Things Commercial Solar Customers Should Keep in Mind When Installing a Solar PV System on their Rooftop

The output of the photovoltaic modules is proportional to the amount of solar radiation that is received. The modules produce electricity when the photons pass through silicon cells and excite the electrons which creates voltage and current. When photons hit the PV cell, some electrons get excited thereby generating incremental amount of electricity. Where obstacles such as trees or other roof structures cast shadows on the panels, energy yields are reduced - sometimes close to zero until the shadow has passed.

Hence, businesses which want to install a solar PV system on their rooftop, should first note that anunobstructed exposure to sunlight all through the year is vital. Any obstruction in its way is going to create a shadow. Small or partial shading of solar molecules can also cause a significant reduction in the output.  Modern micro inverters or DC controllers can alleviate the impacts, however a reduction in yield still occurs.

The installer will have to select a proper site with minimal or no shading or have to be up front about yield losses if he/she finds some shading that can’t be avoided.

Other risks include structurally unsuitable roof types which cannot safely withstand forces or ‘loads’ which the panels will exert through its weight and wind loads.

To reduce the risk of sub-optimal system design, a good approach is to have an independent solar assessment undertaken by an expert solar consultant. The consultant will identify the best location within your roof for the solar panels, and exclude unsuitable areas. 

You can contact a professional solar consultant in Australia like Enhar to undertake a thorough assessment of your rooftop, prior to inviting solar installers to quote and install. A solar consultant can check your site for the shading obstacles and recommend the best location for the solar panels to optimize energy yield through the whole year. 

Evaluating the shading profile at the installation site is an essential part of solar design as well as installation. Actually, the entire system’s performance may be greatly diminished & investment of home owners considerably undermined if shading effects are underestimated.

Today, a lot of Australian PV developers are conscious of the shading issues and many manufacturers are even making use of bypass diodes.

However, if you have a solar photovoltaic system installed and a neighbor proposed for constructing a new structure, which may impact your site, you must be able to object formally based on a reduction in your income from the solar array.

Again, a solar consultant can assist you with a shading impact assessment so you can seek suitable compensation for any yield lost through shading from newly constructed neighboring buildings.

How is Solar Energy Used on Earth?

The uses of solar energy are expanding fast with the development of modern technologies. Here are the different ways that are used to capture and use the energy of the sun.

How is Solar Energy Used on Earth? from Lili Rose

A Breakthrough in Solar Energy Has Been Announced By the Australian Scientists

Researchers in Australia have developed a new way of configuring commercial solar panels, which has broken records for conversion of sunlight into electricity – at costs which may be affordable.

The new PV system is created by the researchers of UNSW (University of New South Wales). It converts over forty percent solar energy into electrical energy, which represents a fifteen percent increase over other top panels.

The lab tests have proved that the solar cell process can convert up to forty-six percent of the energy of the sun into electricity. The new method works with the regular commercial PV cells stacked to absorb different wavelengths. This breakthrough could makesolar plants more competitive with low cost sources of energy including coal.

Martin Green, the professor of UNSW said, “This is the highest efficiency ever reported for sunlight conversion into electricity. We used commercial solar cells, but in a new way, so these efficiency improvements are readily accessible to the solar industry."

Green also said that the production of traditional solar energy only makes use of one solar cell, whichrestricts the conversion of sunlight to electricity to about thirty-three percent. But the new technology that has been developed by UNSW distributes sunlight into four various cells, therefore increasing conversion levels.

The advancement involved two important steps-3 solar panels were stacked for capturing the energy from sunlight of various wavelengths and then excess light from cells were reflected by filters and mirrors and directed to the 4th PV panel. Hence, earlier unused sunlight was used and contributes to the increased level of efficiency.

Solar researchers of UNSW have made many advancements in solar energy in past 40 years, including the first PV system for achieving a conversion rate of more than twenty percent in 1989. However, the latest development doubles that achievement.

This new technology can be used with PV power towers, which make use of sun tracking mirrors for focusing the sunlight on a tall collector building. Green however, hopes to use this technology on domestic solar panels on homeowner’s roofs in the future. Domestic solar panels presently have only fifteen to eighteen percent efficiency. “The panels that you have on the roof of your home, at the moment they just have a single cell but eventually they'll have several different cells... and they'll be able to improve their efficiency to this kind of level,” Green said.

ARENA (Australian Renewable Energy Agency) is providing funding to solar energy researchers at UNSW. Ivor Frischknecht, the CEO of the agency said in a statement, “We hope to see this home grown innovation take the next steps from prototyping to pilot scale demonstrations. Ultimately, more efficient commercial solar plants will make renewable energy cheaper, increasing its competitiveness."

