Victorian solar atlas to promote investment in renewable energy
The Victorian Coalition Government today released a world class tool which maps solar energy resources across Victoria to help investors and developers make decisions about the best sites for solar projects.
Energy and Resources Minister Michael O’Brien said the Victorian Solar Atlas featured highly detailed data on Victoria’s solar energy that would be invaluable for companies making decisions about solar power projects.
“The Victorian Solar Atlas is a powerful tool that will help attract solar investment and jobs and encourage the development of new renewable power sources,” Mr O’Brien said.
“The Atlas provides investors, developers, researchers and communities with up-to-date information about some of the best solar resource regions in the world.
“This is an example of the Coalition Government investing in and promoting the development of renewable and low emissions energy sources that will play an increasingly important role in Victoria’s energy mix.”
The data contained in the Solar Atlas features time-series data measured at one minute intervals from three ground stations, as well as hourly solar and climatic data for five kilometre grid sections across Victoria. The Solar Atlas data is based on satellite measurements originally sourced from NASA. The NASA data was then calibrated using additional data from the ground stations to improve accuracy and provide data suitable for commercial decision-making.
In the Solar Atlas, solar energy data can be overlaid with infrastructure that is critical to successful solar projects, including electricity networks, to help potential developers make decisions about the best sites for their projects. The data will allow users to better predict the potential energy generation of all types of solar energy technology, including solar photovoltaic power stations, solar thermal power generation and solar hot water.
The Coalition Government is also making available a study prepared by Black and Veatch, using data from the Solar Atlas, which shows Victoria’s solar resources are as good as many major global solar markets, including Spain.
The atlas is available online through GeoVic, the Department of Primary Industries’ online mapping tool. For more information and to access the atlas, visit www.dpi.vic.gov.au/solaratlas
