1st Community-Owned Solar Farm in Australia Coming Soon..
October 19th, 2011 by Zachary Shahan
It was recently announced that construction was about to begin on Australia’s first community-owned solar farm, in Queensland’s Hervey Bay. Ingenero, a Queensland solar company, was awarded the contract to build the 396-kW solar farm.
In addition to the solar farm project, it was also announced that ABB Australia had been awarded a contract to build a 266-kW solar panel system at the Hervey Bay Hospital.
As I mentioned a couple times in my CNBC interview on “Energy Opportunities,” solar power doesn’t only offer environmental benefits. Decentralized solar power offers community benefits, as well. It seems the folks in Queensland (and Australia, in general) get this.
“Importantly, these projects will help reduce energy costs as well as carbon emissions,” Energy Minister Stephen Robertson said. The hospital will save approximately $20,000/year in electricity costs, for example. The projects will also create local jobs and improve the quality of life in the area.
Victoria, Australia is also looking to get its first community-owned solar farm up soon, as are residents in several other parts of Australia.
More on Australia solar farms and government policies.
Photo Credit: 
Some rights reserved by GregTheBusker
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About the Author
Zachary Shahan spends most of his time here on CleanTechnica as the director/chief editor. Otherwise, he's probably enthusiastically fulfilling his duties as the director/editor of Solar Love, EV Obsession, Planetsave, or Bikocity. Zach is recognized globally as a solar energy, electric car, and wind energy expert. If you would like him to speak at a related conference or event, connect with him via social media. You can connect with Zach on any popular social networking site you like. Links to all of his main social media profiles are on ZacharyShahan.com.
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