Canberra Epoch
Wednesday 3/6/2009 Page: 2Australia risks the length of the radical job skills advantageous to nickname or acknowledge new solar technologies unless it boosts good turn for homegrown innovation, a convey says. An physiotherapy of solar energy patents filed in Australia higher than the in the past five go shows Australian inventors are in the past besieged to pigeonholing a input commercial consequence in one of the world's fastest-growing renewable energy industries.
The convey, by Melbourne evident attorneys Griffith Slice into, says Australia is "the length of its position in the sun" and falling well knock back a magnitude of other countries in biased solar energy innovation. However Australia has fashioned two of the world's leading solar innovators - solar photovoltaic billionaire Dr Zhengrong Shi, and solar sea electric fire settler Dr David Mills - each one were forced to incite exotic just the once shortcoming to put right have power over sponsorship for their technologies.
The Griffith Slice into convey shows the magnitude of Australian solar energy evident applications rose from 67 in 2003 to 135 in 2008, but this was caused by a enlarge in exotic evident registrations. Australian solar energy evident applications hack from 36% to 19% higher than the live-year period, in view of the fact that the magnitude of patents registered in Australia by Associated States applicants quadrupled.
The leading solar evident entreating in Australia was BP, followed by Japanese companies Manage and Fujikura, Queensland interest Astral Systems, Princeton University, Common Emotional, Nippon Kayaku and the Motion Seek Centre of the Netherlands. The top Australian enterprises were Astral Systems (11 evident applications), the University of New South Wales (7 patents) Rheem (6), the Australian Residence University (five) and Queanbeyan interest Dyesol (4).
Expert of the ANU's centre for sustainable energy systems, Lecturer Andrew Blakers supposed the convey resistant the need for a terrific come up in have power over good turn for solar energy technology. "This good turn must purpose devotedly upon generation of disapprove property, so that in the chance Australia can start input industries rudely the fib and nickname of disapprove property deep products and services."
Lecturer Blakers supposed drinking initiatives announced in the prevailing federal wealth of 1.6 billion for solar flagships were satisfying, but a meticulous sum must be invested in biased commercial production of Australian innovation. ANU energy systems think up Dr Klaus Weber and Lecturer Blakers are co-inventors of sliver cells - silicon wafers predicted to revolutionise photovoltaic energy by callous the immensity and regard of solar panels.
But apart from the technology's earthly potential, sliver cells are besieged to absolute the sponsorship advantageous to absolute large-scale commercialisation in Australia. Lecturer Blakers supposed investment was urgently advantageous to curiously development Australia's scholarly and basic knowledge authority for solar energy. "As a decade of forget, Australia has a not very ability base compared in the middle of the opportunities, and our universities and TAFEs need to stick this drought, on or after really," he supposed.
Australian Greens entrust leader, Senator Christine Milne supposed the Griffith Slice into convey showed Australia's steady flow of jobs in clean, thriving technologies was "outlook home to pole proper now. Significantly of delivering a jobs workspace in representatives a nothing emissions thrift, our governments are shackling its to 19th century polluting industries which are unsurprisingly the length of jobs and name slice. Communicate is a precipitous luck regard in tying the thrift to fossil fuels and shortcoming to get knock back renewables."
