Outback Couple Build Solar Farm To Prove Fringe-Of-Grid Power Generation Need

ABC News - Harriet Tatham

Together Lyn and Doug Scouller were able to get the solar farm up and running. (ABC News: Harriet Tatham)

Building a $14 million solar farm is an expensive way to send a message about electricity prices, but Doug and Lyn Scouller said they were left with few options. In Normanton, 500 kilometres north of Mount Isa in north-west Queensland, the Scoullers built a solar farm big enough to power an area almost twice the size of Tasmania, in a move to prove to stakeholders the benefit of positioning power generation sites at the end of the grid.

"We suffer from an unusual amount of blackouts out here. Sometimes I've experienced it in Karumba up to 13 times a day ... and it's purely because of the losses," Mr Scouller said.

"The power actually comes from Rockhampton up the coast to Townsville and up to us, and it's the old story the longer the extension lead, the less power you get at the end."
The five-megawatt, 16,000-panel farm produces electricity that is fed back into the grid at Normanton.
By producing power locally, Mr Scouller said he believed he would save on the losses, and subsequently put a downward pressure on electricity prices.

"I just believe we've got a lot of losses in the network and if we start to produce power where the power is used, we will reduce those networks and it will ease the pressure on increasing power prices," he said.

Doug Scouller previously owned and operated a motel. (ABC News: Harriet Tatham)

Test case for Australia
In 2016, the Normanton Solar Farm received an $8.5 million grant from The Australian Renewable Energy Agency (AREA), and is now being used as a test case to generate data about fringe-of-grid energy investment.
Calculations made before the plants construction will be compared with new data to determine whether the Scouller's planned reduction in transmission loss will eventuate.
But not everybody is convinced.

The 16,000 panels on the farm can power an area almost twice the size of Tasmania. (Supplied: Normanton Solar Farm)

 Greg Elkins, the Ergon Energy engineer who led the commissioning, said his preliminary research showed that end-of-line power generation might increase the transmission loss.
"The requirement of very long transmission lines means that there are a lot of losses in just having the line turned on," Mr Elkins said.
"Putting energy at the remote end can actually cause that amount of [required] power flow to have the line online ... to increase.

"It's kind of like a freight train - the amount of energy required to take the freight train from Townsville to Normanton is travelling every minute, and whether the power is supplied in Normanton or Townsville, that freight train still needs to run every time."

While there are plans for expansion, the Normanton Solar Farm does not yet have a battery system. Another reason why Mr Elkins said he believed changes in transmission loss would be limited.
"Most of the generation from the solar farm is during the day where consumers typically use it during the night, so the excess solar generation has to flow back to Townsville — that's one of the reasons why the losses will be minimal," he said.
Mr Elkins said the only way to remove the losses entirely would be to turn off the Townsville to Normanton line, which he said might cause more problems.
"The only way to remove those losses would be to turn that line off which would then produce more unreliable power," he said.

Despite the Scouller's research, Mr Elkins says power generation at the end of the line "may not have an impact on losses". (ABC News: Harriet Tatham)

 Despite the difference in opinion, the Scoullers are adamant their business will work, even if it does take eight years to secure a return.
"[I'm] extremely confident — we did a lot of pre-planning, a lot of calculations, a lot of engineers — no doubt at all," Mrs Scouller said.
Mr Scouller agreed.
"It's just pure mathematics and physics — if you generate out of here, you reduce those losses almost to zero," Mr Scouller said.

An electric 'I do'
The project bought no shortage of challenges.
In February, a stand-off with Ergon Energy delayed the switch-on of the farm, and about the same time Mr Scouller was diagnosed with cancer.
But at the weekend the couple hosted the ultimate celebration, and were married on the same day the farm was fully commissioned.
"We had family travelling from all over, so we wanted to celebrate with a bang," Mr Scouller laughed.
And the newlyweds said Normanton would not be their last solar farm.

"I think it's a bit like a marathon runner — you forget how hard you were hurting halfway through the race. Once you're finished, you want to have another go," Mr Scouller said.

