400 MW Solar Power Farm Has Huge Battery System Too (Video)

Support CleanTechnica’s work through a Substack subscription or on Stripe.

Robert Llewellyn, from the Everything Electric Tech show (as well as Red Dwarf and various other TV shows), recently drove a Polestar to visit a huge solar power and energy storage facility in Australia. The solar power portion has nearly one million solar panels, and there is a huge battery system. All together, the system generates enough clean, renewable electricity for about 300,000 homes.

While he is driving the EV, Robert makes a key point: solar power can be cheaper to install than new coal or gas power plants. Of course, there is plenty of free sunshine in many parts of Australia, including in New South Wales, the location of the huge solar project. It should be noted installing new solar and battery systems typically requires much less time than constructing a new coal or natural gas power plant.

Robert is doing a great service by hosting these videos and explaining in simple terms so that everyday people can understand how solar power and energy storage have many benefits that fossil fuel power plants do not. 

Another key point he makes is that the cost of a single solar panel has dropped by about 90 percent in the last ten years or so.

This particular solar power farm is on land where there are also sheep, so it provides a dual purpose. Sheep would not be allowed to roam around a coal power plant or natural gas power plant because it would not be safe for them and they might get in the way of the power plant workers. The solar panels generate no toxic emissions, so the solar power farm is safe for them and they can graze there.

Another benefit for the farmers is lease income, which helps strengthen their finances during lean times. Farmers face changing weather conditions and natural challenges such as bushfires and droughts, which can reduce their income and deplete their finances.

When there is excess solar power, it can be stored in the 200MW/400MWh battery system. 

Again, Robert provides another excellent point, which is that battery costs, like solar panels costs, have decreased drastically. This much lowered cost is really the crux of the matter as well. Battery systems solve the intermittency problem, which means full sunlight is not available all the time, such as during cloudy days, during rainy days, and at night. Having a huge battery system onsite to store electricity that is not consumed during the day provides backup electricity.

To sum, what makes these solar power and energy storage projects possible now is how much the costs of both solar panels and batteries have decreased in the last ten or eleven years. Again, they cost less and can be installed much faster than new fossil fuel power plants, and, of course, they don’t generate toxic air pollution that harms the planet and human health. 

Yet another benefit for this project was the creation of jobs for the construction phases and the creation of new, permanent jobs to operate and maintain the facility. 

The mainstream news in general tends to be relentlessly negative because negative situations are almost the definition of a newsworthy story. Many news readers and viewers might believe all the overly negative news stories about solar power, wind power, and energy storage while not knowing any of the many positive benefits of the technology.

Somehow, a number of people have acquired the wrong ideas about solar power and wind power, and yet they don’t consider how toxic the emissions from coal and natural gas powerplants are for people and the planet. Similarly, extracting coal from the earth exposes coal miners to toxins that harm their health, and some coal miners are injured or die in mining accidents.

Solar panel installers are not exposed to toxic air pollutants and don’t become trapped hundreds of feet under the earth and die.