For years White Cliffs was justifiably proud that it was the first town to utilise solar power to provide a small part of the town's electricity needs. The 14 parabolic dish collectors followed the sun and collected the energy which was converted by a newly-installed photovoltaic cell.

In 1997 Solar Systems converted the power station from solar thermal to direct solar photovoltaic (PV) operation. The dishes were resurfaced with new mirrors and the thermal collectors were each replaced with PV collectors comprising sixteen PV modules. The peak output for the 'new' fourteen dish system was 50 kW.

There is a series of very detailed signs beside the dishes. Some of the particularly interesting information includes "Each year the sun provides 17,000 times more energy than world demand”.

“The 14 metre wide solar dish tracks the sun from sunrise until sunset, optimising orientation every few seconds for maximum power output.” “Each dish tracks on two axes and is capable of operating independently. 112 highly reflective, curved mirrors concentrate sunlight by 500 times to a focal point at the receiver, 500 times concentration is intense enough to melt steel."

Resources

See next page

From Wilcannia we took a very good sealed road (at right), the Opal Miner’s Way, to White Cliffs.

White Cliffs

At the 2011 census, White Cliffs had a population of 103, but this effectively expands seasonally with fossickers and tourists.

Discovery of Opals at White Cliffs

George Hooley and Alf Richardson were out on Momba Station hunting kangaroo when a horse kicked a bright stone. Unsure as to the value of their find, the showed surveyor Charlie Turner, who advised them to send a sample to Tullie Wallaston in Adelaide who was interested in opal.

Wollaston came immediately to meet Hooley, Richardson, Turner and partner Clouston. The opal was so different to anything he had seen. Wollaston barely knew what to offer them.

With his funds limited to 150 pounds, Wallaston decided to offer 140 pounds, keeping ten pounds in reserve.

On naming the figure there was great calm. They were simply paralysed - but only for a moment and then eight hands shot out.

In hindsight Wollaston realised:

I could have had the whole lot for ten pounds, but did not regret offering a fair price.

Wollaston went on to prosper, and thus made the men the first Opal Kings of White Cliffs.

There are two main mined and habited hills in the townsite; Smith’s Hill (above and above right) and Turley’s Hill (at right).

The map below shows the approximate location of these and other features in and around White Cliffs.

White Cliffs Opals and Pineapples

White opal has a milky background and a pearly appearance. This is the most common and is found around Coober Pedy, Andamooka and White Cliffs.

White Cliffs is famous for its "pineapples" - not the fruit but rather a pseudomorph of Glauberite or Ikaite crystal clusters which is replaced by pure opal. These opal clusters have only ever been found in White Cliffs and are available for sale in the local galleries and shops.

The Stubbie House is a house built from over 50,000 beer bottles. It has been a tourist attraction for decades and today has a fine display of White Cliffs crystal opal in gold and silver rings, bracelets and pendants. It is open daily.

Australian National University engineers designed and built this station in 1981 with $1.9 million from the NSW Government. Fourteen paraboloidal dish collectors, five metres in diameter and each faced with over 2,000 tiny mirrors, track the sun guided by their own sensor. The sun's rays are focused onto a spiral absorber, reaching temperatures between 555° and 1,000°. Water passing through the absorber is turned into superheated steam which is piped back to a reciprocating steam engine, in turn driving AC and DC generators. The system was capable of producing 25 kilowatts of power, and included a large banks of storage batteries and a diesel back-up unit. The electricity was sold to the local community making this arguably the world's first commercial solar power station.

By 2006 there were 40 such dishes across Australia powering remote communities including Hermannsburg, Yuendumu and Lakamanu.

The White Cliffs Solar Power Station ceased generating in January 2005. White Cliffs is now connected to the state grid.

Continue reading >

See more of White Cliffs and our next destinations of Mutawintji National Park