The voice for Australia’s clean energy industry

issue 63 | march/april 11

Go
Suns!
Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre
4–7 September 2011

EcoGen 2011 international keynotes

CSIRO on the future of biofuels
Up close with Paul Fox
 contents
regulars
issue 63 | march/april 11 8
105
From the editor
Company news
111 Upcoming events
111 Environmental credits & CDM update
112 Advertisers’ Index, Subscription request,
The voice for Australia’s clean energy industry

issue 63 | march/april 11

Coming in future editions

issue 63 | march/april 11

Go clean energy wrap

Suns! 10 Solar
10 Trigeneration
Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre
4–7 September 2011
12 Energy Efficiency
12 Wind
12 Geothermal
14 Policy
16 In brief
EcoGen 2011 international keynotes
CSIRO on the future of biofuels
18 World wrap
industry update
Up close with Paul Fox

The Gold Coast Suns will play their first match under 20 Queensland floods a washout for clean energy
Carrara Stadium’s new 220 kW building integrated
photovoltaic (BIPV) roof on Queenslands’ Gold Coast.
24 Clean energy lowers emissions
Turn to page 36 to read more about this project. 26 Garnaut updates Climate Change Review
28 National Transmission Network on its way

Editor Lucy Rochlin solar

Assistant Editor Sally Commins 30 Performance degradation in solar plants
Journalist Rachel Purchase 36 Gold Coast Stadium Redevelopment
Sales Manager Tim Thompson 40 Smart inverters good news for utilities
Senior Account Manager Brett Thompson 44 Tony Stocken – inside the Australian solar PV industry
Sales Representative Michael Villanti 48 Making it big on the solar scene
Creative Director Michelle Cross 54 Company news – solar
Senior Designer Lela Sablic
Designers Venysia Kurniawan bioenergy
Ben Lazaro 60 Accounting for the environment
Susie Monte
while counting biofuel feedstocks
Publisher Chris Bland
66 5 minutes with...Justin Vianello
68 5 minutes with...Vijay Kumar
Published by
70 4th Sustainability Victoria Bioenergy
Great Southern Press Pty Ltd
Breakfast – an opportunity to unite
ACN: 005 716 825
72 The untapped potential of wood fuel
ABN: 28 096 872 004
76 Janice Larson – an inspired clean energy leader
GPO Box 4967
VIC 3001, Australia Average Net Distribution 5,020 water power
Tel: +61 3 9248 5100 Period ending 30 September 2010
80 Réunion Island CETO Power Project
Fax: +61 3 9602 2708
84 The Melbourne Water mini-hydro project: one of a kind
Email: query@ecogeneration.com.au
86 Hydroelectricity in Australia: past, present and future
Website: www.ecogeneration.com.au
ISSN: 1447-2309 events
90 Expand your knowledge with the line-up for EcoGen 2011
98 World Bank and ACORE leaders to speak at EcoGen 2011
country in focus: china
Unless explicitly stated otherwise in writing, by providing editorial material to Great
102 20 MW CECEP Solar Sheyang Power Plant
Southern Press (GSP), including text and images you are providing permission 104 2 MW factory roof project, Ningbo City
for that material to be subsequently used by GSP, whole or in part, edited or
unchanged, alone or in combination with other material in any publication or
up close
format in print or online or howsoever distributed, whether produced by GSP and 108 Up close with Paul Fox
project profile
its agents and associates or another party to whom GSP has provided permission.
This magazine is available to interested parties throughout Australia and
109 Ti Tree Bioenergy Landfill Gas Power Station
overseas. The magazine is also available by subscription. The publisher
welcomes editorial contributions from interested parties, however, the
publisher accepts no responsibility for the content of these contributions and
the views contained therein are not necessarily those of the publisher. The
publisher does not accept responsibility for any claims made by advertisers.

www.ecogeneration.com.au ecogeneration | march/april 11

Gold Coast Stadium’s

Star Player
Gold Coast Stadium is one of Australia’s newest
sporting developments and home to one of its
newest stars, the innovative ‘Solar Halo’.
As one of Australia’s leading sustainability engineering
consultants, Norman Disney & Young provided the
engineering expertise for the innovative ‘Solar Halo’.
Designed by Populous architects, the ‘Solar Halo’
has been cleverly integrated into the roof to provide
20% of the stadium’s energy requirements, whilst
also forming a weatherproof line.
To see how Norman Disney & Young can be
the star recruit on your next project, email:
sustainable@ndy.com or log on to
www.ndy.com

Global
Sustainability
Solutions
Melbourne Sydney Brisbane Perth Canberra Adelaide Darwin Auckland Wellington Christchurch London Manchester
36 solar

