Can I use one for my home?

The CS500 dish system is designed for large scale power stations and is not suitable to home applications. The installation process involves extensive engineering and services and is typically not economic below at least a few megawatts in size, or around 100 dishes.

For one home or farm, it would be more cost effective to install a traditional flat-plate photovoltaic power system.

Alternatively, if you are connected to the main electricity grid you could consider purchasing Greenpower from your electricity retailer.  This is electricity that is independently certified as coming from renewable sources.  Greater demand from customers will cause more developers to install renewable energy, leading to ever more widespread greenhouse gas savings.

Can I build a Solar Farm on my land?

The building of a solar farm is a significant business investment costing tens of millions of dollars as a minimum. The availability of suitable land is just one of many requirement including a strong solar resource (good clear sunshine) as well as suitable power-grid connection.

The critical factor, however, is the economics of the investment and the financial return it will deliver which is primarily determined by the local legislation and support for large scale solar programs. Solar projects typically require that the renewable energy can be sold at a premium rate, usually referred to as a “feed in tariff”.

You need to investigate your local legislation and programs and what support is provided for a commercial-scale solar farm. Note that most feed-in-tariffs are ‘capped’ in size for small domestic installations only.

Have you considered developing a domestic-sized dish?

We do not have a product that is small enough to supply 1 or 2 houses and we have no plans for doing so in the next few years.

Our development efforts are concentrated on building larger systems for connection to the mains electricity grid.  That way, we can reach more customers at a low price.

How big are the dishes?

As can be seen from the photographs, each of the dishes is quite large. They are around 14 metres high and weigh several tonnes.

Each dish has 112 mirrors, and each mirror is nearly 1.2 square metres in area.

Why isn’t there more technical information available?

Solar Systems leads the world in being able to generate electricity from solar photovoltaic cells under high concentration. 

Even though our intellectual property is very well protected around the world from registered patents and secret knowhow, we are cautious about sharing our insights too widely.  We hope you understand.

You may register your details with us by emailing your email address, name and postal address to info@solarsystems.com.au.