Location
Western Province, Papua New Guinea
System Size
14.25kW
Estimated Annual Production
17,520 kWh
Solar Inverters
SMA 1 x SMC11000TL, 2x SIC40, 1x SI5048
CO2 Avoided Annually
25 tonnes
Solar Panels
57 x REC 250W
Energy Storage
48V 1800Ah BAE Gel Battery
Mounting System
SunLock
Commissioned
2013
Lake Murray Lodge is located on the largest lake in Papua New Guinea; in a very remote part of the Western Province.
Lake Murray is one of the best bird watching areas in the Province and is well known for its large and plentiful black bass, barramundi and saratoga fish. With a shoreline over 2000 kilometres long; the lake covers approximately 647 km² and increases to more than three times that size during the wet season.
The recently-developed Lake Murray Lodge overlooks the lake and is nestled among the trees on an island spit.
With the price of diesel for power generation around AUD $5.00 per litre by the time it arrives via the highland road and is floated down the river, an off-grid solar panel system simply made good financial sense for Bob Bates; owner of the Lodge and Trans Niugini Tours.
Bob engaged Energy Matters’ sister company, Apollo Energy, to design a system that would meet the electricity consumption requirements of the main building and twelve visitor cabin rooms.
The result was a 14.25kW off-grid solar power system incorporating SMA inverters, BAE Gel batteries from Germany, REC Peak Energy Series panels and SunLock mounting system. SunLock is a product of Apollo Energy and designed and made in Australia.
All the components were sea-freighted into Port Moresby and then transported via plane (Bob is a pilot), river and mud road. The system was installed and running well before the grand opening of the Lodge.
“Since we switched on this installation it has never gone down and we have never had to use a generator to top up the batteries. It has been giving us power now nonstop for well over a year;” says Bob.
Lake Murray Lodge was the winner of the 2013/2014 Best Small Architectural Project – PNG Institute of Architects / Azko Nobel Design Excellence Awards
Considering a commercial solar project? Whether it’s in the middle of town or the middle of nowhere; Energy Matters can help. Contact us today and we can begin to build your system together.