Lyn and Doug Scouller were married on the same day their solar farm was commissioned to 100 per cent. (Supplied: Lindy Hick Photography)

Links

• Dispute with electricity network provider delays Normanton solar farm
• Normanton solar farm stalemate delays green energy project 
• Gulf solar farm plan secures $8.5m
• How to slash your power prices — by using your hot water system as a battery
• How battery storage could solve our energy problems
• Solar batteries eclipse power poles in off-grid bush community
• Family-style vehicle to compete in Solar Challenge
• Millions of renters, unit owners locked out of solar savings
• Households urged to make money while the sun shines
• Why hasn't Darwin embraced solar power?
• Rural businesses look to alternative power as prices rise
• Lightweight 'printed solar' securing energy future
• Regional home and business owners drive solar boom
• Renewables getting cheaper all the time — here's why
• Solar batteries 'exploding' in popularity with uptake tipped to triple: audit
• Solar cells: How they work and the future of sunshine
• Bill shock looms as lucrative solar tariffs roll back, advocates warn
• Explained: Why feed-in tariffs began so high and have fallen so low
• Off-grid community transformed after swapping diesel for solar
• The Tesla Powerwall and what it means for Australia's energy market
• How solar energy farming could change the way we buy power
• Recharging home devices from mouldy bread could be the future
• Solar Impulse 2 arrives at home of Wright brothers

Australian Superannuation Investors Join $US26 Trillion Climate Change Initiative

New Daily - Rod Myer

Companies will be pressured to reduce carbon in their supply chains. Photo: Getty

A raft of multi-billion Australasian investment groups have joined a $US22.6 trillion ($34.36 trillion) global initiative to drive climate change action among the world’s top 100 carbon emitters, responsible for 15 per cent of global emissions.
Australian giants to be targeted by the measure include BHP, Rio Tinto and Wesfarmers, which mines coal and owns retail groups Coles and Bunnings. They will be pressured by investors to take action against carbon emissions in their businesses.
More than 200 of the world’s biggest investors have signed up to the initiative, known as Climate Action 100+, which is being launched in Paris on Tuesday evening Australian time. It marks the second anniversary of the singing of the Paris Climate Change agreement in 2015.
Membership includes Australian investment giants Australian Super, AMP Capital, VicSuper, First State Super, Hesta and Cbus.
International members include US pension giant CalPERS, HSBC Global Asset Management and Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Bank.
The full list of companies under scrutiny is here and the full list of investor members is here.
Commenting on the launch, Emma Herd, Chief Executive Officer of the Investor Group on Climate Change said: “This project puts companies on notice that investors expect real action on climate change. Through Climate Action 100+, investors hope to move companies to go further, faster, when it comes to managing climate change risk and developing low carbon opportunities.”
A spokesperson for Wesfarmers told Fairfax Media: “Wesfarmers regularly engages with investors on this issue and will continue to do so. As a group, we strive to reduce the emissions intensity of our businesses and improve their resilience to climate change.”
Andrew Gray, Senior Manager, Investments Governance at AustralianSuper and member of the Climate Action 100+ Global Steering Committee said: “In a few short months, a substantial community of institutional investors have coalesced around this initiative to signal to companies that they will be holding them accountable to align their business plans to the Paris Agreement, increase disclosure and improve governance to address a significant investment risk.”
Matt Whineray, Chief Investment Officer of the NZ Super Fund said: “The Climate Action 100+ initiative is a significant step forward in active ownership by investors concerned about climate change investment risk. Engagement is a core part of the NZ Super Fund’s climate change investment strategy and our involvement in this project provides a clear signal to the companies we invest in that we expect them to understand and manage climate change risk.”
David Atkins, Chief Executive Officer Cbus said: “Companies and investors have a shared responsibility to facilitate an orderly and just transition to a climate resilient economy. Through this initiative, investors will set clear expectations and we expect companies will step up and respond accordingly.”
Investors will ask companies to take the following action:

1. Implement a strong governance framework which clearly articulates the board’s accountability and oversight of climate change risk.
2. Take action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions across their value chain, consistent with the Paris Agreement’s goal of limiting global average temperature increase to well below 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels.
3. Provide enhanced corporate disclosure to enable investors to companies’ business plans against a range of climate scenarios, including holding emissions well below 2-degrees Celsius and improve investment decision-making.

Links

• Climate Action 100+
• Over 380 Global investors (managing more than $22 Trillion in assets) urge G20 and G7 to stand by Paris Agreement and drive its swift implementation
• World's biggest 100 polluting companies put on notice by investors to tackle climate change
• Australia's top companies ignore climate change, and we let them

Four Decades And Counting: New NASA Instrument Continues Measuring Solar Energy Input To Earth

NASA - Kasha Patel

The Solar Radiation and Climate Experiment (SORCE), launched in 2003, currently measuring total solar irradiance from space, observed a dip in the irradiance during intense solar flare activity in September 2017. TSIS-1 will continue these observations with one-third the uncertainty of its predecessor. Credit: NASA. 

