The Department of Climate change and Energy Efficiency (DCCEE) has released the Solar Cities Catalyst for Change background paper, outlining the current and future goals of the Solar Cities program.

 

The program was launched in 2004 to showcase sustainable energy models across seven Solar Cities sites.

 

The Australian Government program has been conducting trials of business models and energy solutions since 2007 to inform public policy. Trials are being conducted in seven Solar Cities around Australia: Adelaide, Bankstown, Townsville, Central Victoria, Alice Springs, Moreland and Perth (Figure 1).

 

The paper offers a background for future publications on results from the program and aims to set the context by providing general information on the Solar Cities and the trials and results of the initiative.

 

Data from the trials are coming online progressively, and the Department of Climate Change and Energy Efficiency (the Department) is keen to provide access to emerging results. Later publications are likely to cover such topics as:

  • energy consumption
  • demand management
  • the takeup of PV technology
  • smart metering.

 

The full report can be found here