South Pacific nations making big moves in solar PV

When you have been in solar pv for twenty years, your enthusiasm starts to rub off on family and friends who get terribly excited and think of you every time they see a solar pathlight . Bless them.

Case in point is my parents who, on a  recent holiday to Tonga stumbled across a 1MW PV power station no less. I can hear the conversation now “It’ll only take a minute; stand there Ill take a photo then Ill send it to Nigel from the Internet Cafe – he’ll be so excited.”

Begrudgingly, mum would have stood there while dad fiddled about trying to get the camera to work, take photos from every angle and then try to get the images to transfer to his trusty laptop. Then find a cafe, try to log in and send it, while she patiently tapped her toes and watched him dither around.

Well, I am excited and thanks mum and dad for thinking of me. That is one hell of a solar path light.

This system in Tonga is yet another example of how our far less affluent neighbours in the South Pacific can do large scale, while our Government chases votes with residential support and fails to recognise the enormous potential for large scale solar in Australia.

Giles Parkinson’s RenewEconomy reported on Tuvalu’s similar progress  in a recent article highlighting their aim to become 100% renewable powered, largely through solar PV too.

Of course, as this article suggests a major driver in the South Pacific is avoiding diesel generation and cost (solar PV competes hands down with diesel) so they have a much bigger imperative than we do – or do they?

Last time I did a study there were around 2000 townships and communities in Australia that were – and predominately still are – 100% reliant on diesel for electricity generation. And with tens of thousands moving to remote area’s  in Australia to take advantage of the mining boom, energy requirements will at least to some degree be supported by increased diesel demand.

It wouldn’t surprise me at all  if we used more diesel power on mainland Australia for primary generation than both Tonga and Tuvalu combined (carton of beer on that bet, anyone?).

My dad noted that the New Zealand Government supported the Tongan project with a grant of NZ$7.9M; maybe we need to reach out to them to solve our problems too….

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