• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
One Step Off The Grid

One Step Off The Grid

Solar, storage and distributed energy news

  • Solar
  • Battery/Storage
  • Off-Grid
  • Efficiency
  • Software
  • Podcasts
  • Tariffs
  • Electric Vehicles
  • Electrification

WA astronomy hub to be powered by 1.6MW solar system

July 21, 2015 by Sophie Vorrath Leave a Comment

WA CSIRO observatory, home to one of the world's most powerful radio astronomy instruments, to be powered by 1.6MW off-grid solar station.

One of Australia’s leading star-gazing facilities will soon be powered by the sun, after the CSIRO appointed EMC Solar Construction to engineer, procure and construct a 1.6MW solar power station at its Murchison Radio-astronomy Observatory (MRO) in Western Australia.
The 6,000-panel system – to be completed by the end of the year – will include a custom-built inverter room, designed to protect the CSIRO’s radio telescopes from interference and to preserve its quiet environment.
Among telescopes the solar system will be powering is CSIRO’s newest edition, the Australian Square Kilometre Array Pathfinder (ASKAP) – which stands to be one of the most powerful survey radio astronomy instruments on the planet.
Screen Shot 2015-07-16 at 2.48.55 pm
Just this month, the ASKAP found a galaxy five billion light years away, via a radio emission travelling to Earth that was imprinted with hydrogen gas. Scientists gave some credit for the discovery to the unique radio-quiet environment of the Murchison site, about 600km north of Perth.
EMC managing director John Davidson said remote power supply was critical to the success of the MRO and ASKAP, which it is hoped will help astronomers answer fundamental questions about the creation and early evolution of the Universe, and to test theories of cosmic magnetism and predictions from Einstein’s theory of general relativity.
“To be a part of that process is an amazing opportunity for EMC to again showcase its IP and capabilities to engineer and build fully automate solar power stations in remote locations,” Davidson said in a statement on Thursday.
Last month, Perth-based EMC signed an MOU to supply a solar plus storage system to power a vanadium mining project in the remote Northern Territory.
The deal with strategic metals company TNG will see EMC evaluate and implement energy supply options for the Mount Peake Vanadium Project, including the potential supply of a solar power system suitable to run with (appropriately given what they are mining) a Vanadium Redox Battery (VRB) system.

Sophie Vorrath
Sophie Vorrath

Sophie is editor of One Step Off The Grid and editor of its sister site, Renew Economy. Sophie has been writing about clean energy for more than a decade.

Filed Under: Solar

Primary Sidebar

Sign up for our weekly newsletter

Emissions Counter

Renew Economy

RSS Energy News from Renew Economy

  • Tale of two Barnabys: One funding regions through wind power, the other screaming into the wind
  • Too late? Too slow? Too hot? Is climate progress really stalling?
  • Wind and battery output records smashed as new projects close in on key milestones
  • Wind turbine blade gets stuck between homes in small town on way to project site
  • First Tesla Megapacks arrive at massive four hour battery being built at ageing coal hub

RSS Electric Vehicle News from The Driven

  • Hyundai debuts 2026 Ioniq 6 high-performance EV with 478 kW of power
  • “We can lead the charge:” EV council wants V2G cables included in battery rebates
  • BYD to expand 1,000 kW EV charging capacity to international markets
  • Tesla hopes to expand Robotaxi operation to California in coming months
  • Tesla bumps Model Y range to massive 600 km, and offers new paint colour

Press Releases

  • Huge luxury Saudi resort goes 100pct renewables with one of world’s biggest batteries
  • How solar + storage can be a game-changer for people with disabilities

Footer

Technologies

  • Solar
  • Battery/Storage
  • Electric Vehicles
  • Energy Efficiency
  • Software/Gadgets
  • Other Renewables
  • Policy
  • Tariffs
  • Contact
  • Advertise with us
  • About One Step Off The Grid
  • Terms of Use
  • Privacy Policy

Copyright © 2025 · OneStep Genesis on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in