Solar technology in Australia

Solar power is not new to Australia, but the incredible solar technology used to power satellites in orbit is. A subsidiary of the defense industry giant Boeing, Spectrolab, will supply Australia with 500,000 solar cells that were previously only used in space. The company will equip Solar Systems of Australia with technology that is three times more efficient than regular solar cells. This is reported to be a $10 million dollar deal.

"The result is the world's first, full-scale, ultra-high efficiency photovoltaic generator," Environment Minister Ian Campbell said. One of the concentrating dishes was bumped up to 35kW from 24kW by replacing old solar technology with the newer solar silicon cells.

This deal was reached under the Asia-Pacific Partnership on Clean Development and Climate (AP6). The AP6 renewable energy task force meets in Sydney this week. It seems that every year, solar technology is increased and made more powerful at converting solar rays into electricity.