A cup of tea with your solar plant?

When WA-based solar company Sun Brilliance says it wants to “change the way electricity generation in Western Australian is viewed,” it really means it.

On one hand, the company plans to build a 100MW solar farm on the outskirts of the West Australian town of Cunderdin, which if approved will be the biggest be by far of its kind in the state, while producing more electricity than Australia’ current biggest solar farm, the 102MW Nyngan facility in western NSW.

On the other, it hopes to fashion the massive solar power station – which is currently awaiting local government approval – into a “beautiful complex” that will attract visits from tourists, schools, educators and businesses.

Sun Brilliance released the updated vision for its solar farm on Monday, including plans for a visitor precinct to be developed on the central 8 hectare tranche of the site.

The visitor precinct, which the company says is accounted for in the project’s $160 million budget, will feature landscaped grounds, a function area, a retail outlet, an educational “discovery facility”, cleantech demonstrations, and a café/tea house.

“We are engaging with leading landscape architects and specialist sustainable building architects for state-of-the-art sustainable precinct design and building construction,” Sun Brilliance said in an emailed statement.

Professor Ray Wills, who is a director of Sun Brilliance and former head of the WA Sustainable Energy Association, says the hope is that the solar power station will become a key destination for special occasion functions, including weddings.

“I am not aware of too many coal-fired power stations favoured as a destination for weddings – we expect our landscaped gardens and function area to be a great location to get hitched, and to show that both sunshine and love are renewable resources!” Wills said.

“There’s lots more ideas yet to be hatched and matched, and detail to be decided – and this will be achieved in ongoing discussion both with the good folks of Cunderdin Shire together with all of our other collaborators.”