Error message title
Error message title
Searching great energy plans for you
What is solar energy?
Solar energy is a renewable source of energy that can be converted into electricity using a range of ever improving techniques. Solar photovoltaic (PV) panels are currently the most widespread type of solar PV technology, however other types of solar PV are being developed that can be integrated into buildings, such as flexible PV and even PV paint.
That’s why companies like ENGIE are investing in solar energy, an energy source that sustainably meets our emerging energy needs.
How do Solar Panels work?
Solar panels use sunlight to produce energy. Interestingly, they need the light, not the heat, and it’s common for panels to become less effective in extreme heat.
Solar panels have a layer of silicon cells, a metal frame, glass casing, and wiring to allow current to flow from the silicon cells. Silicon is semi-conductive so it can absorb and convert sunlight into electricity. When light is absorbed by a silicon cell, it causes electrons to start moving, which initiates a flow of electric current. This is known as the “photovoltaic effect”.
- Sunlight is made up of tiny particles called photons.
- Electrons in the silicon atoms are forced free when the photons hit the solar cells.
- The loose electrons move and create an electric current from the positive and negative charges.
- The current travels through a conductive wire to an inverter which converts the current into electricity.
Design and Approvals
How are solar farm sites selected?
Locations for solar farms are strategically selected based on multiple factors, including sunlight exposure, proximity to power networks, environmental, cultural heritage and social considerations, land availability and regulatory compliance.
What is involved in designing and building a solar farm?
Developing and constructing a solar farm is a complex process involving several key stages. Once the site is selected, independent technical experts assess the location for any environmental and social impacts, while the developer obtains the necessary approvals from local, state, and federal authorities.
To ensure solar farms are commercially viable, the layout includes technical design considerations, such as the positioning of the solar panels to maximise effectiveness while minimising costs and adverse impacts.
Once approvals and planning requirements are completed, the construction phase can commence and includes building access roads, installing panels and other electrical equipment, laying cables, and finally connecting the asset to the electricity grid. The solar farm will then undergo post construction commissioning and testing to ensure it operates as expected.
During the construction phase, the solar farm usually attracts a large volume of heavy vehicles to deliver all the materials and equipment necessary to complete the project. Also, many of the activities are labour intensive, meaning that, during the peak of the construction, the project requires a high number of workers for the following activities:
- Construction of internal roads
- Unloading of materials
- Assembly of mounting structures
- Trenching and underground installation of cables
- Installation of solar panels
- Connection of electrical equipment
Once the facility is connected to the electricity grid, extensive testing and commissioning activities commence. Depending on the scale of the solar farm, these can take several months to be completed. Once this is achieved, the asset enters the operational stage.
Agrisolar
Agrisolar refers to co-developing the same area of land for both solar power and agriculture to create mutually beneficial outcomes. An example of agrisolar includes sheep grazing under solar panels.
The shade provided by solar panels reduces heat stress in animals, improves pasture quality and enhances animal welfare. Furthermore, grazing by the animals helps reduce maintenance costs for the solar facility.
(Source: Clean Energy Council – Safe and sustainable: debunking myths about solar panels).
How do solar farms impact wildlife?
Protection of biodiversity and native flora and fauna will be managed by Environmental Management Plans that must be prepared and implemented by specialists and approved prior to construction commencing. Protection measures can include:
- Extensive mapping and understanding of native flora and fauna.
- Pre-clearing protocols including inspections, exclusion zones and ongoing monitoring.
- Spotting and handling program to ensure safe relocation of any animals found during construction.
- Rehabilitation of all temporarily disturbed areas.
- Development of Biodiversity Stewardship sites through agreements with neighbouring landowners.
What is the environmental impact of solar farms?
While renewable energy is generally considered environmentally friendly, construction and operation can pose risks to local ecosystems and wildlife. These impacts include habitat fragmentation through land clearing and disturbance to wildlife during construction and operation. Through careful planning, technology advancements, strategic site selection and mitigation measures, renewable energy projects in Australia can and do minimise their impact.
(Source: Clean Energy Council – Enhancing nature through renewable energy, Fact sheet)
ENGIE will aim for careful planning of any impacts, and we engage with industry experts to help minimise or mitigate any impacts as much as possible.
Are there health concerns with commercially produced PV modules?
The International Energy Agency confirmed the only potential human and environmental concerns in commercially produced PV modules are the trace amounts of lead in the solder of modules. That is the material used to join the panels together. Many manufacturers are seeking to adopt lead-free solders.
(Source: Clean Energy Council – Safe and sustainable: debunking myths about solar panels)
Do solar farms pose a threat during extreme weather events?
Across ENGIE’s projects, industry professionals are engaged to undertake a series of specialist assessments and inform our mitigation measures with regard to potential hazards and risks, including fire, flooding, storms and extreme winds. Emergency Management Plans are then developed and tailored for all projects and these are publicly available.
What are solar panels made up of?
Solar panels are made up of:
- 77% glass
- 10% aluminium
- 9% polymers
- 3% silicon
- <1% copper, silver and tin (and less that 0.1% lead)
Community Engagement
How will you consult the community?
ENGIE is committed to open and transparent engagement with stakeholders and welcomes the opportunity to work with local residents and community members.
Stakeholder and community consultation will occur across all stages of development. ENGIE will actively engage with landholders and communities throughout the scoping phase to identify local considerations that will assist in developing a design for new solar farms.
How can the community get involved or benefit from the solar farm?
