'Made in Australia Tomorrow' needs China's help

Today, Australia faces exciting opportunities as the Federal government prepares to vigorously develop solar manufacturing. Industry experts believe Australia definitely needs to work together. China built an industry partly on Australian innovation, and Australia now needs China's help. Experts say that to build low-cost panels on a large scale, Australia would need access to production-line technology and manufacturing patents developed in China over the past 20 years.

 

Australian Prime Minister Albanese announced in March that the government would invest 1 billion Australian dollars (about 4.8 billion yuan) to increase solar panel production in Australia. Many energy experts welcomed the move, saying it would secure supplies of critical energy resources and give Australia a chance to participate in a growing global industry. But some economists and the federal government's Productivity Commission have warned that subsidising the production of solar panels that can be made more cheaply in China could lead to a waste of government money.

 

Renate Egan, executive director of the Australian Centre for Advanced Photovoltaics, believes Australia needs to work with China, including welcoming Chinese solar manufacturers into Australia, "it's the only way to do it, they have 20 years of technological innovation advantage over the rest of the world." Dr Muriel Watt, a pioneer in the Australian solar industry, agrees: "China has been pushing hard on research and development for the past 20 years and they have the best technology by far. We're really late. We have to start from scratch."

 

Watt believes Australia has several advantages in producing solar panels, such as clean energy abundance, excellent solar research institutions, and a strong relationship with the Chinese solar industry through 20 years of research cooperation. "We have to fight hard to bring production lines from China," he said. "We hope that good relations can make a real difference here... Because so many people from the Chinese solar industry are coming to Australia."

 

With most of Australia's solar panels currently imported from China and a long history of collaboration in research, Chinese companies are interested in Australian-made opportunities, industry sources said. "When you're starting from scratch, you need support and partners, supply chain and engineering support and talent." Prof Egan said Australia might also need Chinese expertise to refine polysilicon and mass-produce solar cells, "and we look forward to working with our Chinese partners." Tim Buckley, Director of Climate Energy Finance, agrees, "I see manufacturing (IP) as both a challenge and an opportunity. This is a way to strengthen cooperation with China."

 

(Global Times)