ARENA extends Australia’s national solar research program with $7m/year funding to 2032
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By Alison Potter for the Australian Centre for Advanced Photovoltaics
The Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) has extended its support of Australia’s flagship solar research program, the Australian Centre for Advanced Photovoltaics (ACAP), to 2032, driving development of next generation, ultra low-cost solar. The funding will support early career fellowships and collaboration, as well as new state-of-the-art infrastructure across ACAP’s seven research institutes.
Ultra low-cost solar is a strategic national priority for ARENA which is targeting a total Levelised Cost of Electricity (LCOE) of less than $20 per megawatt hour – around one third of the LCOE of today’s utility scale solar PV.
The new ACAP 3.0 program represents a $220 million national research initiative, supported by co-investment from ACAP’s seven universities, and industry partners. An extension to its existing program, it will accelerate the development of ultra low-cost solar by improving efficiency, lowering manufacturing costs, extending module lifetimes and fast-tracking the technologies that will power a low-carbon global economy.
ACAP Executive Director Professor Renate Egan says the investment provides Australian researchers with the long-term certainty needed to deliver the next major wave of solar breakthroughs. “Solar is still a relatively young technology with plenty of scope to improve. This commitment positions Australia to build on our proven success developing the talent and breakthroughs needed to deliver the next generation of solar innovations.”
ARENA CEO Darren Miller commented [1], “Australia helped lead the world in solar, and we want to keep leading the world in the next wave of solar innovation.
“This funding backs our best researchers and helps turn Australian ideas into real-world technologies that can strengthen our clean energy system and create economic opportunity.
“Building more of this expertise here at home makes Australia stronger, more secure and better placed for the future.”
ARENA’s commitment continues a research story that began in the 1970s and helped transform solar into the world’s fastest-growing energy technology.
What the 1970s energy crisis teaches us about solar innovation
In 1973, when war in the Middle East disrupted oil supplies and energy prices surged, governments around the world were forced to rethink how they sourced, produced and used energy. As a result, investment flowed into alternative energy research. In Australia, that support reached a young engineer at UNSW Sydney named Martin Green. Early Australian Government funding allowed Green and his team to begin work on improving silicon solar cells.
“We were fortunate that independent confirmation of cell efficiency was already established as a precedent, leaving no doubt we were leading the world in improving solar cell energy conversion performance," reflects Professor Green.
Resourcing continued via Australian Government programs, and when funding tightened in the 1980s, the research continued with support from international partners, including NASA and Sandia National Laboratories.
The result was transformative. Initial work investigated “passivated contacts” leading to the demonstration of the first “tunnel oxide passivated contact” (TOPCon) cell in 1981. In 1983, Martin Green designed the first high-efficiency PERC silicon solar cell, with both PERC and TOPCon going on to underpin the modern global solar industry and drive the rapid growth of renewable energy worldwide, accelerated by global concern about climate change.
Australia’s decades-long history of high impact solar research and industry translation has been made possible by consistent government support for next generation technologies, as reflected in the extension of ACAP to 2032.
From research breakthroughs to economic opportunity
Today, solar is moving beyond electricity generation to become the foundation of new industrial sectors. Ultra low-cost renewable energy has the potential to unlock new industries such as green hydrogen, low-emissions metals and energy-intensive manufacturing powered by clean electricity.
ACAP modelling shows how significant those opportunities could be. Research[2] led by Dr Bin Lu at ANU demonstrates that cheaper solar could reshape Australia’s economic future by making entirely new export industries viable.
Dr Lu said, “The magnitude of the opportunity revealed by the analysis is very exciting. Used smartly, 2000 GW of solar PV could power a fully decarbonised domestic economy and support large-scale production of green metals for export – positioning Australia as a global supplier of green products while dramatically reducing national emissions.”
That insight sits at the core of ACAP 3.0 – to advance solar technology and accelerate the economic opportunities that depend on it.
Professor Egan says, “Solar is on track to become the world’s dominant energy source and a cornerstone of global efforts to combat climate change.
