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Murdoch University's reputation in solar energy research has enabled it to secure a niche in Japan's latest multi-billion dollar solar energy R&D effort  the New Sunshine Programme.
 Through an agreement with Japan's New Energy Development Organisation (NEDO), Murdoch's Energy Research Institute (MUERI) has signed a long-term contract to monitor the performance of state-of-the-art solar panels in three Australian locations.
It is one of only a handful of joint agreements the Japanese have signed with solar energy researchers worldwide as part of their $4.2 billion New Sunshine Programme.
According to renewable energy researcher and MUERI Board Chair Professor Philip Jennings, the niche won by Murdoch should be highly valued both as recognition of the University's leadership in the renewable energy field, and because it keeps Australia abreast of emerging solar technology.
However, Professor Jennings says that Australia's lead in solar technology has been lost through the stop/start approach to solar energy research funding adopted by successive governments.
"The Japanese government is not as fickle. They look to long-term planning and investment in new technologies," Professor Jennings says. "Their New Sunshine Programme involves an investment of $700 million a year guaranteed for the next six years. The programme will be partly funded by the income from a tax on the use of fossil fuels the so-called carbon tax.
"We have talked of a solar age for some time. What is happening now in Japan is bringing that dream to a reality. There is an overwhelming confidence in government, industry and universities about the way their solar energy programme is going."
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Professor Jennings said Japan's latest programme, the successor to the Sunshine Programme launched after the energy crisis of the 1970s, demonstrated that nation's determination to find a competitive alternative to its current dependence on fossil fuels.
"Australia, which shares similar sunlight conditions to much of Japan, is now seen as a major market for their products," Professor Jennings says. "Much of their effort is concentrated on developing manufacturing technologies and scaling up manufacturing operations.
"The Japanese have set themselves the goal of reducing the current 40 cents per kilowatt hour cost of energy produced by solar cells to a very competitive 20 cents by 2001.
"That won't be lower than the cost of electricity production in Japan, but it will be lower than the actual cost to domestic consumers."
From next year Japan will treble its current $30 million a year incentive scheme for roof-top photovoltaic solar systems. Already, major companies, such as Canon, have developed innovative techniques to integrate solar panels into the roof design and construction of their factories. The energy output meets the needs of the plant and any excess is fed into the national power grid.
With a 30% government subsidy it is estimated that 6,000 domestic roof-top systems will be installed in Japan next year, but with the momentum established and economies of scale in production, the subsidy is expected to be phased out in three years.
"By then the rooftop solar panel industry should have a multimillion dollar market in Japan generating electricity from sunlight. Gradually the benefits of this programme will flow to other countries as the price of solar panels continues to fall in response to economies of scale. By 2010 solar panels will be providing more electric power for Japan than all of WA's coal-fired power stations," Professor Jennings says.
See also
Building confidence in renewable energy
Practising what he preaches
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