A Sunburnt Country
Michael West investigates the disconnect between Australian solar research and enterprise
In her classic poem My Country, Dorothea Mackellar described Australia as the “wide brown land”, drenched in sun all the way to its “far horizons”. A country more naturally suited to the widespread deployment of solar energy could scarcely be imagined. It has the requisite knowledge and skills, too, with universities that have been responsible for world-beating solar research. But a failure to support this scientific leadership by investing in commercial solar energy projects has resulted in Australia’s installed solar capacity languishing below that of New Jersey, and the fruits of its intellectual endeavour moving offshore. What went wrong and how might it do better in future?
For a man who founded the world’s largest solar empire, Shi Zhengrong is an unassuming figure. He likes going to bed early, frequently eats at his company’s staff canteen, and freely admits that, when he moved to Australia to begin a research career, he didn’t think that he would be very good at it. The move took him to the University of New South Wales, where he worked with prize-winning scientists Martin Green and Stuart Wenham. They developed a technology for depositing thin films of silicon onto glass, thereby drastically reducing the amount of expensive silicon required for each panel. A spin-off company, Pacific Solar, was set up, but ran out of money before it was able to launch its production of the cells.
Investment from Australia’s relatively small venture capital sector had dried up, and government support was not forthcoming; Bob Carr, the then Premier of New South Wales, lamented this failure in an interview years later. Despite the Carr government having set up the world’s first carbon trading scheme and being generally responsive to environmental concerns, direct public investment in promising renewable technology received less attention. Pacific Solar later sold its intellectual property to a German company, which, instead of Sydney, is now building a factory in Saxony-Alhalt.
In stark contrast to this lack of leadership, China’s government had embarked on an ambitious program to lure Chinese-born researchers back home with significant financial support. Shi was offered $6 million and hefty tax concessions to start a factory in Wuxi. By that stage, Shi was an Australian citizen and had qualms about corruption and the difficulty of doing business in China. Faced with diminishing prospects of receiving the necessary government backing in Australia, he took the deal and started Suntech Power. The $6 million public investment turned into a company with almost $4 billion in assets and over 12,000 employees. It has clearly been a good deal for the Chinese Government.
Unlike venture capitalists and entrepreneurs, public leaders don’t become rich from incubating successful companies. But every corporation retained means more jobs and higher tax revenues. This potential commercial value, derived from the intellectual property and human talent developed in universities, is also a frequent justification for funding research in the first place. When the biggest returns from a successful spin-off company go to foreign investors instead, Australia does not get its money’s worth for its spending on research and training. Ausra, for example, was started based on solar thermal technology developed at the University of Sydney; without Australian funding, though, it moved to California and was then sold to the French energy giant Areva. A cohesive, long-term strategy of support for new solar enterprises would help to avoid repetitions of this story.
Investing in solar projects might also provide a welcome alternative for farmers struggling to cultivate land wracked by drought: Australia’s “pitiless blue sky”, as Mackellar put it. Converting unproductive farmland into a solar plant can restore its profitability and free-up valuable water. In California’s San Joaquin Valley, thousands of hectares of farmland are being sold or leased to make way for new solar complexes, following years of drought-induced water restrictions that cut deeply into farmers’ ability to irrigate their crops. As a changing climate creates more environmental hardships, government relief for farmers might take the form of support for solar energy construction, rather than cash handouts, in providing a long-term income stream and helping to grow Australian businesses.
Government support for solar energy has been patchy, but the clouds may be clearing. The 2009 and 2010 federal budgets announced significant funding for solar projects, although the lion’s share of this was devoted to one-off pilot plants, rather than ongoing programs. A strong showing by the Greens in the 2010 federal election has also put a carbon price firmly back on the political agenda, and this would contribute to a positive commercial environment for renewable energy providers. It might also herald the beginning of a more concerted attempt by Australia to lead the world in leveraging commercial advantage from scientific insight. After years in the policy shadows, Australian solar energy finally seems to be emerging into the sunlight.
Michael West recently completed a combined Bachelor of Science (Advanced) and Bachelor of Engineering, with Honours in Physics.
