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[Episode #249] – Solar Innovation in Australia
This episode continues our miniseries on Australia’s energy transition.
In late 2024, Chris traveled to Australia and recorded interviews with a wide range of experts who are intimately involved in the energy transition there. Previous episodes in this miniseries are Episode #234, Episode #235, Episode #246, and Episode #247.
In this episode, we feature three researchers and entrepreneurs in Australia who are advancing solar technology research and development:
- Martin Green, Professor at University of New South Wales, Sydney and Director of the Australian Centre for Advanced Photovoltaics.
- Craig Wood, CEO of Vast Energy, a concentrated solar thermal power (CSP) company.
- Richard Payne, CEO of RayGen, a concentrated solar PV and solar thermal company.
In the next and final episode in this miniseries, we’ll take a close look at how one Australian state is solving the challenges of knitting together customer-owned systems into a reliable power grid.
Craig Wood is the CEO of Vast. Craig has led Vast since 2016, proving the internationally awarded solar thermal technology at a Pilot Plant in regional NSW and leading the development of Vast Solar’s first utility-scale plant in Mount Isa, Queensland.
Craig is an experienced leader with a background in corporate management, structured finance and the energy and technology sectors. Prior to joining Vast in 2015, he worked in London, NewYork, Sydney and Perth and has held leadership roles in diverse industrial and manufacturing organisations including Browne’s Dairy, Archer Capital, and Lehman Brothers.
Craig holds a BSc in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Western Australia and a MSc of Finance from the London Business School. He was also a Rhodes Scholar at the University of Oxford.
On LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/craig-wood-59bb3a111/
On the Web: https://www.vast.energy/
Dr. Martin Green is Scientia Professor at the University of New South Wales, Sydney and Director of the Australian Centre for Advanced Photovoltaics, involving several other Australian Universities and research groups. His group’s contributions to photovoltaics are well known and include holding the record for silicon solar cell efficiency for 30 of the last 39 years, described as one of the “Top Ten” Milestones in the history of solar photovoltaics. The PERC solar cell that he invented in 1983 and his team developed to its full potential accounted for 91.2% of worldwide silicon solar module production in 2021 (CPIA).
Major international awards include the 1999 Australia Prize, the 2002 Right Livelihood Award, also known as the Alternative Nobel Prize, the 2007 SolarWorld Einstein Award, the 2016 Ian Wark Medal from the Australian Academy of Science, the prestigious Global Energy Prize in 2018, the 2021 Japan Prize, the 2022 Millenium Technology Prize and, with three former students, the 2023 Queen Elizabeth Prize for Engineering.
On the Web: Martin’s page at UNSW
Richard Payne is the CEO of RayGen, where he has been since 2015. Previously at RayGen, he served as Chief Operating Officer responsible for the development of RayGen’s core technology. Prior to that, he worked at Ceramic Fuel Cells Limited, where he held the roles of Engineering Manager, General Manager of Operations, and Chief Operating Officer. Richard is a qualified Chemical Engineer and spent time in the steel industry as a process engineer prior to his role in developing and commercializing fuel cell technology. He’s committed to tackling climate change and protecting of the environment, and is passionate about birdwatching and native gardening.
On LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/richard-payne-0a83871/
On the Web: https://raygen.com/
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