Work began on the Windorah Solar Farm in September 2007. When completed, the 175 kilowatt (kW) facility will be capable of powering the entire town during sunshine hours. Project Manager Bashir Gabriel said that the five solar dishes have been operating since December. The project is currently undergoing pre-commissioning testing. The facility is expected to come online in late February or March. Concentrating on solar
The solar farm consists of five 13.7 metre mirrored dishes, or what have come to be known as ‘giant sunflowers’, that are located next to the existing diesel power station. Each dish is supported on a concrete base and steel mast structure with a total height of 14.5 metres. Typical peak production at the farm is expected to be 150 kW. Each dish contains 112 mirrors, each one measuring 1,100 sq mm. The mirrors reflect and concentrate sunlight onto high capacity solar cells in a central point at the front of the mirror. Facing and following the sun, each dish generates approximately 35 kW of electricity, depending on season, time of day and cloud cover. They are aligned north-south and separated to avoid the solar dishes shading each other in the early morning and late afternoon.
The mirrors concentrate the sun 500 times onto a panel of high efficiency, satellite-quality photovoltaic cells, which have an efficiency of 35 per cent. The solar farm is expected to generate about 360,000 kilowatt hours each year. This will save approximately 100,000 litres of diesel fuel, which would otherwise have been used in the town’s diesel generators.
The solar park will reduce Windorah’s reliance on diesel generation, resulting in lower operating costs and reduced greenhouse gas emissions. While the solar farm is producing power, the town’s diesel generators will be switched off or operate at reduced output. At night, or when there is too much cloud cover, the generators will be brought back online to supply the town’s full demand. Batteries will keep the solar system running when there is brief cloud cover.
