White Cliffs Solar Power Station was Australia's first solar

power station A power station, also referred to as a power plant and sometimes generating station or generating plant, is an industrial facility for the generation of electric power. Power stations are generally connected to an electrical grid. Many p ...

. It is located at White Cliffs,

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

, which was chosen as it has the highest

insolation Solar irradiance is the power per unit area ( surface power density) received from the Sun in the form of electromagnetic radiation in the wavelength range of the measuring instrument. Solar irradiance is measured in watts per square metre ...

in New South Wales, and in 1981 when the station was constructed had no

grid connection An electrical grid is an interconnected network for electricity delivery from producers to consumers. Electrical grids vary in size and can cover whole countries or continents. It consists of:Kaplan, S. M. (2009). Smart Grid. Electrical Power ...

. Constructed by a team from

Australian National University The Australian National University (ANU) is a public research university located in Canberra, the capital of Australia. Its main campus in Acton encompasses seven teaching and research colleges, in addition to several national academies and ...

, the station consisted of fourteen five-metre parabolic dishes, each covered by more than 2000 mirrors and mounted on a

heliostat A heliostat (from ''helios'', the Greek word for ''sun'', and ''stat'', as in stationary) is a device that includes a mirror, usually a plane mirror, which turns so as to keep reflecting sunlight toward a predetermined target, compensating f ...

ic mounting. The dishes each focussed the sun's rays on a collector, where water was boiled. The resulting steam drove a three-cylinder

Uniflow steam engine The uniflow type of steam engine uses steam that flows in one direction only in each half of the cylinder. Thermal efficiency is increased by having a temperature gradient along the cylinder. Steam always enters at the hot ends of the cylinder an ...

, made by modifying a Lister

diesel engine The diesel engine, named after Rudolf Diesel, is an internal combustion engine in which ignition of the fuel is caused by the elevated temperature of the air in the cylinder due to mechanical compression; thus, the diesel engine is a so-ca ...

, delivering up to 25kWe. Batteries were used to provide 24-hour power to selected buildings in the township, and an existing diesel generator retained to provide battery charging when either low insolation or strong winds prevented use of the solar station for extended periods. In 1996, following grid connection of the township, the station was converted to

photovoltaic Photovoltaics (PV) is the conversion of light into electricity using semiconducting materials that exhibit the photovoltaic effect, a phenomenon studied in physics, photochemistry, and electrochemistry. The photovoltaic effect is commercially ...

. The dishes were resurfaced, and the original collectors each replaced by a cluster of 16 water-cooled

photovoltaic cell A solar cell, or photovoltaic cell, is an electronic device that converts the energy of light directly into electricity by the photovoltaic effect, which is a physical and chemical phenomenon.

s. In its new form, the station delivers up to 45kWe. The batteries, and diesel generator were removed, and the output fed into the grid. The grid connected power station ran for around 6 years, generating valuable data on the long-term performance and efficiency of the modules. The power station ceased operation in December 2004 and has been resumed by the owner of the site. In 2006 Engineers Australia placed a heritage marker "recognising the engineering significance of what is arguably considered the world's first commercial solar power station". In 2012 it was proposed the site be used as a museum.

References

External links

The White Cliffs project : overview for the period 1979–89
for an overview of the stations' design and operation as a steam plant, prepared by S. Kaneff.

project at the

University of Wollongong The University of Wollongong (abbreviated as UOW) is an Australian public research university located in the coastal city of Wollongong, New South Wales, approximately 80 kilometres south of Sydney. As of 2017, the university had an enrolment ...

.
Publications list
from th
ANU Solar Thermal Group
including a list of reports about the White Cliffs project {{Energy in New South Wales, state=collapsed Solar power stations in New South Wales Recipients of Engineers Australia engineering heritage markers