Gold Coast Stadium

Town: Carrara, Gold Coast
Demographic: Urban
Capacity: 220 kW
Overall power generated:
Approximately 275 MWh per annum
Expected commissioning date:
Solar panels – March 2011 (Gold
Coast Stadium – May 2011)
Owner: Stadiums Queensland
Overall project cost: $144.2 million
Funding arrangements: Jointly-funded
by the Queensland Government, Federal
Government, Gold Coast City Council,
and the Australian Football League
Architect: Populous
Engineer (building services
and solar): Norman Disney & Young
Managing contractor: Watpac
Contractor: Stowe Electrical
Fuel source: Solar
Prime mover: Scheuten Optisol,
SMA Sunny Tripower
Carrara Stadium’s new 220 kW building integrated
photovoltaic (BIPV) roof on Queensland's Gold Coast.
Redevelopment
Grid-connected, solar, Queensland
The site has been used to facilitate maintenance
The new stadium, built at the site of the and monitoring of the solar system from
old Carrara stadium on the Gold Coast, will onsite or from a remote location.
be the home of the Gold Coast Suns AFL
team, as well as form a part of the Gold Efficiency measures
Coast’s 2018 Commonwealth Games bid. The stadium’s redevelopment incorporates
a solar photovoltaic (PV) roof that has been
Technical details designed to generate 20 per cent of the
The distributed installation comprises stadium’s forecast annual energy consumption,
16 SMA Sunny Tripower inverters grouped in line with the Federal Government target.
geographically. Each inverter feeds back into In a Queensland first, the installation of
the local (stadium) low–voltage reticulation solar panelling will generate approximately
system at one of six switchboards. Utility 275 megawatt hours (MWh) of electricity per
class metering is provided at each of the six annum. This is the equivalent to powering
low–voltage supply points to allow calculation more than 250 homes in Queensland.
of renewable energy generated. A single The PV panelling, which is 5 metres wide,
high–voltage net export meter is located will be installed over 450 metres of roofing.
at the connection between the Stadium Other energy efficiency measures already
distribution system and the utility grid. incorporated into the design of the stadium
Communication with the SMA inverters include high efficiency air conditioning, energy
is from a central monitoring and control efficient lighting, and water harvesting.
computer and a system of Sunny Web box Materials from the previous stadium, which
interface controllers. Proprietary software was demolished, have been recycled.
“Full credit to the architect and design team in
achieving a fully-integrated solar solution within
a unique and iconic roof form – an outstanding
aesthetic result.”
– Connan Brown, Norman Disney & Young.

ecogeneration | march/april 11 www.ecogeneration.com.au

 solar 37
Energy generation
The solar roof is expected to produce at least
275 MWh of electricity per annum, and will be
connected to an Energex electricity network.

Solar technology
The stadium’s solar panelling uses
Scheuten Optisol sandwich glass panels,
providing excellent visibility from below.
The cell spacing has been widened to
ensure sufficient light is passed to prevent
a solid shadowline on the field; this was a
key consideration for the design team.
Reliability and safety were also key
considerations. Scheuten was able to
demonstrate a proven track record and
undertake comprehensive testing demanded
from the design team while delivering
against the stringent installation program.
Other distinguishing
features of the project
Integration into the existing roof design
proved to be an interesting task for the team,
and a number of options were investigated.
The initial option was to mount the panels
almost–flat with a uniform leading edge
and having the panels sloping down slightly
towards the rear of the stands to capture the
stormwater. The final solution involved 39
individual bays, each comprising 8, 14 or 18
solar panel mounts over a curved bay. Viewed
from the front, the bays present as a series of
curved elements best understood by viewing
the pictures. Each panel slopes to the side and
backwards to allow capture of stormwater.
Because of the horseshoe-shaped roof,
each bay presents at a different azimuth or
orientation to the sun, while each of the panels
that make up the bay present at a range of
inclinations to the sun. The complex geometry
required to incorporate the solar panels into
the roof’s iconic architectural design made
the assessment of power generation time-
consuming, however after it was demonstrated
that the electrical generation would not be

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www.ecogeneration.com.au ecogeneration | march/april 11
38 solar

The stadium’s solar panelling uses Scheuten

Optisol sandwich glass panels, providing
excellent visibility from below.

adversely impacted, the decision to proceed
with the curved solar roof was justified.
Detailed investigation showed that the
potential generation of the curved solar roof
is 1–2 per cent less than the almost-flat roof
design; however the majority of panels have
improved angles for self-cleaning, which makes
the curved roof on par or marginally better
in terms of overall generation efficiency.
Future outlook
Concept plans have been drawn up
for approximately 1 megawatt of peak
capacity on the site, and implementation is
subject to funding.
The Gold Coast Stadium Redevelopment is
˝a very exciting project for Norman Disney &
Young and also for me personally, but most
importantly a very good result for the Stadium
stakeholders,˝ says Connan Brown, Senior
Associate – ESD Manager, Norman Disney &
Young.
˝Full credit to the architect and design team
in achieving a fully-integrated solar solution
within a unique and iconic roof form – an
outstanding aesthetic result.˝
Funding arrangements and
acknowledgements
The Gold Coast Stadium Redevelopment
received direct funding from the Queensland
Government, via the Office of Clean Energy.

ecogeneration | march/april 11 www.ecogeneration.com.au