The future is all bright and shiny when we think about solar, but how do we get a meaningful market off the ground without help? Sometimes a will doesn't always equal a way – especially when ‘thought-leadership’ is the driver.
FRENCH car manufacturer Renault is undertaking the largest solar project in the history of the automotive industry, installing solar panels on the roofs of all of its French production plants.
Some 450,000m2 of solar panels are needed for the project, covering an area equivalent to 63 football fields.
Speaking to Manufacturers’ Monthly, Toyota Australia manager environmental policy Jon Ward said the company might consider covering its Australian manufacturing facilities in solar panels, if renewable energy technology was cheaper.
Ward took the opportunity to call-out to local solar technology suppliers and government bodies, urging them to make renewable energy systems like solar more commercially-viable for businesses.
“There is no question that solar can be effective in generating significant quantities of energy if the area is large enough, however the cost per megawatt hour of solar is still very high, even compared to other renewables such as wind,” he said.
“The challenge industry faces is how to make renewables commercially-viable given their current costs. This is on-going work and in the meantime Toyota Australia will continue to focus on energy efficiency to improve our carbon intensity.”
In France, Renault hopes to generate 60 MW of power per year using the solar panels, which is the equivalent annual electricity consumption of a town with a population of 15,000.
Renault plans to reduce its carbon footprint by 10% by 2013 and by a further 10% between 2013 and 2016. The solar panel project aims to reduce CO2 emissions by 30,000 tonnes a year.
Toyota Australia is also committed to reducing manufacturing emissions, setting itself a challenge to reach zero emissions throughout all of its business.
Which begs the question – if solar was affordable, surely Toyota Australia would take this thought-leadership stance and invest in the technology, too.
Which raises another question: why is renewable energy so expensive? In Australia, we have the landmass and the means to be a world-leader in solar energy technology. So why are we being trumped by countries like France when it comes to taking a leadership role and showing the world that we are at the forefront of emissions management?
Ward agrees, saying Renault’s solar power plan, though expensive, is still an important part of raising awareness of emissions reduction and the measures available to companies.
“It is important for companies to show environmental leadership by demonstrating what is possible,” he said.
Locally, Toyota is all for cutting emissions, and is in the midst of commissioning a TriGen turbine at its corporate headquarters in Victoria to produce electricity, heating and cooling from gas and reduce its carbon footprint by 25%.
“This is on top of the 22% reduction in CO2 per vehicle in manufacturing from 2000 and 26% reduction achieved at our corporate HQ already from 2005/06,” said Ward.
Interestingly, Toyota in the UK has announced it will go the way of Renault and install a barrage of solar panels at its Derbyshire manufacturing plant, using all UK-made solar products.
Work has started on installing the ground-mounted system, where Auris hybrid, Auris and Avensis cars are built for the UK and export markets.
The solar array is located on 90,000m2 of industrial land within the plant and consists of around 17,000 panels – enough to cover almost four and a half football fields.
I’m sure Australian solar manufacturers including SilexSolar and Eco-Kinetics would jump at the chance to be part of such a visionary project – but then, Australian automotive manufacturers don’t have that kind of money to throw about at the moment.
Can we rely on the government to step in, or isn’t thought-leadership important to Australia?