Solar Systems (company)

{{Short description|Australian energy company}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2018}}

{{Use Australian English|date=May 2012}}

Solar Systems is an Australian company that has constructed three concentrated solar power stations in remote Indigenous communities the Northern Territory, Australia, using 30 solar concentrator dishes which together generated {{convert|720|kW}} and {{convert|1555000|kWh}} per year. The sites are in Hermannsburg, Yuendumu and Lajamanu. This represents a saving of 420,000 litres of diesel fuel and 1550 tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions.[http://www.solarsystems.com.au/projects.html Solar Systems projects] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110218145048/http://www.solarsystems.com.au/projects.html |date=18 February 2011 }}[http://www.solarsystems.com.au/Excellence%20Awards%20win.pdf Solar Systems wins National Engineering Excellence award] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070221142605/http://www.solarsystems.com.au/Excellence%20Awards%20win.pdf |date=21 February 2007 }}[http://www.abc.net.au/ra/innovations/stories/s1782276.htm Solar technologies reaching new levels of efficiencies in Central Australia]

In 2003, Solar Systems completed construction of the first concentrator dish power station at Umuwa in South Australia. Solar Systems is a winner in the 2005 Engineering Excellence Awards.

The Mildura Solar Concentrator Power Station project to build a {{convert|154|MW}} solar plant was announced in 2006 and expected to be completed in 2013.Lawrence Bartlett: [http://www.cosmosmagazine.com/news/worlds-biggest-solar-plant-australia/ "World’s biggest solar plant for Australia"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131012200323/http://www.cosmosmagazine.com/news/worlds-biggest-solar-plant-australia/ |date=12 October 2013 }} in Cosmons, 26 October 2006Chee Chee Leung: [http://www.theage.com.au/national/brumby-planning-to-plug-victoria-into-the-sun-20080616-2rny.html?page=-1 "Brumby planning to plug Victoria into the sun"], in The Age, 17 June 2008

However, Solar Systems was placed under voluntary administration on 7 September 2009 placing the Mildura Solar Power Station project and the jobs of two-thirds of the workforce at risk.{{cite news |url=http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/09/08/2679547.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090910053635/http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/09/08/2679547.htm |url-status=dead |archive-date=10 September 2009 |title=Company behind $400m solar power plant collapses |publisher=ABC News |date=8 September 2009 |accessdate=9 September 2009}}

In 2011, Silex Systems purchased Solar Systems{{cite news|url=http://solarsystems.com.au/test/history/|title=History |publisher=Solar Systems Pty Ltd |accessdate=23 May 2012}} for $2 million.[http://reneweconomy.com.au/silex-shuts-down-solar-systems-dense-array-solar-power-business-14950/ Silex shuts down Solar Systems dense array solar power business] The power stations that were then in service were purchased by the electrical utilities that had agreed to buy the power from them. Silex completed a 1.5 MW demonstration plant in April 2013; however, the project was abandoned in August 2014 due to a number of factors, including low wholesale electricity prices, a lack of commitment to clean energy by the Australian government and uncertainty surrounding the Renewable Energy Target (RET) in Australia.{{cite web|url=http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-08-18/silex-shelves-major-solar-power-station-on-ret-uncertainty/5679086|title=Silex shelves major solar plant on RET uncertainty|work=ABC |date=19 August 2014 |accessdate=21 August 2014}}{{cite web |title=Biggest solar project falls as Australia may cut renewables |url=http://www.chicagotribune.com/sns-wp-blm-news-bc-australia-solar18-20140818-story.html|work=Chicago Tribune|date=18 August 2014 |accessdate=21 August 2014}} Silex shut down Solar Systems "dense array" solar power business in September 2015.