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Solar power in Kalbarri:
Above - A small section of the photovoltaic (PV) system in Kalbarri.
 Google Earth - Kalbarri
Verve Energy has been operating a photovoltaic (PV) power system in Kalbarri since 1995. When it was opened, the Kalbarri Photovoltaic System was the largest PV system of its kind to be connected to a major electricity grid in Australia. Kalbarri is connected to the main electricity grid in Western Australia, which is known as the South West Interconnected System (SWIS). This PV system converts Kalbarri’s plentiful sunlight into electricity for use in local homes. Depending on local weather conditions, the Kalbarri PV System can deliver about 14kW of electricity.
There are 256 PV panels in the system. They are fixed to 16 tilted, single-axis trackers (16 panels to each tracker). The trackers were initially designed to follow the sun throughout the day. After some years, new tracking controllers were installed, which automatically adjust the angle six times a day. The tilt of the trackers can also be manually adjusted because the angle of the sun changes between summer and winter.
To convert sunlight into electricity, the PV panels use crystalline silicon cells developed in Australia. The PV cells convert sunlight directly into direct current (DC) electricity. The DC is converted to alternating current (AC) by a power inverter, before being fed into the main electricity grid. The power inverter was specially designed and built in Western Australia. It was used to test novel electronics which helped to keep the line voltage stable. The PV system at Kalbarri has provided valuable research data, however the voltage control capability of the prototype inverter is no longer used.
For more information about the Kalbarri system, go to:
 http://www.verveenergy.com.au
The latest Western Australian solar energy projects are published in the Sustainable Energy Development Office E-newsletters:
http://sedonewsbyemail.vivid-design.com.au/content.asp
Did you know?
The Kalbarri PV set up cost was about $450,000 in 1994 dollars and has an expected life of about 20 years.
It can supply 10 to 20 homes when fully operational. In 2004 the PV array supplied approximately 28 MWh (28,000 kWh).
The cost of solar power is roughly 5 to 10 times the cost of electricity produced from large coal fired or gas fired power plants on a major electricity grid. It is difficult to give an exact cost as many variables can be involved. In some locations and for some uses solar power is the most economic choice. Electricity generation in remote towns, for example, may use diesel fuel for generators, which is quite expensive. And for small remote loads (holiday home, telecommunications, navigation/warning beacons for example) it may be too expensive or completely impractical to install a petrol or diesel generator and supply fuel. So solar PV cells would be a good choice. |
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