote electricity supply. Solar car races have also generated significant public interest in PV and created an important market for high efficiency cells. The PV market in Australia is now entering another phase, with growing interest in grid connection. The author describes how this market is set to expand rapidly due to technical advances, cost reductions, a strong push towards environmentally friendly energy supplies and active electricity utility interest.