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Eager to be part of the solution

Geoff had just had solar panels installed on his roof in August 2016 when he heard about the Adelaide VPP project.

The goal was to install 1,000 solar batteries in homes and businesses across the South Australian capital. Together, these buildings would capture solar energy and share it. Any extra captured power could be used by the city’s power grid.

“What excited me was that it was a project,” Geoff says. “It’s wasn’t being sold as a solution, it was a chance to be part of research to advance the whole mindset around renewable energy.”

“Knowledge allows you to change your behaviour. The VPP collects the data we need to improve how we use solar.”

Geoff called AGL that day and was one of the first to sign up to be part of the VPP trial.

Striving to innovate

In addition to providing data about his solar power collection and use via the solar battery in his garage, Geoff occasionally participates in AGL experiments. For a recent trial, Geoff let AGL access his solar battery to explore re-charging it during cheaper off-peak times ahead of poor weather. While it proved unnecessary in Adelaide, it was the experimentation that mattered to Geoff.

“We tried something to see if it would have a positive impact,” he says. “While it didn’t in Adelaide, AGL now has data that might help people other parts of Australia.”

Geoff believes innovation is the key to moving away from fossil fuel reliance.

“The only way we can make progress is by investing in new ideas to help preserve the world around us for future generations,” he says.

The father of modern solar

Professor Martin Green is the Scientia Professor at University of New South Wales and Director of the Australian Centre for Advanced Photovoltaics. The ‘father of modern photovoltaics’, Green developed a highly efficient Passivated Emitter and Rear Contact (PERC) solar cell. It converts 25% of captured sunlight energy into electricity. Martin says the cell was used in an estimated 85% of global solar module production in 2020.

The professor also says solar panels are signifcantly cheaper than they were a decade ago due to competition between producers – many of which feature work by his former students and colleagues.

“The International Energy Agency, which has been conservative in projecting the growth of solar, now recognise it as the cheapest source of energy in most parts of the world,” he says.

And as costs continue to fall, he expects even more Australians to turn to solar.

“Some people still think it’s expensive – they haven’t caught up in the last five years,” he says. “The common consensus is that most of Australia’s energy is going to come from solar and wind by 2050.”

“I just love that I can be part of a project with my little 400 square metre block of land,” he says. “By even being a tiny part of the project, I can do something to help."

“My grandkids come over and we talk about the battery and the roof panels. If we can prep kids their age for that kind of thinking, we’ll be on our way to changing the world like we thought we would.”