Where does your interest in clean energy stem from?

In 2006 I was employed as General Manager of a long-established renewable energy company, Solar Sales, who were distributors of SunPower photovoltaic (PV) panels. SunPower subsequently acquired the company in 2008. I was delighted to then be appointed Managing Director for SunPower Corporation Australia, owing to my understanding of the clean energy business that had grown during my employment with Solar Sales.

What does the solar industry need to do to be cost competitive with traditional energy generation? How is SunPower working toward this goal?

The cost of solar power has dramatically decreased over the past several years, allowing it to enter the mainstream energy market. At SunPower, we have a very important overarching, ongoing objective – drive down the cost per watt. We’ve already cut our solar system cost in half over the last five years and expect to see solar continue to cost reduce over the next five years. What has been the greatest achievement of the solar sector, in the past five years?

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One of the most significant achievements we’ve seen in our sector is the explosive growth of the global PV market – from 1.4 gigawatts (GW) in 2005 to about 19 GW in 2010. More than 1,000 per cent growth over five years really shows how the market is changing.

That growth has been driven by solar costs which have decreased by roughly half over the last five years.

What is an example of a government incentive that you have found particularly helpful to the growth of the solar industry?

I applaud the Federal Government for pumping $94 million into the Solar City program. SunPower has been a member of the Perth Solar City program since its inception and we see this as an exciting opportunity to educate the wider community on the benefits of solar technology. We recently joined Perth’s State Minister for the Environment Bill Marmion to unveil the city’s biggest solar installation – a 303-panel, 90.9 kilowatt (kW) solar panel array that tops, along with seven other buildings, the Perth Zoo’s elephant enclosure. What one piece of advice would you give new entrants to the clean energy industry?

It is important to make sure your technology has a cost-competitive roadmap, which will only come from volume manufacturing. Your product also needs to be durable, reliable, sustainable and recyclable. What promising project/technology is your company currently developing?

SunPower is well known for having the highest efficiency, highest reliability solar systems on the market today, with guaranteed performance. In fact, SunPower holds the Guinness World Record for its E20 panel series, launched in the United States on 8 June 2011. The E20 panel series has a recorded peak efficiency of 20.07 per cent, the maximum level currently available to the commercial market.

SunPower has made significant progress on its low-concentration PV system. Our latest low-concentration PV model is performing above expectations and we’re already speaking with enthused potential customers about deployment.

We’re also excited about Oasis – a customisable, fully-integrated solar solution – comprised of SunPower T0 Trackers and SunPower 400 Solar Panels. It delivers up to 50 per cent more kW hours per square metres than any other technology. It also provides up to 25 per cent higher capacity factor than conventional PV power plant systems. Oasis delivers a very cost-effective solution for power plant developers, significantly reducing development and operation costs.