Are we talking about SA or the rest of the world. 90 billion. Seven year life span. What a pile of steaming hot horse manure.
No one knows the lifespan of solar panels. The first ever solar array was constructed in the sixties and still operating.
Stretch it any which way you like. SA will look after its own. To much reliance on the NEM headed by a dinosaur. Why should SA be reliant on Victoria's generosity for SA power. SA is saying get stuffed we will look after our self.

Batteries will be old technology very soon. You should talk to Dr Kevin Moriarty at 1414Degrees for a much cheaper solution.
David

This article expresses simply and clearly the scale of the task ahead. Emotional rants won't alter anything.

I'm sure that the authors would agree that there are ways to reduce the cost to achieve the same goals and that they have demonstrated what the "business as usual" case looks like if batteries are used to smooth the surplus wind peaks to fill the demand troughs.

It is now the responsibility of those who disagree to state precisely what changes they recommend from business as usual, rather than just to cry foul from the sidelines.

As for Cobber's complaint that one author's web site does not support wind power: considering the operational risks and costs, there may be very good reasons for doing so. An appropriate starting point might be for the wind turbine owners to band together to pay for the initial 100MW/200MWh, or whatever, of batteries which are solely and only necessary because of the technical deficiencies inherent in the equipment that they have connected to the NEM.

Alan B no one has made a thorium reactor, when they make one that works, BINGO we get one. The same with these stupid solar arrays. Go to Bridgewater in Victoria and see that piece of fraud. Started up with tax payer dollars and when it was time to perform bring in the liquidators. Lets see one of these actually work.
My challenge Alan is tell me where there is a working solar array and I will trot out there and give it the once over. Last time I offered to buy your house off you for ten dollars as we are all going to hell. That offer still stands lol!

That array as you say was not an array it was a mismatch of all kinds of alt power.. That was set up as a privately funded demonstration of verious ways to generate power or hot water. That was years ago. That project seen the advent of evacuated tube solar hot water systems.
Frost unaffected and overheating unaffected, and half the cost of the original copper tube heaters.

That's a great fact, because I live there and we need some changes. I hope after renoval it will be great!