Germany funds Australian solar-plus-storage pilot project for broadcaster

July 18, 2014
LinkedIn
Twitter
Reddit
Facebook
Email

An antenna tower in Australia serving a broadcaster will be the site of a solar-plus-storage project funded by the German government and designed to deliver power 24 hours a day.

Photon Energy, originally founded in the Czech Republic but now headquartered in Holland, was selected for the project by the German Energy Agency (DENA).

Funding for the project came from the German Federal Ministry of Economic Affairs. The company will design, install and operate a 39kWp PV plant coupled with a 215kWh battery system on a broadcasting tower owned by Broadcast Australia (BAI) in Muswellbrook, New South Wales. The system will charge from the PV plant during the day, the battery system is combined with an 8KVa diesel backup generator to provide round-the-clock energy.

A recently completed Photon Energy commercial rooftop project in Australia. Image: Photon Energy.
The new system will replace the tower’s existing power supply system. Relatively small in size, it will utilise 96 solar panels, 24 batteries made by lead acid battery company BAE Batterien and supplied by Australian distributor R&J Batteries. It will also use three inverters made by SMA and a monitoring system. With the project carried out under the remit the DENA Renewable Energy Solutions Programme’s initiative “renewables – Made in Germany”, most of the components of the system are sourced from German companies.

This article requires Premium SubscriptionBasic (FREE) Subscription

Enjoy 12 months of exclusive analysis

Not ready to commit yet?
  • Regular insight and analysis of the industry’s biggest developments
  • In-depth interviews with the industry’s leading figures
  • Annual digital subscription to the PV Tech Power journal
  • Discounts on Solar Media’s portfolio of events, in-person and virtual

Or continue reading this article for free

According to Photon Energy the project will “pioneer the use of renewable energy for communications infrastructure in remote locations” and could provide the basis for “thousands” of similar sites across Australia if successful.

The tower is owned by Australian broadcasting company BAI. Image: Photon Energy.

Read Next

October 29, 2025
“The energy transition is not a pipe dream. It’s here and it’s happening right now,” declared Jackie Trad, the newly appointed CEO of the Clean Energy Council, at the start of All-Energy Australia 2025 in Melbourne this morning (29 October).
October 28, 2025
AEMO has reported a record 56.6GW of new generation and storage capacity in the National Electricity Market (NEM) development pipeline.
Premium
October 27, 2025
RedEarth’s Marc Sheldon admits that the company decided to push back the launch of Australia’s first locally manufactured V2G charger.
October 27, 2025
Australia’s Cheaper Home Batteries Program has surpassed 100,000 installations, with households and small businesses now benefiting from subsidised battery installations totalling 2GWh of distributed energy storage capacity.
October 24, 2025
Samsung C&T Renewable Energy Australia is seeking federal approval for a 200MW battery energy storage system (BESS) project located near Townsville, Queensland.

Most Popular

Email Newsletter