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Jonathan Nally is a science writer and editor of the Australian space news web site, SpaceInfo.com.au (Sydney-based)

“The solar cycle and accompanying solar storm activity, rises and falls over a period of 11 years and has been doing so for billions of years.

NASA reports that the spectacular storm unleashed by the Sun this week is the second-largest (so far) of the current solar cycle. The cycle is on the rise at the moment and is forecast to peak in the next 12 months, so we can expect to see more of these storms.

Not all solar storms are ejected in a direction that aims at Earth, although this week’s one was and it has been predicted to reach us today.

These storms can induce effects in technological systems and have the potential to disrupt power grids, long pipelines, and terrestrial and satellite radio communications. But the effects are well understood and the operators of such systems are vigilant and well-prepared to take precautions that minimise or eliminate service interruptions.

Such “space weather” can also produce stunning aurorae – the Northern and Southern Lights – a harmless and beautiful side-effect of the phenomenon.

They can be seen from far northern and southern latitudes, but unfortunately most of Australia is too far north to see the Southern Lights.”

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Dr Alina Donea is an astrophysicist in the Monash Centre for Astrophysics, Monash University, Victoria

“With the solar cycle entering a more active phase, today’s solar flare is a sign of things to come. Our dependence on high tech communications systems has made us more vulnerable to such events but we should not panic. Previous flares have taught researchers lessons: we learned more about how to operate the instruments during extreme solar activity.

Solar flares are categorised by their size (according to the peak flux recorded in watts per square meter, W/m²), as an A, B, C, M or X class flare. A B-class solar flare releases 10 times more energy than an A-class flare, while a C-class eruption releases 10 times more than a class B flare (and 100 times more than class A) and so on. Within each letter class there is a finer scale from 1 to 9.

The most powerful flare measured with modern methods was in 2003, during the last solar maximum, and it was so powerful that it overloaded the sensors measuring it. The sensors cut out at X28.

This current flare is expected to be of a similar size as the Bastille Day Flare, which occurred on the 14^th February 2000. That flare was one of the largest geomagnetic storms of the previous solar cycle, accompanied by a massive coronal mass ejection and shock which was initially traveling at a speed of ~1800 km/s.

It was big enough to cause the earth’s magnetosphere to become extremely compressed and eroded (on the day-side), causing 3 geosynchronous satellites to enter the magnetosheath for an extended time period (3h). The Extreme ultraviolet Imaging Telescope (EIT) on NASA’s SOHO satellite found itself so bombarded by high flux from the sun that it became saturated and couldn’t record any useful readings.

The Sun also sent Solar energetic particles (SEPs) towards Earth. Through a series of chemical reactions in our atmosphere, these SEP protons drastically diminished the upper-most areas of the ozone layer, a protective blanket mostly in the stratosphere that blocks life-threatening ultraviolet radiation from reaching the Earth. This did not, however, result in a significant impact on human health, especially considering that most of the ozone loss documented in this study occurs over the northern polar region, they are important scientifically.

So, a general comment is that we should expect more or less a similar impact to the Earth.

A very important question for us in relation to these flares of March 2012 is:  has this March 2012 X5 flare produced a solar quake in the Sun? The Bastille Day flare did not generate a seismic event, but this one might have ignited a very big one. We will find the answer soon (the Monash University team works on this). If the flare generated a sunquake then our puzzle about why some flares produce quakes and other do not is even bigger.”

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The announcement was made at 3rd International Solar Cities Congress in Adelaide.

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Dr Richard Corkish is Head of the School of Photovoltaic and Renewable Energy Engineering at the University of New South Wales.

“This is a wonderful step forward and a very hopeful move for the new government to promote what is undoubtedly a wonderful opportunity for Australia. Australia is a leader in the science and technology of solar but is lagging behind in its implementation.”

Professor Stephen Lincoln is Professor in the School of Chemistry and Physics at the University of Adelaide.

“This is a welcome development which recognises the fact that in the end, when all the other fuels are gone, solar is what we will have left. Each year the sun provides approximately 10,000 times the energy we use annually and around the world we are seeing this energy utilised with increasing success. It is nice to see Australia finally getting on board.”

John Dartnall is a Lecturer in Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering at the University of Technology Sydney

“7.1 million is a nice sum and it will be welcomed by the solar industry. It is a valuable step in the right direction. There are many ways of harnessing the sun’s energy, this being one of them and this is a good way to go. The need for these sorts of projects is burgeoning due to the huge energy resources human being are now consuming. All renewable technologies are in their infancy and every step may seem expensive but not in comparison to their long term potential.”