Noosa Solar News – Zero Emissions Noosa (ZEN) recently presented a proposal to Noosa Council to spend $100,000 on rooftop solar for businesses in the Noosaville Industrial Estate.
ZEN and the Noosaville Industrial Estate
There are approximately 300 SMEs (small to medium businesses) in the Noosaville Industrial Estate and the $100,000 grant would be drawn from the business tourism levy allowing Noosa Council to work on reaching its goal of a zero-emission organisation.
Unfortunately, ZEN president Vivien Griffin advised Energy Matters that ZEN missed the cutoff for this financial year so they will have to wait for the next to see if they’re able to gain the funding. Griffin also noted that a major setback for the cause was their inability to effectively calculate return on investment (ROI) on the panel installation – something that can vary rather wildly depending on a multitude of factors. As the price of panels and storage decreases this will become less of an issue and it seems certain that by the next financial year we’ll see a continuation of the major improvements in cost and efficacy the solar industry has experienced over the last five years. Hopefully this can help with the ROI calculations for Noosa Solar.
According to Griffin, ZEN are hoping to install an additional MW (megawatt) of PV solar on the industrial estate over the next year – citing the possibility of also applying for ARENA (Australian Renewable Energy Agency) funding.
Noosa Solar and Zero Emissions Noosa
ZEN’s end goal is that “Council operations and service activities will reach zero net emissions by 2026” – an ambitious and impressive target overshadowing the federal RET by a considerable amount, albeit on a much smaller scale. The Noosa solar plan would provide additional renewable energy to the council and help with the strategy – six Council buildings and facilities have had solar power installed over the last few years. We have reached out to ZEN for specifics on these panels.
Solar Power in Queensland has been leading the charge for Australia over the last few years so it’d be great to see more initiatives like this from the local council.
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Click here to view the Noosa Council Facebook page and let them know what you think!
Click here to read the “Zero Emissions Strategy” for 2016-2026, prepared by the Noosa Council.
