The sun shines and the sky's clear except for a few small clouds scudding overhead at Royalla Solar Farm.
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It's the kind of weather that appears perfect for solar energy, but in reality it can create costs for operators.
Solar farms have been unable to accurately predict changes in their energy output under passing cloud cover, and have paid for it with penalties for inaccurate forecasts.
Several are solving the problem by adopting technology co-created by Nick Engerer, a founder of Canberra start-up Solcast, letting operators accurately forecast the power they'll generate for the energy market.
Dr Engerer, who helped create the technology through an ACT government grant, said it provided part of the answer to the question of reliability for renewables.
"We see that renewables are growing very, very quickly and the need for technology like this is growing with it," he said.
The nation's energy market operator provides a forecast of how much electricity will be generated by wind and solar farms, but output varies with the weather.
If forecasts for energy supply are wrong or generators can't meet targets, it can lead to power system instability and higher costs for solar farms through penalties for failing to meet required output levels.
Solcast combines information from sky imagers monitoring passing clouds at solar farms, real-time data showing energy output from operators, and satellite images to predict the power they will generate five to 10 minutes ahead.
The more accurate predictions, once fed to the energy market operator, reduce costs for solar farms by lowering the chance they'll have to pay penalties.
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Eight solar farms have adopted the technology through a project funded by the federal government agency accelerating Australia's transition to renewables. Dr Engerer aims eventually to bring it to more solar farms.
"Having it operate for 50-100 solar farms across Australia really will make a meaningful difference across the whole energy market for the reliability of renewables," he said.
"We're doing it because we believe in solar technology as playing a valuable role."
Solcast provides the technology to Parkes Solar Farm, owned by French renewables company Neoen, and Gannawarra, a Victorian solar farm owned by Australian firm Edify Energy.
Dr Engerer said ACT government support helped Solcast mature the technology for large solar farms across the national energy market.
Solcast received a $780,000 grant from the Australian Renewable Energy Agency to run eight stand-alone self-forecasting trials at solar farms in the energy market over two years.
The agency's $10 million program funds similar trials across the nation and covers providers supplying at least 45 per cent of the energy market's wind and solar capacity.