Dubbo has a history of saying yes to new things.

In the 1970s, after a nearby town turned down the offer of a new zoo (fearing escaped lions would kill livestock) Dubbo jumped at the chance. Decades on they’ve said yes again to two new large scale solar farms - one in nearby Narromine and the other just out of the city.

The new solar farms will be in good company. Dubbo is one of the top three towns or cities in New South Wales when it comes to rooftop solar adoption. And, like our trip to Griffith, Parkes and Nyngan, it’s easy to see why. Dubbo is sunny all the time.

Special guests on this episode are comedian Dave O’Neil and NSW Renewable Energy Advocate Amy Kean.

Subscribe to get new episodes in your podcast feeds and please leave a review - let us and others know your thoughts on the show.

Next episode is the final in our trip. We’re headed to WA where a solar farm there will complement the existing wind farm out the back.

For more information - arena.gov.au/podcasts

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

At around 600 acres the sprawling Nyngan Solar Farm was the largest in the southern hemisphere when completed only 4 years ago.

What’s it like to visit a solar farm of this size?

And, how have electricity generation costs come down since?

In this episode we head out to northern NSW and also check in with Darren Gladman at the Clean Energy Council for some statistics on how the cost of generation is plummeting.

We hope you’re enjoying our exploration of new large scale solar projects around Australia.

If this is the first episode you’ve encountered, have a look at the others in the feed.

Please subscribe and leave a review with your thoughts about solar energy in Australia.

Find out more information by going to www.arena.gov.au

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It’s famous for its Elvis Festival and a telescope dish that helped put man on the moon. 

But now Parkes, in central west NSW is about to become famous for something else altogether: solar power.

Popping up on a property next door to the town’s mayor, the Parkes Solar Farm will come online towards the end of 2017. When it does, it will power the town’s annual Elvis festival and a whole lot more.

The solar development, one of 12 being supported by ARENA as part of its recent competitive round, will generate approximately 138,000 megawatt hours (MWh) of renewable electricity into the national power grid each year.

This generation will be equivalent to taking either 38,000 cars off the road or planting 195,000 trees, producing enough electricity to power approximately 21,000 homes.

Find out more information by going to www.arena.gov.au

Please subscribe and leave a review with your thoughts about solar energy in Australia.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Griffith is a regional city with impressive industries, Yellow Tail wine for one. Each day container-loads of its product leave the area by train bound for the export market. This thriving business uses more power than a small town - and it will need even more as it continues to grow.

Enter the town’s new large scale solar farm, currently under construction, and getting ready to feed into the local grid - creating an additional supply of energy for a host of high quality agri-businesses in the region.

For more information about renewable energy in Australia visit www.arena.gov.au

Subscribe to Rewired on your podcast app and let us know what you thought by leaving a review.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A disused goldmine 400 or so kilometres inland from Townsville holds the tantalising promise of solar energy that powers the grid after the sun goes down.

The project in Kidston (population: 3 or 4) is the first development to begin construction following the Australian Renewable Energy Agency’s Large Scale Solar Competitive Round. It’s a solar farm that one day could charge one of the world’s biggest batteries, ingeniously fashioned from the mine.

In the first episode of Rewired we drive in, meet the locals and a backpacker from Missouri who see the solar farm as a boon to the region.

Learn more about ARENA’s solar energy projects - www.arena.gov.au

Leave a review and subscribe to automatically get the next episode when we travel to Griffith NSW.

On behalf of the Australian Government, ARENA has invested around $90 million in 12 large scale solar farms around the country after a competitive funding process.

Many of the projects are underway, already generating economic and social benefits for those regional and remote communities that will soon boast their very own solar farm.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Rewired is a new podcast from ARENA, Australia’s renewable energy agency.

Traveling around Australia, host Courtney Carthy sits down with the farmers, construction managers and everyone in between who are witnessing, first hand, a quiet solar revolution in Australia.

Join him as he hears how the ARENA-supported solar projects are rewiring the electricity grid and providing jobs and other economic benefits to rural and regional communities across the our sun-drenched country.  

For more information check out www.arena.gov.au

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.