Solar Case Study – Renaissance IGA

Location

Hawthorn, Victoria

System Size

5.1kW

Estimated Annual Production

7.66 MWh

CO2 Avoided Annually

9 tonnes

Solar Inverter

SMA SB 5000TL

Solar Panels

30 x Solarfun 170W

Installation Date

February 2010

“People come into the store and ask about it. The electronic read out which shows how much energy has been generated by the system and becomes quite the talking point for staff and customers.”

Independent grocers IGA are known throughout Australia for their community values and dedication to the growth of local business. For owner George Altman, it was important to show his commitment to the environment as well.

“We wanted to go solar because we wanted to make a difference and feel good about it”, said Mr Altman. “A supermarket uses a lot of power, but we don’t want to deplete our resources, we want to reduce our carbon footprint.”

A SMA Sunny Webbox was installed to allow solar output data to be accessed over the internet through SMA’s freely hosted data storage web site, Sunny Portal. The Sunny Matrix public LED display shows daily yield, power output, total yield and cumulative CO2 reduction.

“People come into the store and ask about it. The electronic read out is installed above the meat department which shows how much energy has been generated by the system and becomes quite the talking point for staff and customers.”

Mr Altman says the system also caused a stir with in the supermarket industry.

“I’ve had a lot of people ring expressing their interest in what we have done. At the time it was one of the first supermarkets in Australia to go solar.”
With large flat roofs largely standing empty and unproductive, supermarkets are ideal candidates for solar power installations.”

As to plans for the future, Mr Altman would increase the size of the system, but it would be great if the government increased its support for small businesses to adopt solar energy.

“We’re just the local store, trying to help, trying to do our bit.”

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