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Scotch College Solar | Perth School Solar

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Scotch College, a private school founded in 1897 in Perth, has installed 512kW of rooftop solar across multiple rooftops on its premises with the goal of saving around $235,000 a year on energy costs. Another great step in the right direction for solar schools! 

Scotch College Solar System| Perth School Solar

Scotch College Solar System
Scotch College Solar System (source: Verdia.com.au)

Scotch College installed a large-scale PV solar system at their school, with 1,280 photovoltaic solar panels (enough to cover 10 tennis courts) now currently generating 512kW of solar power. According to an article on One Step Off The Grid, this 512kW is expected to cover 26% of the school’s energy needs. 

It has been installed by Verdia , who were also responsible for financing a 1.7MW, $3.2 million PV solar system at the CSU Wagga Wagga campus late last year, and are helping Stockland Shopping Centres out with their gigantic commercial solar rollout (they’ve worked on Stockland Merrylands and Stockland Caloundra most recently). 

“It’s cheaper and cleaner than grid power and is a working example to students of a 21st century distributed power system,” said Verdia CEO Paul Peters.

“The 512-kilowatt rooftop solar system has been installed across multiple buildings within the senior, junior/middle and maintenance school areas. It will replace about 26% percent of grid electricity use on-site with emission free, renewable power.” he continued. 

According to an official post about the Scotch College Solar System on the Verdia website, the solar project is expected to pay for itself in just under five years and it will save the school $4m in reduced energy costs over the life of the assets. 

If you’re interested in learning more about the options for adding solar power to schools and classrooms, you can also read our article from earlier this year about the Hivvee solar powered school classrooms currently being trialled in NSW. 

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Dunsborough Community Energy Project – Virtual Power Plant

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The  Dunsborough Community Energy Project is currently offering no upfront cost solar in Western Australia – all for the flat fee of $35/week – inviting south-west Western Australia residents to join their 6.5MW virtual power plant. 

Dunsborough Community Energy Project

Dunsborough Community Energy Project
Dunsborough Community Energy Project (source: dunsboroughcommunityenergyproject.com.au/)

This Dunsborough Community Energy Project has been established as a joint effort between Perth-based company Redback Energy, investment outfit SUSI Partners and Perth law firm Jackson Macdonald. It already has over 60 signups to their virtual power plant and hope to reach 1000 by the end of the year. The goal of their project is to allow all members to be 90% renewable inside their homes. It’s a realistic goal, and they have partnered with some fantastic companies to deliver a really powerful product offering:

According to a post on RenewEconomy, people who sign up to the Dunsborough Community Energy Project will receive:

  • 7kW of solar PV (Suntech panels)
  • Redback 5.5 KVA inverter
  • 9.6kWh Pylontech (LiFePo4) batteries

The community’s goal is to reach 1,000+ Redback solar and battery storage systems in the area (Dunsborough and Yallingup). Over the 10-20 year lifespan of the project ‘additional income and dividends’ are expected to raise up to $8m which can then be spent on lowering energy costs further or giving back to local community projects. 

The official website states that Redback Energy will give $250 towards a ‘community fund’ for each system sold. This fund will then be distributed “…to fund local community projects in schools, sporting clubs and or other projects such as a Dunsborough community pool.” A great idea and fantastic to see Redback supporting the local economy in more ways than one!

Click here to view the official website of the project and learn more about it. 

You can also learn more about Virtual Power Plants or Community Solar across Australia by clicking!

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WA Solar – Installs rising, but so is ‘energy inequality’.

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The Bankwest Curtin Economics Centre has created a research report on WA solar entitled Power to the People: WA’s Energy Future. It highlights the rapidly rising trend of solar power in Western Australia but also a more sobering statistic – so-called ‘energy poverty’ where those in a lower income bracket are spending up to and over 15% of their income on energy (with the average household energy (electricity, gas, and heating) bills no more than 4%). 

WA Solar Overview

WA Solar Installation Predictions 2017
WA Solar Installation Predictions 2017 (source: theconversation.com / CER)

Western Australia’s rooftop solar PV capacity is set to reach 2000MW by 2022 – a figure larger than every power station in WA bar one. According to the ‘Power to the People’ report, WA rooftop solar PV has increased by a massive 37% over the past 18 months. 

Western Australia solar power installers have been hard at work – with around 25% of suitable residences having solar panels installed – which brings WA to third place in Australia, behind Queensland (32%), and South Australia (31%). 

Energy Inequality in WA

WA Today also reported on the ‘energy poverty’ situation – according to the Power to the People report, low-income families pay almost $1,791 per year for energy. This is up $440 since the last year – and the report also revealed that at least one in ten single parents are spending a massive 15.1% of their yearly wage on energy. Around 25% of them spend more than 10% of their income on energy bills – while middle-income families only pay around 3% of their annual income. 

Bankwest Curtin Economics Centre director and author of the report, Alan Duncan, noted that it’s common for those on a lower wage to be renting, and at this current point in time there’s little reason for owners to install solar panels on their rental properties: “However, there is a need to revisit incentives for new solar installations, with landlords having little financial motivation to install solar on rental accommodation, and homeowners deterred by the initial upfront costs involved.”

As stated before, in WA 25% of suitable dwellings have rooftop solar installed. However, in lower socio-economic areas, only 7.4% have solar panels installed. What’s the future to combat this and try to find a way forward so we can install solar power for rental properties? Technology upgrades, government incentives, or something else? Soon enough we will reach critical mass for owner/occupiers and need to find ways to bridge the rental gap. Can the Government come up with something to help? Watch this space…

 

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