Randwick City Council - Largest Local Government Solar Project
CHALLENGE
Randwick City Council in Sydney is recognised as an environmental leader in the local government sector. The Council introduced a special environmental levy to fund a comprehensive ‘Sustaining Our City' program which incorporates key activity areas including conserving energy and tackling greenhouse emissions as well as a range of community education initiatives such as the annual Eco Living Fair and Green Innovation Awards.
In addition, the Council has implemented major water saving projects, introduced a community car share scheme for residents including designated parking for car share and hybrid vehicles, and has a number of small solar power installations at various Council sites.
As part of its commitment to environmental sustainability, Randwick City Council sought to boost its green energy generation capacity.
SOLUTION
Randwick City Council engaged Solgen Energy to design a complete end-to-end solar solution to expand its existing 24kWp solar electric system on the roof of its Works Depot, at Maroubra.
Over 7 days the Solgen Energy team installed a 36 kWh solar electric system covering 326.5 square metres of the Maroubra Depot's roof, creating the largest local government roof-top solar electric system in Australia.
The installation consists of 216 high quality Schott modules, which are ideally suited to Australia's harsh climate and have been proven to outlast competitors in terms of durability and efficiency.
A web-enabled monitoring device was built into the system, enabling Council staff to access real time energy generation statistics, as well as to store and analyse data.
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BENEFITS
The system not only improves energy efficiency while reducing energy consumption and operating costs, but also positions Randwick City Council as an environmental leader, encouraging local businesses and residents to take up similar sustainability practices.
In addition to these benefits, the installation will also:
- generate up to 58 Megawatts of electricity per annum - enough to supply 25 per cent of the Maroubra Depot's annual electricity demand, or power almost eight homes each year
- prevent 58 tonnes of CO2 from entering the atmosphere annually
- contribute to making a positive impression on other Councils, local businesses and residents as they recognise the long-term benefits of going solar.
TESTIMONIAL
"Council has been keen to demonstrate strong leadership in responding to climate change and has been installing solar systems, both hot-water and photovoltaic panels for some years. This has culminated in the completion of this 36 kilowatt PV system at our Works Depot which now gives us 60kW installed on Council sites - a great example for our community and local government around Australia. We look forward to the next range of innovations to help reduce further our ecological and carbon footprints."
Peter Maganov, Manager Sustainability, Randwick City Council
