Australia’s leading wholesale food services distributor, Bidvest Foodservice, made a pioneering move in the nation’s food services industry with the launch of Western Australia’s largest privately-owned rooftop solar power system.
Did you know Energy Matters is Australia’s largest renewable news, blog and educational resource? Subscribe to Energy Matters’ weekly newsletter and keep updated even with incentives, rebates and recommended solar product offers.
Project overview
Location
Bibra Lake, Western Australia
System Size
290kWp non-exporting
Estimated Annual Production
360MWh
CO2 Avoided Annually
300 tonnes
Solar Panels
REC 250 Watt
Solar Inverter
Fronius
Mounting System
SunLock Flush
Installation Date
November 2013
The 290kWp solar array covered 30% of the roof of Bidvest’s 9,000m2 Perth distribution centre.
The installation generated 360 MWh of electricity annually, more than enough to power the site’s daytime base load in summer and offset around 300 tonnes of CO2 per annum. This was equivalent to taking around 92 cars off the road, or powering a NABERS 4-star office space for more than 520 people.
It was installed with less than 2km of cabling and over 2 tonnes of REC panels; the solar panel systems marked a major part of Bidvest’s industry-leading environmental achievements. The centre also employed advanced cold store technology and LED lighting to lower its baseline electricity consumption.
Due to Western Australia’s grid connect restrictions, Energy Matters installed a ramping solution to ensure the solar array delivers maximum production while limiting the risk of tripping the array in grid export situations.
“As one of the first truly large-scale, privately funded and owned rooftop PV solar systems, we see this as the start of something big for commercial solar in Western Australia and applaud Bidvest for taking the lead,” said Jeremy Rich, CEO of Energy Matters.
Bidvest is ranked among Australia’s top 200 companies and employs more than 2500 people nationwide. Bidvest Australia operates five standalone divisions: Bidvest Foodservice; Bidvest Hospitality, Bidvest Logistics, Bidvest Meat and Bidvest Fresh.
Considering a commercial-scale solar project? Contact us today, and we can begin to build your Perth solar power system together.
