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Commercial Solar Australia

Brisbane Airport Solar System – 6MW To Be Installed

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Brisbane Airport Solar System – the Brisbane airport have announced that they will install a massive 6MW PV solar array across six sites at Brisbane Airport (BNE). Huge news for commercial solar and renewable energy in general!

Brisbane Airport Solar

According to a spec sheet on the official BNE website, the Brisbane airport solar upgrade will be complete by the end of 2018. It’s already begun work and at the end of the project, six distinct sites across the airport will host 19,200 new solar PV panels generating 6MW per year. It’s to be created with Epho and Shakra Energy. Oliver Hartley from Epho said “The introduction of such a significant solar system is a prime example of how BAC is adopting world-leading technologies in harmony with its sustainability focus.” 

Once complete and fully operational, the new solar installation will account for 18% of BAC’s electricity consumption, or 6% of the airport’s total electricity usage. This may not seem like a lot, but it will reduce carbon emissions by 8000 tonnes per year – equivalent to 750 households. 

The project will be built in 5 stages, starting with stages 1a and 1b in 2017 – .26MW at Skygate, and 0.22MW at the Department of Immigration and Border Protection. The following stages will involve solar roof panels installed on the domestic terminal car parks (both P1 and P2), the International Terminal, and ground panels at Pandanus Avenue. 

GM of BNE, Krishan Tangri, at the Brisbane Airport Solar array.
GM of BNE (Assets), Krishan Tangri, at the Brisbane Airport Solar array.

The General Manager of Assets at the BAC, Krishan Tangri, was quoted on their website discussing the changes the BAC have made to try reduce energy consumption and increase renewable generation: “We are acutely aware of the increasing energy needs of running a major airport and since 2012 we’ve had an extensive energy reduction program in place resulting in the completion of 40 projects which collectively save more than 8 GWh per year.” Tangri also noted that “…with (solar) systems becoming more efficient and more affordable to install, it makes financial sense to invest in this readily available supply of renewable energy to save costs and decrease our carbon footprint.”

Always great to see more commercial solar investment – we’ll follow the project with interest and keep you updated on any changes to the Brisbane Airport solar array!

 

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Commercial Solar in South Australia growing rapidly.

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Commercial Solar in South Australia has been growing rapidly over the past 12 months, with installations at their highest peak since 2012 (when extremely generous feed-in tariff prices were available for early adopters in a (successful) attempt to kickstart the burgeoning solar market).

Commercial Solar in South Australia

According to SunWiz, there’s been a huge 84% growth in businesses investing in solar energy (commercial solar) in the last year. That’s nearly 9,000 units – more than double the rate of two years earlier. The ABC website quoted Warwick Johnston, the managing director of SunWiz, as saying that the uptake rate is higher due to better quality (and higher efficiency) panels at more competitive prices.

“System prices have fallen significantly … since the feed-in tariff-driven boom,” he said. “So people are really taking this up just for the underlying business case rather than trying to rush in to secure some government subsidy, which isn’t needed any more.”

Johnston said that commercial grade PV solar systems were the fastest growing segment, noting that places such as shopping centres and supermarkets have invested in solar energy to help offset the rapidly rising cost of electricity. We could also point to other great examples of this, such as Complete Office Supplies’ private solar investment – an office supply company who, in June this year, invested $1m in rooftop PV solar at their Sydney, Brisbane, and Melbourne warehouse locations (the 611MWh solar systems were installed by Sun Connect).

The Advertiser gives us the example of the Mitani Group, a frozen food, chicken salt (our favourite) and mayonnaise manufacturer based in Salisbury, SA. The Mitani Group installed a 100kW system in December 2017 and, according to the managing director Tas Mitani, the company saved between $1,700 and $1,800 on electricity in July alone. Mitani bought the panels from TINDO Solar, Australia’s only solar panel manufacturer who have also seen commercial solar increase rapidly over the last year. Managing Director Glenn Morelli said that “sporting organisations and clubs, to white-collar businesses, to manufacturers, food industry, aged care,” were all benefiting from installing solar power, and that he was seeing interest from all sectors – basically “anyone with an electricity bill”.

Tindo Solar - Commercial Solar in South Australia Suppliers
Tindo Solar – Commercial Solar in South Australia Suppliers

With companies that use a lot of energy wanting to mitigate the risk of skyrocketing energy prices and the cost/benefit ratio of solar becoming more and more apparent as solar tech advances, we expect to see this trend of commercial solar increasingly rapidly.

Are you a company looking to install solar power at your premises? We partner with a select and trusted group of installers Australia wide, and can help you crunch the numbers to come up with the highest ROI solution for your solar investment. Fill in the form to the right or email us for more info.

 

 

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