On Saturday (31 August), the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) opened the first round of its AUS$1 billion (US$676 million) Solar Sunshot programme aiming to stimulate the development of a domestic Australian module manufacturing industry.
Two funding rounds have been initiated, with a total of AUS$550 million available for allocation. Round 1A, with an allocation of AUS$500 million, is intended to support innovation in solar PV manufacturing, focusing on modules, inputs to modules, and deployment systems.
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Round 1B, on the other hand, will allocate funds from a pool of AUS$50 million for solar PV manufacturing studies, including feasibility and engineering studies.
Australia’s Prime Minister, Anthony Albanese, name-checked regions such as Hunter, in New South Wales, Gladstone and Rockhampton, both located in Queensland, and Spencer Gulf, South Australia, as areas he would want to support a “future made in Australia”.
“Australia can do what other countries cannot. We have that combination of resources, skills, workers, space and sunlight to co-locate those links in the value chain. Solar Sunshot is about building on those strong foundations, building resilience into Australia’s renewable energy supply chains, and building a Future Made in Australia,” Albanese said.
Solar Sunshot eyes new economic opportunities for Australia
Readers of PV Tech will be aware of Australia’s Solar Sunshot programme, first announced in March 2024 by Albanese. This programme aims to bolster efforts to create Australian-made solar PV modules for the global market and is administered by ARENA.
The initiative plans to use the funds to support the building of ingots, wafers, cells, modules and “related components”, which include inverters and solar glass. In doing so, ARENA believes this can diversify Australia’s supply chains and create economic opportunities.
ARENA CEO Darren Miller added that the programme aims to uncover and support innovation to drive scale and diversity in a critical industry.
“Solar electricity will be the foundation of Australia’s future energy supply and the key to our net zero and renewable energy superpower ambitions,” Miller said.
“We need to build on our history of innovation and extend this into manufacturing across the solar supply chain. The demand for solar required to meet our net zero and renewable energy superpower goals is immense and Australia has the opportunity to build resilience and unlock long-term economic opportunity.”
The Australian government also launched a complementary programme, the Solar ScaleUp Challenge in June 2024. Whereas Sunshot focuses on domestic module manufacturing, ScaleUp delves into deployment of solar modules.
Chris Bowen, minister for climate change and energy, said the programme can help unlock Australia’s future as a renewable energy superpower.
“When it comes to powering Australia’s future nothing will beat our sun and our solar knowhow. That’s why bringing solar manufacturing to our shores is so critical for unlocking our future as a renewable energy superpower and securing the job of the future. Diverse, secure and resilient supply chains – supported by more onshore manufacturing across more of the value chain – are too important to our security and success to leave to hope,” Bowen said.
“Now is the time to take advantage of some of the best solar resources and renewable energy expertise in the world.”
Australian module manufactures welcome programme
Speaking exclusively to PV Tech, Petterson, chief excutive of Tindo Solar, an Adelaide-based module manufacturer, is an open supporter of the Solar ScaleUp and Solar Sunshot initiatives and believes the programmes can help domestic manufacturers supply the Australian market and the wider global market.
“We have to have a mindset that there is just supplying Australia, which is a limited market, and then there’s supplying the rest of the world,” Petterson exclusively told PV Tech.
“We make a high-quality product that performs well and gives a better return on investment over time, not just from an economic point of view but also from an environmental point of view.”
Richard Petterson will appear alongside ARENA CEO Darren Miller in an exclusive feature on the Solar Sunshot and Solar ScaleUp programmes in the next edition of our PV Tech Power quarterly publication.
