Against the backdrop of attractive feed-in tariffs, the company is expecting a particularly growing demand for its MLD systems in Queensland and Victoria. “For consumers wishing to generate energy themselves, our systems are the perfect match,” says Christopher Seng, International Sales Manager of DEGERenergie. With more than 45,000 systems installed worldwide, DEGERenergie is the global market leader for solar tracking systems.
Solar energy for self-supply is also increasingly becoming the focus of attention on the fifth continent. This cannot only be attributed to the proximity to Japan and the events in Fukushima, but also to the fact that the government of the state of Queensland, as a pioneer in the renewable energy sector, is now offering extremely attractive long-term feed-in tariffs. Furthermore, the solar radiation level, even in the more moderate regions of Australia, is similar to that in southern Europe. Christopher Seng: “With DEGERtraker systems, Australian consumers can generate green energy for self-supply right where it is consumed. Additionally, our systems create ideal conditions for the realization of Smart Grid, i.e. the intelligent distribution of surplus energy into the public grid.”
The new Queensland government program offers targeted subsidies for photovoltaic units up to a maximum capacity of five kilowatts. Customers participating in this funding program receive 44 Australian cents for every surplus kilowatt hour fed into the public grid – this is guaranteed until the year 2028. Christopher Seng: “This is nearly twice as much as consumers currently have to pay for electricity from the grid and more than twice the feed-in tariff most other Australian states offer for energy fed into their supply networks.”
Self-supply: an attractive alternative to public supply
This way, generating energy for self-supply and feeding any surplus into the public grid is of special interest for private households, farmers, small businesses and public institutions. The trend towards self-sufficient energy generation and supply is additionally promoted by the fact that the fifth continent’s public grid is relatively unstable and consumers are wishing to become independent of the rising energy prices.
DEGERenergie offers the perfect solution for this kind of “net metering” scenario: The DEGERtraker 5000HD, for example, is particularly well-suited for the windy climate in Queensland – moreover, it covers the maximum capacity of five kilowatts defined for the incentive program. “This way, the operator of a small installation is able to generate considerably more energy than an average household consumes in a year. The rest can be fed to the grid in exchange for the highly attractive tariffs mentioned.”
DEGERenergie has been active on the Australian market for quite some time now – among other things for a government subsidized research project near Alice Springs. With its local distribution partner SI Clean Energy Pty Ltd., the German manufacturer some weeks ago realized a project in Urunga, New South Wales, with six DEGERtraker of the 5000HD type, to present DEGERenergie’s systems live in Australia. DEGERenergie is currently setting up a new production facility in Australia. Soon, the first prototypes will be ready for technical inspection.
Huge potential for MLD tracking systems
Christopher Seng: “We see a huge potential for our MLD tracking systems in Australia, above all on the market for medium sized power consumers. With intelligent tracking, our systems achieve the worldwide highest yields and are thus tailor-made for the reliable local generation of low priced solar energy.”
In order to tap this potential even more intensively than before, DEGERenergie will set up one of the biggest booths at the All-Energy Australia trade fair in Melbourne this October.
DEGERenergie is the global market leader for solar tracking systems. Worldwide, approximately 45,000 DEGERenergie systems have been installed in over 45 countries. The company is represented in Spain, Greece and North America with its own subsidiaries and cooperates with local distribution and service partners in many countries across the world. The patented DEGERenergie Maximum Light Detection (MLD) technology makes it possible to improve the energy yield of solar power plants by up to 45 percent compared to fixed systems.