<
https://reneweconomy.com.au/robots-and-ai-are-helping-australia-achieve-its-ambition-of-game-changing-ultra-low-cost-solar/>
"The head of Australia’s Renewable Energy Agency (Arena) says he is more
confident than ever about Australia’s ability to drive the cost of large scale
solar down to a game-changing $20/MWh – thanks to developments in robotics and
artificial intelligence.
Arena launched its 30-30-30 vision for ultra low cost solar in 2023. It aims to
deliver 30 per cent module efficiency and a module cost of 30c/watt by 2030,
helping to slash the current levellised cost of electricity from solar PV to
below $20/MWh, one third of prevailing prices.
The target, along with the Solar Sunshot program that aims to boost Australia’s
share of the global solar PV supply chain, and to foster local manufacturing,
is considered crucial in delivering a low-cost renewable dominated grid, and
the cheap power essential for Australia’s green hydrogen ambitions.
The Australian solar industry has seen the cost of PV modules, largely produced
in China, fall significantly in the last two years, but some of these benefits
have been offset by the increased cost of civil construction and labour.
Arena CEO Darren Miller, however, says the growing use of robotics and AI is
offering opportunities to deliver the $20/MWh target.
“When we install solar in the field, we’d roughly be thinking of that costing
about $1 a watt, fully installed,” Miller says in the latest episode of
Renew
Economy’s weekly
Energy Insiders podcast.
“Obviously the modules are now only 20% to 30% of that number, but you’ve
obviously got a huge amount of labor and civil works and electrical works to be
done, and that adds up to, you know, roughly benchmarked at, say, $1 a watt.”"
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
