This was one of the questions put to the panel discussing Australia’s solar supply chain opportunity and the Albanese Government’s $1Billion Solar Sunshot program in front of a large audience the All Energy conference in Melbourne last month.
The panel included authors of APVI and ACAP’s Silicon to Solar report that examined the opportunity for Australia to establish viable, relevant and timely local manufacturing along the solar PV supply chain. The report underpinned the Government’s Solar Sunshot plan which aims to do exactly that.
Renate Egan is Executive Director of the Australian Centre for Advanced Photovoltaics
and responded, “The analysis in the Silicon to Solar Report found that, in the immediate term, manufacturing in Australia will cost more largely due to economies of scale and because Australia doesn’t yet have the ecosystem to support manufacturing.”
“However, with targeted policies and investment to build that ecosystem, the price differential is expected to reduce.”
“The Government’s Sunshot program will provide that targeted support to get the industry going.”
Nathan Chang, Postdoctoral Research Fellow at UNSW explained, “The policy settings in the Solar Sunshot program are designed to offer supportive mechanisms to establish the industry, but protective mechanisms, like the import tariffs used in the US that result in high prices, are not planned.”
Michelle Vaqueiro Contreras, Manager of UNSW’s Energy Institute said, “This is a long-term plan and module manufacturing is just one part of it.
“There is huge opportunity for Australia to participate in a diversified solar PV supply chain. It can complement existing policies like the US IRA which fails to incentivise some parts of the value chain such as polysilicon, which is the most energy intensive step. Australia could provide a low-cost renewable energy advantage.”
Brett Hallam from ITP Renewables said, "The right time to invest in solar manufacturing was 20 years ago, the next best time is now.”
“Twenty years ago, Australia had both market and technology leadership. Now, Chinese industry has invested at scale, making solar the lowest cost of energy.
"Australia can leverage its technology leadership and relationship with China to participate in the solar supply chain.”
Renate Egan added, "Australia and the world is now committing to a solar future.
"The Solar Sunshot initiative is preparing us for when we're installing 10GW a year or more of solar, compared with the 4GW a year we've seen over the last four years"
About the Australian PV Institute's Silicon to Solar report
The Silicon to Solar report found that building a resilient domestic solar PV manufacturing supply chain in Australia will
Reduce risk by
securing access to sufficient solar PV modules to meet domestic demand and meet targets building resilience to potential future supply chain disruptions
building Australia's energy security
implementing sustainable, transparent manufacturing standards.
Generate returns by
creating thousands of direct, skilled, well-paid jobs
attracting billions in investment in manufacturing facilities and ongoing operational expenditure
growing adjacent industries like solar glass, module recycling and low carbon aluminium.
Unlock long term rewards by
unlocking skill and knowledge spillover into other industries
creating a manufacturing ecosystem
boosting Australian economic complexity and sophistication
developing a new low carbon export market for polysilicon and ingot/wafers with key strategic partnerships.
Read about the findings and recommendations for building Australia's capacity in the solar supply chain in the easy-to-read Silicon to Solar Overview report here: https://apvi.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/Silicon-to-Solar-Study-Overview-Report_opt.pdf
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