Renewable Energy

Sun Farms

Date Added: 31/07/2008

Australian Farms, the words immediately conjure up images of a hard life in the outback with cattle running across acres of dusty barren land in search of feed. It is a tough life in the Australian outback; the last 10 years have been the hottest ever. It is an ongoing battle for survival and preservation with record droughts.
 
Yet some Australian farms have less of a battle and require little maintenance and no water to operate. These modern day farms are known as Sun Farms.
 
Sun farms require no water, no feed, and no pesticides but they give back lots of free time. Sun farmers like Adrian, have plenty of time to spend with their family and on hobbies which are powered by clean renewable energy. He can look at a cloudless day with eager anticipation rather than dismay. With his solar farm he has worked out that in 20 years, his sun farm will have made him $1million.
 
Crucially it isn't just the lifestyle and economic benefits Adrian enjoys, it is the satisfaction of knowing he is saving tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions every year. 90% of the electricity generated in Australia is generated from burning fossil fuels like coal or natural gases. These emit hazardous greenhouse gases which contribute to global warming. 
 
These panels will last over 50 years and produce no toxic waste or carbon emissions as an operational by-product. The panels are tolerant to heat, dust and shading. The panels on Adrian's farm are made up of Kaneka thin film solar panels. Each panel is one square metre and each sub frame holds between 15 panels. These mounting frames are galvanised steel with stainless steel fasteners, designed to stay sturdy and strong for years.

These panels do not track the sun unlike other solar farms. The biggest advantage of these solar panels is that they have no moving parts, which means almost no maintenance is required. It is generally cheaper to install more fixed solar panels than to install less tracking solar panels.
 
The fixed solar panels won't give you any hassles. There is little to no maintenance for the inverters or solar panels and no need to supply fuel or lubricant oil. The only maintenance required is for the panels to be free of things sitting on them, so that it keeps working. A good rain will clean your panels; otherwise you can give it a wipe or hose down.
 
Seasonal adjustment is recommended, this is where you change the angle of the solar panels according to the seasonal time. In winter the position of the sun is lower in the sky, than in summer. It is a simple mechanism that allows adjustment of the panels. 
 
In Sydney, you would have the following angles:
 - Sumer 10 degrees (almost flat) to absorb all the light
 - Autumn 30 degrees
 - Winter 50 degrees
 - Spring 30 degrees
 
To maximize your buyback it is recommended that you install the biggest solar system you can afford. As the more solar power you generate, the better your investment and the better it is for the environment. With a grid connected solar system like Adrian's, the electricity is used firstly to power his home and then the surplus is fed back into the main grid. This surplus will be bought by the utilities company, so it earns you money.
 
TIP: Don't leave appliances on, that you are not using during the day and your energy won't go into powering things like your TV being on standby and will instead be earning you money.
 
A typical solar sun system can be installed within a week. Too easy! Also a wireless solar power display is provided which allows the farmer to continually monitor his solar production. The inverter will show the farmers what the system is producing at that point, what has been produced up to that time and overall production. It also means that errors can be spotted easily and fixed.
 
Australia in particular has an almost limitless source of solar energy. Professor Ian Lowe from the Australian Conservation Foundation mentions that people can't believe that in Australia the amount of solar energy that hits us alone in one summer day is about half the total global annual energy demand. In other words the amount of solar energy that Australia gets in one summers day could power the whole world for half a year.
 
The World's Largest Sun Farms
 
In Spain the world's largest solar farm, up to date, consists of 120,000 solar panels over 100 hectares. It can power up to 200,000 homes a year and will reduce carbon emissions by 42,000 tons a year.
 
In Bavaria, Germany the biggest solar panels plant there can produce 10 megawatts. One megawatt powers about 800 homes. It spans over 62 acres and has 57,600 solar panels.
 
The next biggest solar energy farm to be built will sit in the sunniest and hottest places in California, the San Joaquin. It is expected to be completed in 2011 and will cover 640 acres and generate 80 megawatts of power and enough power for 21,000 homes.
 
Solar Sun Farms
 
NASA is researching the idea of Solar Space Farms. A vast array of solar panels that orbit the Earth 36,000km's up, producing enough energy to power entire cities. There is about ten times the amount of solar energy in outer space than on Earth, because there is no rain, no shade, no winter and no clouds to reduce the radiation.
 
Imagine massive orbiting solar power stations! The solar station would convert the sunlight into microwaves and beam it down to the Earth. On the ground a rectenna would convert the microwaves into DC electricity for use in homes and businesses. These stations could also theoretically be built in space which means the carbon emissions produced when manufacturing solar panels would not need to be offset. Did you know that the moon is made up of a large amount of silicon? This silicon could potentially be used to construct PV panels in outer space!
 
Check out these websites for more information:
 - Solarshop
 - How Satellites can power the world
 - Pentagon offers a ray of hope in energy debate