The Gatton Solar Research Facility is the largest PV research facility in the Southern Hemisphere.
Located 90 km west of Brisbane, its 3.275 MW generation system is comprised of five arrays – a dual-tracking array, a single-axis tracking array and three fixed-tilt panel arrays – totaling 36,000 individual PV modules.
The project was funded by the Education Investment Fund and is part of an AGL Energy Ltd project, which is supported by the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA).
The 3.275 MW PV system provides a significant increase in renewable energy generation for UQ, strengthens the university's Living Laboratories initiative; and completes another milestone in a broader strategy to improve the sustainability of the Gatton Campus operations.
This system is capable of supplying as much as 20% of the Gatton Campus energy requirements and it's currently the only UQ PV array exporting to the 11 kV electricity grid.
The facility includes the following installations: