David Mailler

UNE 2020 Rising Star Award Winner

The move from harvesting grain to harvesting sunlight has not been a great stretch for solar power innovator David Mailler. Many of the same social, economic and environmental objectives apply, and the promise of regional renewal and sustainability just as enticing.

Indeed, David sees local renewable power generation - particularly solar - as essential to revitalising Australia's rural and regional communities.

"There's a real synergy here," he says. "If we can provide cost-effective energy at source, all of a sudden we create competitive advantages for regional businesses, opportunities for job creation and even industrial applications. It's almost like going back to the past, but instead of millions of dollars spent on electricity charges flowing out each year, you have money flowing back in to those communities."

From a tiny spark of an idea, David ignited a burning passion for solar that inspired a profound personal and professional shift. In the late 2000s he moved from full-time farming on his family's 6474-hectare property at Goondiwindi to a smaller holding at Uralla and tertiary study.

"I was being challenged by the threat of climate change and what I thought the future of farming might look like, and I think there was a bit of a mid-life crisis in there," David says. "I left the family farm, walked the Kokoda Track, was accepted into the Australian Rural Leadership Program, applied for mature-age entry to the University of New England, and got a motorbike licence at around the same time."

Studying for a Bachelor of Sustainability at UNE proved a major turning point and catalyst for establishing pioneering solar power company Meralli Projects, with fellow student Dr Methuen Morgan. "It was a perfect storm," David says. "I'd helped build a solar farm on my father's property in 2017, applying a lifetime of experience in agriculture, and I started to see a different future. The UNE degree gave me clarity around the opportunities and challenges for regional communities, sustainability and global economics. It allowed me to fit the jigsaw puzzle together, to better understand my career choices and place in the community."

That first solar farm at Boggabilla set a new standard for affordable, high-quality power generation ideal for regional and remote areas. Taking the German-designed Jurchen Tech PEG sub-frame and adopting innovative installation techniques, David delivered the world's first megawatt solar generator of its kind and size - mid-scale and medium voltage.

"It lends itself to being a 'plug and play' scenario; it has no moving parts, is well adapted to our arid environment and can be monitored remotely," David says. "It was only when others pointed it out that we realised we had done something unique. We demonstrated that it didn't have to be multinationals building solar of this capacity."

What sets Meralli systems apart from competitors is that they are faster to build and offer strong commercial returns for a fraction of the cost. However, it runs deeper than that. "We use relatively small teams and draw all our staff, including young people, Indigenous people and women, from the local communities in which we work," David says. "Especially in areas with high youth unemployment, we want to give young people an opportunity to gain skills and earn good wages."

Empowering communities is one of Meralli's key underlying principles.  "Farmers we're engaging with are now looking at solar generation as an opportunity to diversify their portfolio; to produce food, fibre, fuel and energy," David says. "As regional communities, we need to take ownership of that, and control the diverse opportunities for wealth generation that ensue."

Meralli Projects has now completed seven projects, valued at $36 million, and David is well advanced with developing the Thunderbolt solar project in his hometown. He's particularly proud that these projects are regional investment opportunities, which he believes will be game-changers for those communities.

"And if I didn't do the Bachelor of Sustainability at UNE, I'd still be plodding along behind a few sheep and driving a tractor occasionally," David says. "I am the most unlikely of solar installers - I didn't have any training or skills in that space when I started. But, as a farmer, I'm a problem solver. My business partner and I also think differently and more holistically about regional communities; we're looking for a balance of social, environmental and economic value.

"The word 'can't' is just not in my vocabulary; I simply look for a different way of doing things. Sometimes you have to be the innovator before others will give it a crack."

Congratulations David Mailler, part of this year's crop of UNE Rising Stars.