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AT first glance a resident of inner Tokyo and a station owner in the Australian outback would have little in common, but both are benefitting from research being carried out by Murdoch University scientists.
 As part of programmes at the University's Energy Research Institute, photovoltaic arrays developed in Japan are being tested in several northern Australian sites.
The arrays are a key part of an ambitious plan to have electric power supplied to thousands of homes through photovoltaic cells.
Stimulus
In a country where energy costs are high and pollution a serious threat, there has been a particular stimulus to introduce renewable energy.
Japanese researchers are confident that the new generation of arrays, using cheaper amorphous silica, rather than crystals, will reduce the cost of systems to the point where they can be adopted on a big scale.
However, the new arrays are less efficient, and the output of electricity varies with climatic conditions. As a result they have retained the Murdoch University Energy Research Institute (MUERI) to carry out testing in Darwin and Alice Springs.
A solar simulator has also been installed at the Murdoch campus, to double check the findings made at the Northern Territory sites (climatic and other factors can influence the readings from the solar panels).
The Institute will conduct research on its own systems simultaneously.
The needs of people who live in remote areas of Australia are being addressed in MUERI's remote energy promotion programme, which offers people from cattle stations, or even places in the south of Western Australia, demonstrations of small renewable energy systems.
Caravan
It is possible, for example, to instal small solar arrays on a caravan to store enough electricity for lighting, or, in some conditions, a refrigerator.
One of the researchers' significant achievements was the design of a mobile unit, housed in a conventional cargo container, which, from solar cells on its roof, charged batteries that provided electricity for a refrigerator, lighting, a radio, and TV-video for itinerant Aboriginal communities.
There are now about 50 of these 'mobile power stations' in use around Australia.
MUERI director Dr Trevor Pryor says that this programme was particularly rewarding because it showed the great value of consultations on the unit's design, with Aboriginal groups, before the project was launched.
People interested in renewable power can see systems working at MUERI's site on the campus.
Display
They display two small systems, one providing power for a portable refrigerator and a range of 12V lights -- the model suitable for a caravan. A bigger system can meet the electricity requirements of DC lighting, a radio, small TV and video, and a small refrigerator. It can even power a vacuum cleaner or similar appliance.
MUERI is also working on programmes that will have major applications throughout Australian power systems.
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