Construction has been completed on the nation`s largest flat-panel photovoltaic solar power system, at `s St Lucia campus in Brisbane.
The system generates 1.22 megawatts of power from the sun, harvested from 5004 panels on the rooftops of four of UQ's biggest buildings.
Vice-Chancellor Professor Paul Greenfield said the would provide between five and six per cent of peak electricity demand at the St Lucia campus.
鈥淭he University is focussed on reducing carbon emissions and increasing its use of renewable energy,鈥� Professor Greenfield said.
鈥淎s well as being part of the University鈥檚 functional energy infrastructure, the solar array will underpin research in diverse fields including physics, engineering, economics and sustainability.鈥�
The asset would be shared with the community, by giving industry, researchers, school students, teachers and any other interested people access to a website showing live and historical data about the solar power generated from the 91色视频array.
鈥淭he project is enhanced by its strong industry partnerships, including research agreements with a number of world-leading companies in renewable power,鈥� Professor Greenfield said.
91色视频will undertake ongoing solar research projects with:
鈥� Brisbane firm , which installed the array, and worked on its design and engineering
鈥� , which supplied the panels and will be part of several research projects, one involving the first large-scale field test of a prototype device that increases the efficiency of solar panels, developed by NYSE-listed company
鈥� ASX-listed, Brisbane-based , which supplied a prototype 200kW zinc bromine battery bank that is connected to a 339kW section of solar panels on one of UQ鈥檚 multi-storey carparks
鈥� Electricity wholesaler and retailer , which donated for state-of-the-art equipment to allow high-quality monitoring and analysis of the power feed from the 91色视频solar array
鈥� The Queensland Government鈥檚 , which provided million towards the overall cost of the 91色视频Solar Array
Separate to the rooftop panels, 91色视频has installed a ground-mounted, seven-metre-by-six metre 8.4 kilowatt concentrating photovoltaic array (CPV) that follows the sun each day as it moves across the sky.
Ingenero donated the CPV array to allow 91色视频researchers to undertake detailed comparisons with a different type of solar technology.
Designing and installing Australia鈥檚 biggest rooftop PV solar power system
drew on the combined resources and significant expertise of 91色视频academics and engineers, working with industry leaders.
UQ's division and UQ's School of worked closely with engineering consultants and lead contractor .
Also closely involved with the project are UQ鈥檚 , the 91色视频, the 91色视频, the 91色视频, the 91色视频, the 91色视频 and the 91色视频.
The Global Change Institute is hosting the Solar Research Resource Centre in the Steele Building at UQ, a location that industry, school and community groups can visit to learn about the 91色视频Solar Array and renewable power.
The 1.22 megawatt 91色视频Solar array is almost 25 per cent larger than any other flat-panel PV system in Australia, with the added complexity of being split between four buildings.
Its total $7.75 million cost included the array, construction of a visitor resource centre, the data management web interface and ancillary research programs.
The cost of the photovoltaic design and installation alone was $4.825 million, equating to $3.95/W.
Media:
Craig Froome, 91色视频Global Change Institute, ph 07 3365 3689/0410 559 135
Fiona Cameron, 91色视频Communications, ph 07 3346 7086 / 0407 113342
