A company that fabricates solar panels in Adelaide, folds them into shipping containers and then deploys them at solar farms 10 times faster than traditional installations will kick off the Albanese government’s sovereign solar push.
Cleantech 5B was named as the first recipient of the $1 billion Solar Sunshot program on Wednesday, with the government to pump $20 million into its tech development and provide another $26 million in production credits for its ‘Maverick’ arrays.
The Adelaide firm produces the pre-wired 40m long arrays in an Adelaide factory, which can fold up like an accordion for transportation.
Four 48-50 kilowatt 5B Mavericks into a shipping container or flatbed truck and on-sire installation is much faster and simpler than traditional methods.
The new federal government funding through the Australian Renewable Energy Agency will support the production of enough Maverick units to power over 40,000 homes, around 200 MW over 3 years.
“As demand for solar surges, homegrown technologies like 5B Maverick help us make solar supply chains stronger and build Australia’s future right here,” Energy minister Chris Bowen said.
The Solar Sunshot program was announced by the Albanese government last year as a key plank in its Future Made in Australia agenda to support the commercialisation of Australian solar photovoltaic (PV) innovations and strengthen supply chains.
$500 million was earmarked last year for manufacturing innovation around solar panels, inputs to them like glass and frames, and system deployment like 5B’s technology. Another $50 million has been set aside for feasibility studies.
While the program has been set up to de-risk the massive concentration of solar panel manufacturing in China, many participants are expected to partner with the country that supplies 96 per cent of panels in Australia.
Australian solar cell innovator SunDrive last year teamed with one of China’s biggest solar photovoltaic panel makers for a federal funding bid to scale up local manufacturing.
Some experts have doubted whether Australia can overcome its comparative disadvantage and manufacture panels domestically, while others think the new solar push could work with some important tweaks.
5B CEO David Griffin on Wednesday said the Solar Sunshot funding will drive down his Australian production costs by 25 per cent and help enter markets for larger customers.
“It means we can further strengthen our team, creating opportunities from the factory floor, in our field deployment crews, and specialists working on gigawatts of solar farm designs.”
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