One of Australia’s largest rooftop solar systems has been completed, with the successful installation of a 500kW array on Toyota Australia’s Altona North manufacturing plant, in Victoria.
Backed by the government’s Clean Technology Investment Fund, the project was completed by a Sydney-based engineering firm this week.
It is Victoria’s biggest rooftop solar array – made up of 2000 Kyocera solar panels – and, according to Toyota, the first in Australia to connect directly to an industrial site’s internal high voltage network via a single 500kW central inverter and transformer.
The 500kW system – which will be launched officially on Thursday – is expected to generate enough energy to power the equivalent of 200 households.
“This installation is an excellent example to other businesses that large scale solar installations should be implemented not only to help the environment, but also to benefit the bottom line,”said George Phani, National Manager at Kyocera Solar, which is headquartered in Sydney.
Last month, Swedish furniture giant Ikea announced plans to install 3.9MW of rooftop solar PV systems across all of its Australian facilities, a project that would result in the nation’s largest commercial solar development so far.
© 2014 Solar Choice Pty Ltd
