Large Potential for Solar Power in Willowbank

Just southwest of the Royal Australian Air Force base in Ambereley lies the suburb of Willowbank. This study tries to assess the potential for developing solar power in Willowbank.

• Location – Willowbank is southwest of the city of Ipswich, about 9 miles from the city center and about 33 miles from the Brisbane central business district. The Cunningham highway runs almost through the middle of this highway for the entire length of the suburb. It is bordered by Amberley, Purga, Thagoona, Mudtapilly, Jeebropilly and Ebenezer.

  The Ipswich motorsport precinct is also housed in this area, which contains the Willowbank Raceway and the Queensland raceway. They are also a huge attraction for motorsport enthusiasts who come from all over Australia and the world for the different formats of racing that happen here. Queensland raceway hosts many power car races while the Willowbank raceway is a drag strip for drag racing cars.

• Area – Willowbank is primarily flat grassland with some minor bumps in the terrain. It has wide open grasslands which have resulted in the area being highly sought after for residential real estate development. As it is close to Ipswich it has grown into a very popular residential suburb.

  Willowbank has been earmarked by the city of Ipswich as a future urban growth area. This makes the potential for solar power in Willowbank very good. As the City of Ipswich and parts of Ripley are already growing, Willowbank will also have major urban developments in the coming years.

• Real Estate – Real estate is mostly in acreage in and around this area. However there are a few typical suburban homes to the north closer to Ipswich. These homes are geared towards working families with small back and front yards attached with this property. These homes tend to go for around 250,000 to 300,000 Australian dollars. Acreage farms and adjoining houses are costlier at around 600,000 and above depending on the area offered.

Land release is also quite good as the local government is keen in developing this area. As the south east of Queensland is set to grow manifold, with the population estimated to hit about 4.4 million by 2030 it is an Imperative to develop solar power in Willowbank.

Individual houses are usually the first to pick up solar power as they have the incentive of cost cutting. The power grid from conventional sources is well entrenched here as this area expands into a suburban sprawl. Few households do have solar panels but initiatives need to be taken for the growth of solar power in Willowbank.

In addition, some of the open acreage farms could be put together for an industrial scale solar power park to power Willowbank and other depending on the capacity it has.

This area has already started becoming a go to place for younger families who want to have a nice home close to a big city and then commute to their work. Before housing potential explodes it is important that initiatives for solar power in Willowbank are taken and inroads made into thermal and other conventional power production and consumption in this area.