Solar and wind electricity in Australia

Abstract

This paper examines the renewable generation of electricity in Australia from photovoltaics (PV), solar thermal electricity (STE) and wind. PV, STE and wind have immense resources and small environmental impacts even when deployed on very large scales. They are the only fully sustainable technologies able to completely replace fossil and nuclear electricity generation during this century. Wind energy is now a low cost generation technology, and is likely to provide 10 per cent of the world’s electricity by 2020. PV has found attractive niche markets and has an annual growth rate of 30 per cent per year. STE is a promising technology but presently lacks niche markets to enable an industry to get started. The Australian Government is offering attractive assistance for renewables, although the lack of research & development funding in these programs is a serious shortcoming.