Solar panels have become a key piece of Australia’s renewable landscape.
However, the global solar panel supply chain is being dominated by foreign manufacturers, adding potential risks to Australia’s clean energy resilience.
One local solar panel maker is stepping up in a big way, as Tindo has unveiled plans to build the country’s first solar panel gigafactory to help supply the massive demand for panels to power the green energy transition.
The proposed $90-100 million gigafactory would be located on the east coast and have the capacity to produce a staggering 1 gigawatt (GW) of premium solar panels annually. At full tilt, it could churn out 7000 high-quality Australian-made panels per day.
That scale, according to Tindo CEO Richard Petterson, is critical to catalysing a domestic solar supply chain and reducing dependence on imported panels and components.
The gigafactory is projected to create 250 direct manufacturing jobs, with another 900 roles springing up in associated supply industries like glass and aluminium production.
Petterson said the renewable energy transition presents Australia with an immense economic opportunity if we can nurture local manufacturing capabilities, and a 1GW gigafactory makes it viable for Australian companies to start supplying solar components and create a renewable industry ecosystem.
“The greater scale reduces our component costs, meaning the panels cost less to make; 1GW of output creates enough demand that Australian component makers – of PV glass, back sheet, frames – have an economic incentive to make the components in Australia,” Petterson said.
Fuelling that ecosystem could generate around $300 million per year in economic activity, Tindo estimates.
It would also drive innovation, with the gigafactory serving as a hub for cutting-edge solar research and development.
Reducing reliance on imported panels is a priority as the world races to increase renewable energy capacity.
The International Energy Agency has warned about supply chain vulnerabilities emerging from an overconcentration of solar manufacturing in one or two countries.
Developing domestic production capabilities is viewed as critical for energy security.
Tindo has supported the Albanese government’s Solar Sunshot policy, which will allocate $1 billion to support solar PV manufacturing over 10 years and Tindo plans to apply for funding for its gigafactory.
“Countries are shifting their energy systems to renewable sources, and they must maintain a level of sovereign control of those new systems by supporting local manufacturing,” Petterson said.
“This means the Australian renewables industry is competing globally. The Sunshot program attempts to neutralise this discrepancy, providing short-term support to scale the domestic industry, ensuring we have some sovereign capability in our emerging energy system.”
We have partnered development projects for a frameless panel (to facilitate solar sunlight roof panels) and an AgriPV panel that lets sunlight through so grass will grow. Manufacturing is the nexus for this sort of innovation and the Sunshot program will foster it up and down the supply chain.
Locally made panels incur less freight carbon miles and locally made goods provide better visibility of labour and environmental practices in the supply chain, a key risk in the renewables industry.
Finally, Australia Made solar panels are high quality, they come with a 25-year warranty (as opposed to the 10 years of most imported panels), and Tindo panels are cyclone-rated, making them the obvious choice for Northern Australia.
Crucially, the new facility would be net carbon zero thanks to an integrated 5MW solar installation.
Petterson said Australia’s high-quality resources industry and advanced manufacturing capability created an opportunity to develop an entire solar PV supply chain, so long as the scale was sufficient to justify the investment.
“There is clear need for Australia to build sovereign capability in renewables manufacturing, and to ensure there is more Australian-made content in clean energy infrastructure as we decarbonise our electricity system,” he said.
“To build a renewables manufacturing industry we need scale, and we see Sunshot as a practical short-term way to do that.”
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