“ACAP 3.0 is focused on reducing solar’s cost while improving performance, durability and sustainability, so it can scale to the multi-terawatt levels the world requires, and power a prosperous net zero future for Australia.”
What ACAP 3.0 is designed to achieve
The new program sets ambitious goals beyond 2030, including research-scale tandem cell efficiencies approaching 40%, commercialisation of 35%-efficient tandem modules, module lifetimes of around 40 years and manufacturing cost trajectories targeting about 10 cents per watt at scale.
The program is about speed as much as ambition, says Professor Egan.
“ACAP 3.0 is about moving faster and going further. We’ll combine materials discovery with AI-enabled experimentation and a collaborative national program to deliver competitive technologies that are bankable for manufacturers and investors.”
To reach those goals, ACAP 3.0 will:
Push silicon solar technology to its limits in collaboration with manufacturers
Develop tandem and multijunction cells, including perovskite-silicon technologies
Accelerate materials discovery using automation, AI-enabled experimentation and advanced characterisation
Improve real-world performance, reliability and lifetime
Reduce reliance on critical materials and support circular-economy approaches
Strengthen collaboration with manufacturers and industry partners
Train the next generation of solar researchers, engineers and innovators
Australia’s competitive advantage in solar innovation
Australia’s outsized influence on solar technology development is the result of long-term investment, support of world leading researchers, strong links between research and industry, and – in the past decade – ACAP’s national ‘Team Australia’ collaborative research programme.
Established in 2013 with ARENA support and led by UNSW Sydney, the Australian Centre for Advanced Photovoltaics connects the Australian National University, CSIRO, University of Melbourne, Monash University, University of Queensland and University of Sydney, alongside industry partners and global manufacturers.The Centre’s unique national model enables strategic programming, access to shared state-of-the-art infrastructure, and multi-disciplinary collaboration.
“Australia is uniquely placed to lead the world in solar photovoltaic research and development,” says Prof. Egan.
“We have an extraordinary legacy, beginning with Professor Martin Green and his team at UNSW, whose breakthroughs in high-efficiency silicon solar cells enabled the modern PV manufacturing industry. That legacy endures in ACAP’s deep ties to global manufacturers and our world-leading researchers, ensuring ACAP’s innovations translate quickly to impact.”
“ACAP’s impact is evident in the industries and capabilities we are helping to build,” says Professor Egan.
“These include SunDrive’s copper-based solar cells replacing supply constrained silver; and Hello Again Solar’s laser-based, chemical free, high recovery and profitable patented solar panel recycling technology that separates and recovers all major materials without harsh chemicals or high temperatures.
“Another pioneering technology receiving wide recognition and on the cusp of commercialisation is Lab 360 Solar which is delivering advanced drone-based, daylight photoluminescence (DPL) imaging of solar farms for high resolution diagnostics.
“We are seeing Australian research translate directly into commercial opportunities at global scale,” says Prof. Egan.
“At the same time, our work in silicon materials and defect control led by teams at ANU is giving manufacturers clearer pathways to higher efficiency and yield.
“In parallel, our research at UNSW on field performance and reliability, including corrosion and UV-induced degradation in TOPCon technologies, is directly shaping industry testing protocols and design approaches, ensuring solar modules deliver long-term performance in real-world conditions.”
“These advances and opportunities are underpinned by the deep skills base developed through ACAP.”
Investing now in the technologies that will shape the next decades
The $7M/year investment from Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) recognises that the next wave of breakthroughs requires long-term commitment. Through the Australian Centre for Advanced Photovoltaics (ACAP), Australia is backing the technologies that will make solar cheaper, more durable and more scalable than ever before, while strengthening our role in the global clean-energy transition.
Professor Egan concludes, “ARENA’s significant investment is ultimately about what happens next. Just as the breakthroughs of the 1980s helped create the modern solar industry, the research being funded today will help define the energy system of the 2030s and 2040s.” [1] https://arena.gov.au/news/95-4-million-boost-to-keep-australia-at-the-forefront-of-next-generation-solar/
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