Solar Case Study – Stevens’ Farm

Alan Stevens decided to make the switch to solar in order to help power operations at his farm in Koonoomoo, Victoria.

Koonoomoo, famous for its strawberry farms, is located in the Shire of Moira local government area, 264 kilometres north of Melbourne on the Goulburn Valley Highway.

A 7.5kW ground mount configuration was designed for Mr. Stevens by Energy Matters, consisting of an industry leading mounting system, award-winning 250 watt REC Peak Energy Series solar modules and a STP 8000-TL solar inverter; manufactured by the world leader in inverter technology, SMA.

The REC solar modules offer an impressive 15.1% conversion efficiency and high-transparency tempered glass with Sunarc Technology antireflection surface treatment. These panels also have a low temperature coefficient, meaning they continue to perform well in hot conditions.

The SMA STP 8000-TL is a three-phase inverter offering an efficiency of 98%, OptiTrac Global Peak shade management and OptiCool active temperature management; plus a range of other advanced but user-friendly features.

The ground mount system used was GroundLock, an Australian designed and manufactured framing system and part of the SunLock family of solar framing products. SunLock was founded and continues to be developed by Energy Matters’ sister company, Apollo Energy.

Consisting of a galvanised steel sub-frame and 6106-T6 extruded aluminium upper frame, GroundLock is pre-approved for installation in wind region A, terrain category 2; meaning most of Australia.

The mounting system was put to a real-world test on March 22, 2013 when severe storms and a tornado tore through Koonoomoo. Buildings, homes and properties were damaged and dozens of injuries occurred. Mr. Stevens’ Energy Matters solar power system survived unscathed.

Expected output of the system is 12,737 kWh of clean electricity annually.

One of the challenges of this project was the long cable run from the array to the homestead. Line loss has been minimized through the selection of appropriate cabling.

For farmers searching for new ways of reducing operational costs, rooftops of sheds and farm buildings can form an important part of the answer. If suitable roof space is not available, a ground mounted solar energy solution may be viable.

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

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