ENGIE acknowledges that our renewable energy projects can change the local landscape and this is why we are dedicated to sharing the benefits of our projects and creating positive social and economic outcomes for local communities.
Where possible, ENGIE will try to create jobs for local people and will also engage with First Nation groups and local suppliers. Whether it’s earthworks, infrastructure, building contractors, machinery operators, engineering, accommodation, administration, catering, freight and cleaners – several skills and suppliers are required, especially during a project’s construction phase.
In addition to employment opportunities, ENGIE considers a range of benefit sharing initiatives that are specifically designed to meet the needs of local residents, business owners and community groups. The benefits are aimed at supporting the whole community, whether it be through local procurement, suppliers and other businesses, opportunities for employment and development of skilled workers, funding for clubs and community groups, increased visitation and opportunities for tourism, or support for local activities and events.
Fire Risks
Are there fire risks to solar farms?
ENGIE is committed to adequately maintaining sites and implementing Fire Management Plans to prevent fires, which are factored during the design phase and equipment and material selection.
If an emergency event was to occur, fire detectors are installed on-site, and staff will assess the situation and escalate to emergency services if necessary.
In addition to this, ENGIE has taken and continues to take numerous actions to reduce the risk of a fire on the site and comply with the Fire Management Plan, including:
- Selection of high quality equipment and materials that meet all appropriate safety standards.
- Conduct regular inspections and maintenance to the project to identify and eliminate any potential fire hazards.
- All site personnel have completed local relevant bush safety courses.
- Fire Breaks are developed across the site and vegetation is maintained to reduce the overall potential fire fuel load.
- Any external fires are consistently monitored onsite to ensure preparedness in the event of any external fire risk.
- Regular interactions with the local fire authorities which include holding a kick off meeting and several site visits.
- All approved site vehicles carry 9 litre water fire extinguishers, in addition to normal vehicle requirements.
- During high-risk fire periods all hot works will only be completed under specific permits to work.
- On total fire ban days, no hot works will be conducted onsite.
Is the fire risk on all ENGIE assets or project sites managed in the same way? Are they all covered by the same plans and are the same actions taken?
All ENGIE solar projects do have overarching Emergency Management Plans. Some of the operational sites
have requirements split into three documents - an overarching Emergency Management Plan, a Fire Management Plan and a Risk Management Plan – while some cover the same fundamentals in a single document, as each state has varied requirements.
Noise & Traffic Impacts
Will the solar farms create noise?
While solar farms do produce some noise, depending on where the nearby receiver is located, the noise generated is generally low and can be effectively managed with proper planning and mitigation strategies. Solar farms can mitigate noise by optimal placement away from residential areas, regular maintenance and compliance with local noise regulations.
How will traffic be managed during the construction phase?
A solar farm is a large-scale project that requires a variety of materials, panels and equipment to be delivered to the site. ENGIE will prepare a Traffic Management Plan in consultation with the relevant road authorities to ensure that any impacts to local traffic are minimised. Usually, site activities, including deliveries of materials and equipment, are restricted to normal working hours to minimise disruption during rest days and hours.
Construction traffic use designated routes to access and leave the project site and, where necessary, road upgrades and traffic management are planned before construction starts to address specific identified risks. Exceptionally, large equipment must be scheduled to be delivered outside of peak traffic hours to minimise impact to local traffic.
End of Life / Decommissioning
What will happen to the solar panels and other infrastructure at the end of the project?
Large-scale photovoltaic (PV) solar panel manufacturers guarantee a design life of up to 35 years noting that the panels will naturally degrade or lose their efficiency over time.
If the solar farm does not continue to operate beyond its anticipated lifespan, ENGIE as the owner will be responsible for removing all components of the solar farm and returning the land to its original condition.
This is a standard requirement of the Solar Farm Planning Permits as issued by the State or Local Council, as well as being included within the landholder agreements for remediation.
Decommissioning is the responsibility of the solar farm owner.
As part of standard approval conditions, a decommissioning plan is required to be submitted to the relevant authority before construction can commence with a more detailed plan for rehabilitation submitted prior to decommissioning commencing.
Recycling
Photovoltaic solar panels consist of 95% recyclable materials, including aluminium, glass, silicon, silver, copper, indium and germanium.
(Source: CEC Factsheet – Safe and sustainable: debunking myths about solar panels)
As solar PV panels and counterparts come to their end of life, there is an industry-wide demand for PV recycling capacity. ENGIE has a dedicated Research and Innovation (R&I) division to help identify, explore, experiment, and deploy solutions that will make the energy transition possible and apply them to our industrial facilities or those of our customers and partners.
Based in Belgium, ENGIE’s R&I team are working on recycling technologies and opportunities for the reuse of decommissioned materials. ENGIE is also looking to consolidate its research and practices to align with Australian vendors and agencies and meet local industry standards and capabilities.
There are now several solar PV recycling facilities in Australia that work to recycle end-of-life solar PV modules. This includes all associated materials such as cables, inverters, mounting structures and optimisers while using no chemicals.
(Source: CEC Fact sheet – Safe and sustainable: debunking myths about solar panels)
As the peak body for the clean energy industry in Australia, the Clean Energy Council (CEC) is currently working with the industry to explore end-of-life and disposal processes for both the solar PV industry and the wind industry in Australia. The CEC has established a Manufacturing and Product Life Cycle Working Group to discuss issues and explore barriers to the reuse and repair of solar PV panels and help guide the direction of the CEC.
The ENGIE AMEA Sustainability Report conveys and discloses all aspects of our business on environment, sustainability and governance requirements. You can view and download the latest report.
