Mixed Greens: Expanded wind farm approved in Victoria

Buloke approves expanded wind farm

The Buloke Shire council in Victoria has approved the expansion of the proposed Coonooer Bridge Wind Farm from five turbines to six. Luke Osborne, the director of the Coonooer Bridge Wind Farm, which introduced a ground-breaking share ownership structure last year, says the company is hoping to start construction of the project this year. However, he told ABC that the level of uncertainty in the market for both energy and renewables needed to pass before construction could start.

REC teams up with UNSW on solar research

Solar energy company REC says it is joining forces with the University of New South Wales in the development of an improved hydrogen passivation process that was first discovered at UNSW and which can dramatically increase the efficiency of solar modules. Standard multi-crystalline silicon cells currently have a maximum efficiency of around 17.5% – 18% but the new technique, pioneered by award-winning Professor Stuart Wenham, could lift efficiencies of between 19% and 20% once fully developed.

REC said combining UNSW’s breakthrough technology with its knowledge of multicrystalline silicon wafers and solar cells cold speed up development of the new technology. Professor Wenham said in a statement his team has worked out how to control the charge state of hydrogen atoms in silicon, thereby increasing the ability to generate electricity, something other research teams have previously not been able to do.  “We have seen a 10,000 times improvement in the mobility of the hydrogen and we can control the hydrogen so it chemically bonds to defects and contaminants, making these inactive,” he said. This improves the quality of the silicon, which in turn translates into higher cell efficiency.

Fukushima to become centre of solar research

The prefecture of Fukushima, struck by a severe nuclear accident three years ago, is to become the centre of solar research, with the local government agreeing to a joint venture with Germany’s Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems ISE to create a Fukushima Renewable Energy Institute. Fukushima has already declared it is aiming for 100 per cent renewable energy.