We live on a solar-powered planet. As we wake up in the morning, the Sun peeks over the horizon to shed light on us, blanket us with warmth and provide cues to start our day. At the same time, our Sun’s energy drives our planet’s ocean currents, seasons, weather and climate. Without the Sun, life on Earth would not exist.
For nearly 40 years, NASA has been measuring how much sunshine powers our home planet. This December, NASA is launching an instrument to the International Space Station to continue monitoring the Sun’s energy input to the Earth system. The Total and Spectral solar Irradiance Sensor (TSIS-1) will precisely measure what scientists call “total solar irradiance.” These data will give us a better understanding of Earth’s primary energy supply and help improve models simulating Earth’s climate.

This composite shows the Sun's total solar irradiance since 1978 as observed from nine previous satellites. These observations are important to help scientists know precisely how much the Sun's energy changes and how that affects Earth. Credit: NASA. 

“You can look at the Earth and Sun connection as a simple energy balance. If you have more energy absorbed by the Earth than leaving it, its temperature increases and vice versa,” said Peter Pilewskie, TSIS-1 lead scientist at the Laboratory for Atmospheric Physics (LASP) in Boulder, Colorado. Under NASA’s direction, LASP is providing and distributing the instrument’s measurements to the scientific community. “We’re measuring all the radiant energy that is coming to Earth.”
But it’s not so simple: the Sun’s output energy is not constant. Over the course of about 11 years, our Sun cycles from a relatively quiet state to a peak in intense solar activity — like explosions of light and solar material — called a solar maximum. In subsequent years the Sun returns to a quiet state and the cycle starts over again. The Sun has fewer sunspots — dark areas that are often the source of increased solar activity — and stops producing so many explosions, going through a period called the solar minimum. Over the course of one solar cycle (one 11-year period), the Sun’s emitted energy varies on average at about 0.1 percent. That may not sound like a lot, but the Sun emits a large amount of energy – 1,361 watts per square meter. Even fluctuations at just a tenth of a percent can affect Earth.
In addition to those 11-year changes, entire solar cycles can vary from decade to decade. Scientists have observed unusually quiet magnetic activity from the Sun for the past two decades with previous satellites. During the last prolonged solar minimum in 2008-2009, our Sun was as quiet it has been observed since 1978. Scientists expect the Sun to enter a solar minimum within the next three years, and TSIS-1 will be primed to take measurements of the next minimum.


In terms of climate change research, scientists need to understand the balance between energy coming in from the Sun and energy radiating out from Earth, as modulated by Earth's surface and atmosphere. Measurements from TSIS, the Total and Spectral Solar Irradiance Sensor, will help our understanding of the Earth-Sun connection and improve climate models. Credit: NASA/Michael Starobin.Download this video from the Scientific Visualization Studio.

“We don’t know what the next solar cycle is going to bring, but we’ve had a couple of solar cycles that have been weaker than we’ve had in quite a while so who knows. It’s a pretty exciting time to be studying the Sun,” said Dong Wu, the TSIS-1 project scientist at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. Goddard is responsible for the overall development and operation of TSIS-1 on the International Space Station.
TSIS-1 data are particularly important for helping scientists understand the causes of total solar irradiance fluctuations and how they are connected with the Sun’s behavior over decades or centuries. Today, scientists have neither enough data nor the forecasting skill to predict whether total solar irradiance has any long-term trend, said Doug Rabin, deputy project scientist at Goddard. TSIS-1 will continue a data sequence that is vital to answering that question.
These data are also important for understanding Earth's climate through models. Scientists use computer models to interpret changes in the Sun’s energy input. If less solar energy is available, scientists can gauge how that will affect Earth’s atmosphere, oceans, weather and seasons by using computer simulations. The input from the Sun is just one of many factors scientists used to model Earth’s climate. Earth’s climate is also affected by other factors such as greenhouse gases, clouds scattering light and small particles in the atmosphere called aerosols — all of which are taken into account in comprehensive climate models.
TSIS-1 will study the total amount of solar radiation emitted by the Sun using the Total Irradiance Monitor, one of two sensors on the instrument. The second sensor, called the Spectral Irradiance Monitor, will measure how the Sun’s energy is distributed over the ultraviolet, visible and infrared regions of light. TSIS-1 spectral irradiance measurements of the Sun's ultraviolet radiation are critical to understanding the ozone layer — Earth's natural sunscreen that protects life from harmful radiation.
“Knowing the Sun’s behavior and knowing how Earth’s atmosphere responds to the Sun is even more important now because of all the different factors that affect climate change. We need to understand how all of these interact on Earth’s system,” said Pilewskie.

Links

• NASA's TSIS-1 Keeps an Eye on Sun's Power Over Ozone
• NASA’s website on the Sun and climate connection
• NASA’s TSIS-1 overview website
• TSIS-1 project website by University of Colorado