WEL Networks Limited is investigating the economic viability of solar power stations after more than a year evaluating photovoltaic cells at its Hamilton offices.
The technology is the same as that used in solar-powered calculators which turn sunlight into electricity.
Julian Elder, chief executive of the electricity infrastructure provider, told the Waikato Times WEL Networks had researched similar overseas solar power schemes and was looking at the feasibility of replicating them in the Waikato.
It is too early to say how many solar power stations could be built, how big they could be and where they would stand, but Mike Duke, a senior engineering lecturer at Waikato University, said flat land or slightly tilted land would be ideal.
"I don't think that's a difficult part at this stage," Elder said.
Photovoltaic cells, as the name suggests, convert light into electricity. They are commonly made from silicon. Light is absorbed and transferred to the semiconductor through which electricity can be drawn.
A one-hectare photovoltaic power station would produce about 1 megawatt of power at full capacity, enough to power several hundred homes.
It would take about 1000ha of photovoltaic cells to produce the same sort of output as Huntly Power Station. The solar power would be fed into the national grid.
In the past six months the cost of photovoltaic cells has fallen by about 80 per cent to about $1.25 a watt, causing WEL Networks to investigate construction.
"It's always been a question of when will the cost of the units get down to the point where it makes it commercially viable," Elder said.
That time is close. Around 50 such large-scale power stations have been built around the world since 2008.
Almost as many are in the planning stage.
The world's three largest solar power stations are Huanghe Hydropower's 200MW Golmud Solar Park, in China, the 100MW Perovo Solar Park, in the Ukraine, and the 97MW Sarnia Photovoltaic Plant in Canada.
Three similar projects -180MW Mallee Solar Park, 154MW Mildura Solar Park and 150MW Moree Solar Farm - are under way in Australia.
"We are looking at the whole range, from 1-2 kilowatt units on a house, up to the thousands of kilowatts for a large-scale pilot," Elder said.
He said it was not a case of if they built such power stations but a matter of when.
The low price of photovoltaic cells, compared to where they were a few months ago, made solar power stations affordable in New Zealand and likely, Elder said.
In the space of a few months the return on investment had gone from about half a century to under 10 years, he said.
Rodger Gallagher, an electrical engineer who opposed WEL Networks' wind farm at Te Uku, welcomed the idea of solar power stations.
"They would be far better to put in solar power stations for each small town in the Waikato," Mr Gallagher, also chairman of Raglan Community Board, said.
He would like to see the first at Raglan.
Solar power, generated during the day, was a natural companion to wind power, which was mostly generated at night, he said.
Elder also told the Times WEL Networks was about to announce average rebates of $246 per household, a significance chunk of the average $800 per household the company charges annually.
Thank You : tvnz.co.nz
The technology is the same as that used in solar-powered calculators which turn sunlight into electricity.
Julian Elder, chief executive of the electricity infrastructure provider, told the Waikato Times WEL Networks had researched similar overseas solar power schemes and was looking at the feasibility of replicating them in the Waikato.
It is too early to say how many solar power stations could be built, how big they could be and where they would stand, but Mike Duke, a senior engineering lecturer at Waikato University, said flat land or slightly tilted land would be ideal.
"I don't think that's a difficult part at this stage," Elder said.
Photovoltaic cells, as the name suggests, convert light into electricity. They are commonly made from silicon. Light is absorbed and transferred to the semiconductor through which electricity can be drawn.
A one-hectare photovoltaic power station would produce about 1 megawatt of power at full capacity, enough to power several hundred homes.
It would take about 1000ha of photovoltaic cells to produce the same sort of output as Huntly Power Station. The solar power would be fed into the national grid.
In the past six months the cost of photovoltaic cells has fallen by about 80 per cent to about $1.25 a watt, causing WEL Networks to investigate construction.
"It's always been a question of when will the cost of the units get down to the point where it makes it commercially viable," Elder said.
That time is close. Around 50 such large-scale power stations have been built around the world since 2008.
Almost as many are in the planning stage.
The world's three largest solar power stations are Huanghe Hydropower's 200MW Golmud Solar Park, in China, the 100MW Perovo Solar Park, in the Ukraine, and the 97MW Sarnia Photovoltaic Plant in Canada.
Three similar projects -180MW Mallee Solar Park, 154MW Mildura Solar Park and 150MW Moree Solar Farm - are under way in Australia.
"We are looking at the whole range, from 1-2 kilowatt units on a house, up to the thousands of kilowatts for a large-scale pilot," Elder said.
He said it was not a case of if they built such power stations but a matter of when.
The low price of photovoltaic cells, compared to where they were a few months ago, made solar power stations affordable in New Zealand and likely, Elder said.
In the space of a few months the return on investment had gone from about half a century to under 10 years, he said.
Rodger Gallagher, an electrical engineer who opposed WEL Networks' wind farm at Te Uku, welcomed the idea of solar power stations.
"They would be far better to put in solar power stations for each small town in the Waikato," Mr Gallagher, also chairman of Raglan Community Board, said.
He would like to see the first at Raglan.
Solar power, generated during the day, was a natural companion to wind power, which was mostly generated at night, he said.
Elder also told the Times WEL Networks was about to announce average rebates of $246 per household, a significance chunk of the average $800 per household the company charges annually.
Thank You : tvnz.co.nz
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