Solar Case Study – Federation Square

Location:

Melbourne, VIC

System 1 Size:

16.4kW

System 2 Size:

8.2kW

Solar Inverter:

SMA STP8000TL, SMA STP17000TL

Solar Panels:

105 X REC 235W

Estimated Annual Production:

30MWh

CO2 Avoided Annually:

46 tonnes

Installation Date:

Late 2012

"… a great deal of planning went into the installation.”

The iconic Federation Square in Melbourne is home to major cultural events, many restaurants, bars and specialty stores.

Federation Square selected Energy Matters to supply and install solar power systems as part of its overall energy management initiative; which incorporates an energy performance plan with a goal of becoming carbon neutral by 2013.

Energy Matters installed two grid connect systems on Federation Square – a 16.4kW array on the Ian Potter Gallery and an 8.2kW system on the Alfred Deakin Building.

Combined, the two Energy Matters solar panel systems will generate approximately 30 megawatt hours of clean electricity per annum and avoid an estimated 36 tonnes of power-related carbon emissions annually. Both of these systems will offset the electricity usage of the respective buildings.

The Federation Square building has a complex facade – and the rooftop is just as intricate; which made the project particularly challenging. A great deal of planning went into the installation to ensure the solar arrays would attain the required level of performance and be mechanically safe.

One of the many challenges was the material used for the building’s roof – a non-penetrable material requiring Energy Matters to source special clamps.

Our team was also quite restricted in terms of access to the building. Given it is a public space, our installers could only have access during certain hours. Even then our presence needed to be low impact to ensure day-to-day operations in Federation Square were not disrupted.

Much of the moving of materials was done manually as a crane could not be used on-site. Solar panels, inverters and other components were carried up flights of stairs and across rooftops.

The systems were connected to multiple switchboards and to the Building Management System.

The project was successfully completed without causing any major interruptions. The building management were extremely happy with Energy Matters and commented at the end of the project that they hardly noticed the presence of our team.

This project demonstrates Energy Matters’ ability to complete a project on an iconic public building in a timely manner – and to the clients’ satisfaction.

Considering a commercial scale solar project? Contact us today and we can begin to build your Melbourne solar system together.

View more commercial case studies