Talk of carbon price is driving growth for Australia’s solar cell industry. Australian clean energy company SilexSolar has ramped up production of solar cells and modules by 300 per cent at its Sydney Olympic Park plant, driven by household demand.

Australia’s only manufacturer of solar cells, SilexSolar recently introduced a new factory direct online service for retailers of PV panels, cutting costs for energy-conscious consumers and maintaining a competitive edge against imported solar modules.

SilexSolar General Manager Rod Seares said that the success of SilexSolarDirect combined with high profile media discussions around the carbon tax were driving awareness of the benefits of clean power.

“People are increasingly conscious that they will need to address energy prices literally in their own backyard,” Seares said. “We recently installed a new assembly robot and one of the largest laminators in the Southern Hemisphere, which means we are well equipped to handle this growth in throughput -- it is tremendously exciting.

“As Australia’s only solar cell manufacturer, we are delighted both to see demand growing for our solar modules and to continue our drive towards lower production costs.”

SilexSolar employs over 100 people at Olympic Park, where production was increased to 24 hours a day, seven days a week some months ago in anticipation of rising demand.

“Expanding employment opportunities at Australia’s only solar cell facility is a privilege,” Seares said. “Hundreds of jobs were nearly lost when the former owners closed the plant down in 2008. Not only did we save the facility, we have expanded and improved the infrastructure and are working on new models with even greater efficiency. We are just getting started.”

Whilst the Australian solar market has seen growth of up to 400% in recent years, it remains extremely volatile due to its reliance on State and Federal support.

“Although others have talked about local solar cell production, we remain the only Australian company that has successfully invested and reached full production,” Seares said.

“Like many other businesses in Australia who are working towards a clean energy economy, stability is key.”