No Bluffing for Solar Power in the Bluff, Queensland

A suburb of the city of Ipswich located in Southeast Queensland. It is situated about 20 miles from Ipswich and about 40 miles from Brisbane central business district. Solar power Study for The Bluff tries to highlight the possibility for solar power in the area.

The Bluff is an extended suburb of the city of Ipswich. A sparsely populated area, The Bluff is dotted with farm houses and Country homes with wide open spaces. It is bordered primarily by Rosewod, Woolshed, Tallegalla and Lanefield.

• Area – The Bluff has a similar topography to the areas in the southeastern Queensland region. IT primarily consists of scrubland, some grassland strewn with trees and a little bit of hilly terrain in certain parts.
• Connectivity – As of yet connectivity to the bluff is limited. Sandwiched between areas with access to highways the bluff itself has no access to them. There are a few bitumen roads and a lot of dirt roads. Access to the Bluff is possible only by moving further inward from the localities nearby.
• Solar Potential – This area is probably not on the radar for residential development. The Bluff has good weather throughout the year and has consistent sunshine. Since the area is sparsely populated and not many real estate developments are coming its way, residential solar power would happen on a very small scale. The Bluff is ideal for setting up large solar power arrays to provide electricity to its neighboring areas.

Power consumption in the area is fairly low. The Power grid is supplying most of it, although a few homes already have some solar panels installed.

The Bluff has a lot of open spaces which can allow for a large commercial solar facility to be installed there. This will help serve the city of Ipswich and other nearby localities which are confirmed to grow massively in the coming years. Solar Power generated in the Bluff could help take some of that burden and reduce consumption from the conventional grid.

If the Bluff is later developed into a suburban sprawl for Ipswich and neighboring areas, then there can be a lot of potential for solar power in the coming years in the area.

However, there doesn’t seem to be a push from real estate developers for the bluff. The primary interest areas are mostly to the west, closer to Ipswich.

Another way to develop solar power in the bluff would be to promote it as a weekend getaway close to Brisbane and the other surrounding big cities. There is natural beauty around the bluff to attract tourists. If that happens then it can have potential as a tourist spot and with real estate being developed for accommodation, solar power could also be developed in conjunction.

Till then potential in this area seems to be quite low. If real estate and business don’t flourish in the bluff, solar power also wouldn’t. There are many other localities closer to Ipswich where arrays can be put as well. Along with the over production of power in Queensland, the Bluff will have to come from behind to develop its solar power potential.