2011 Australian Clean Energy Success

2011 has been both successful and controversial for renewable energy in Australia. Last year countless innovations and breakthroughs took place especially in the solar cell field but success didn’t come easy, the industry was also faced with numerous controversies and drawbacks.

Last year 2 of the most controversial clean energy issues broke out. Firstly most of the Australian state feed in tariff closed down or have cut back significantly that somehow took the life of solar industry secondly, during the last quarter of the year the federal government has successfully passed the carbon tax and now is officially a law. Both issues shook the Australian clean energy sector and the consumers but somehow have managed to survive despite the odds.

But good things surfaced for the sector as well and outweighed negative issues. Australian researchers made history a number of times by discovering, innovating and developing solar cell efficiency and manufacturing process making it cheaper and more viable in fact, solar PV prices continued to plunge last year, reducing solar energy generation cost almost paring with coal in both retail and wholesale market nationally. 2011 solar panels price range is almost half of 2009 PV price making 2011 one of the most prosperous year for the industry despite feed in tariff issues.

Australia embraced solar power last year than any other year; a 35 fold increase in solar powerinstallation has been recorded across Australia increasing the country’s solar power capacity significantly and reducing coal dependence proportionally.

Major solar power projects were also built and established last year, two Australian Solar Flagship programs (The Moree Solar Farm and the Solar Dawn Project) were finalised with the consortium last year and are set begin construction. Local government have also played their part installing solar PV panels and solar hot water systems in public places, schools, universities and integrating it with city councils’ operations reducing carbon emissions and introducing renewable energy to the public.

Giant leaps were also made in policies and government programs, numerous government policy amendments were passed and were given attention last year making it easier and more efficient to integrate solar power and other clean energy technologies across industries. Both the federal government and local governments have intensified subsidiary programs to make solar power more affordable to virtually anybody.

Non government groups and private institutions also played their part in spreading the clean energy virus. Countless conferences and seminars took place in major cities of the country attracting visitors by the thousands addressing timely issues and showcasing to the participants the benefits of clean energy and the difference they can make.

This year, many exciting and helpful programs are set to be implemented that will surely bring more success to Australia’s fight against carbon and bring the country a step closer to its renewable energy target.