Adelaide solar plant to compete with China: PM

26 Oct 2012, 3:16 pm   -   Source: AAP
Prime Minister Julia Gillard has opened a new solar panel plant in Adelaide. (AAP)

Prime Minister Julia Gillard has opened a new solar panel plant in Adelaide. (AAP)

Prime Minister Julia Gillard says a new solar panel plant in Adelaide shows action can be taken in the face of climate change.

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Australia's only solar panel manufacturing plant is optimistic about being able to compete with China, which supplies up to 85 per cent of the Australian market.

Prime Minister Julia Gillard opened Adelaide's Tindo Solar on Friday.

Manager Richard Inwood said in time the plant would be able to produce panels at about the same price as those imported from China.

Because of greater automation and innovation, Tindo could employ a lot less workers, Mr Inwood added.

But he noted China's panels were still very cheap here as they had been selling them worldwide under cost, losing billions of dollars, and have been found to have illegally dumped the panels into the United States.

Ms Gillard said the plant dispelled two big myths that were "too common in our national debate".

"Myth number one: that there's nothing that we can do in the face of climate change; that there's no action that we can take," she said.

Australia had acted by putting a price on carbon and consequently changed the economic equation about where the nation got its power, she said.

"And that means ... that there are plenty of opportunities for clean energy businesses to come along and to fill that growing need."

The second myth was that Australia could no longer compete in the manufacturing industry.

She acknowledged the cheap imports issue, saying the government was continuing to focus on what should be the trading rules.

"... it's not about protectionism, but it's about the global rules system for trading and making sure that there is no unfair advantages taken," she said.

Tindo, which can meet the solar panel needs of 15 to 20 per cent of Australia, employs 12 people but plans to expand to up to 100 workers within three years.

Mr Inwood said China could not continue to lose billions of dollars and predicted there would soon be a change, which would benefit Tindo.

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