Renewable and reliable

In February the Sixth World Renewable Energy Congress brought more than 200 delegates to Murdoch University. Amidst the technical discussions about the latest efficiency rates and other scientific innovations, a number of Australian voices soberly sounded the "R" word -- reliability.
      WA's Deputy Premier Hendy Cowan used his opening address to present a challenge to the international throng. He said that people's perceptions of renewable energy had changed to a point that they were familiar with solar water heaters, photovoltaic water pumps and wind generators on farms. Moving into the mainstream of power generation would present challenges for the industry to meet consumers' "focus on availability and reliability".
      "And they will be quite brutal," he warned.
      "Society is now ready to accept your product, but on society's terms: price, quality, performance."
      He said energy system integration and reliability would be key challenges.
      "System reliability can make or break an invention," said Mr Cowan.
      So it was important to find out just what renewable energy users thought of their systems.
      Dr Bruce Walker, Director of the Centre for Appropriate Technology (CAT) in Alice Springs, gave a stimulating report from a survey of users of remote renewable power systems.
Farmers, tourism operators and indigenous communities were less concerned about the "green" issues of renewables and more interested in a reliable system that delivered the power they wanted.
      In summary he said that the renewable energy industry had been preoccupied with its latest innovations and scientific breakthroughs rather than providing durable systems and back-up service to its customers.
      In his paper Renewable Energy in Outback Australia , Dr Walker said farmers, tourism operators and indigenous communities were less concerned about the "green" issues of renewables and more interested in a reliable system that delivered the power they wanted. Only 11 per cent of respondents thought energy conservation was important and nine per cent thought environmental issues were important.
      Dr Walker said CAT's survey found 62 per cent of respondents had had recent problems with their systems, 39 per cent experienced recurrent problems. Only eight per cent were trained to care for their system.
      "There is a need for the renewable energy industry to produce standardised, reliable, robust, user-friendly designs that can't be vandalised or pilfered."
      From the point of view of the public image of renewables, there were lessons to be learnt from the survey. He said the bush community relied strongly on word of mouth and comparing experiences when forming opinions.
      "Success on a neighbouring property is the best marketing tool," he said.
      Another problem facing remote operators was that renewable technology tended to be fragmented. He compared the renewable energy industry with the car industry. He said car companies shouldered the responsibility for bringing together the components to form the car and the marketing of the final product; component manufacturers tended not to sell themselves separately to the public. Car manufacturers ensured an infrastructure that provided franchises across the country (including in the outback), quality control, interchangeability of parts, training, regular service outlets and maintenance schedules.
      "These are things that are largely not yet thought about in relation to renewable energy," said Dr Walker.
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