ARENA is an independent Commonwealth authority, supporting the innovations, which increase the competitiveness of renewable energy technologies and improve the renewable energy supply in Australia.  ARENA has narrowly escaped abolition thanks to the intervention of the Palmer United Party whole leader made a public pledge alongside climate hero Al Gore.

For installation of solar PV on homes and businesses, the Australian Renewable Energy Target (RET) is still in place, offering 15 year ‘deeming’ for projects below 100kW.   Businesses in Australia wanting to benefit from a solar installation are pushing ahead to have their solar feasibility confirmed and purchase and install systems before mid 2015, which is likely to be the earliest date the Coalition government could reduce the RET scheme.

For energy efficiency projects, there are various financial support programs presently available in NSW and Victoria, including rebates, energy efficiency grants in Victoria and subsidies that support energy audit services such as Future Proofing Geelong.

How to Find the Best Energy Audit Company for Your School in Melbourne?

Do you operate a School in Melbourne? Conducting an energy audit is highly recommended to improve your sustainability and reduce costs.  Engage an expert to complete an energy audit to determine when, where, how and why energy can be saved in your school and to find cost effective opportunities for improving efficiency.
 

You can find many energy efficiency consultants in Melbourne offering energy auditing services. But you should get in touch with the best energy auditor to get the best outcome for your project. Here is what you need to do (a 2-step process) to find the best energy audit company for your school in Melbourne.

Look online

 

Type in the search box of the major search engine like Google with the keyword ‘energy audit company in Melbourne’ and you will find a number of results below. Have a look at the websites of those companies, go through them and compare them.
 

The online directories can also be helpful. They enlist the names of hundreds of energy audit companies in their sites.
 

Whether it is the directories or the search engines, all you need to do is compare the different companies and narrow down your search.

Interview the auditor
 

After you have narrowed down your search to only 4-5 companies, get in touch with each one of them. Find out the name of the person who would actually be undertaking the audit for your school in Melbourne. Talk directly over the phone or arrange an F2F meeting with the auditor. Remember, the quality of the energy audit will actually depend on the ability of the person conducting the audit on the site.
 

Keep in mind to use this interview checklist for conducting an effective interview. The main things that are covered in the checklist include:
 

Qualifications

The person who will perform an energy audit of the site must have a strong exposure and a technical understanding of the building services equipment. The person must also be an expert mechanical or electrical engineer with excellent problem solving abilities. 

Past work

Discuss with the auditor about his or her past work. The examples that the person gives must not be the work of other employees of the firm. Moreover, the example energy audits must preferably be same as that of your building type and function. 

Testimonials
 

Ask the person when did he or she last perform an energy audit and who was the client? Ask to give the contact details of a few of his or her clients. Contact the customers and investigate how satisfied they have been with their energy audit service. 

Comprehensive audit

Find out if the auditor has the technical capability of analyzing and providing suggestions for saving energy with regards to all the aspects of the school premises. The aspects may include lighting, building fabric, air conditioning, school appliances and computers, etc. It is very common to mistakenly appoint an auditor who looks only at one or two aspects, resulting in partial or incomplete energy audit.

The Steps Involved in Developing a Wind Farm in Victoria

Wind farm development in Victoria requires careful planning and adherence to local regulations. Most of the wind farms take a considerable amount of time (5 years or more) from land negotiation to commissioning. The process of development starts with site identification, land negotiation, design, wind resource assessment, through wind farm planning approval in Victoria, financial close, then the construction phase and then its operation. The following write-up indicates the steps that are typically involved in developing a wind farm. Each step can be considered a hold point at which the decision to proceed to next step is made.

Step 1

Initial research (1st year)

The desktop study identifies the windy regions with potentially appropriate access, topography and environmental overlays, and feasible connection to the electricity grid.

Decision point: Find a landholder(s), commence negotiations.

Step 2

Getting in touch with the landholder, data gathering as well as constraint mapping (1st and 2nd year)

Short-term contracts are sought with the landlords to enable exclusive access to the properties for wind measurements, initial environmental studies, understanding the limitations and other such works. The agreements may include long-term lease options as well, which are to be activated when the project reaches the construction phase or step 7.

Decision point: Refine the design and continue with more in depth wind and environmental studies

Step 3

Refine the project area, complete environmental assessment (2nd and 3rd year)

The area where the wind farm is supposed to develop in Victoria is refined and a thorough landscape, environmental, noise and such other assessment studies are done. These inform the development of the draft management and building plans and, with the community input and landholder liaison, help identify the prospective locations for turbines, access tracks, electrical connection lines and other layout details of the project.

Decision point: Move on to the submission of the planning application and formal grid connection application

Step 4

The submission of development application development (3rd year)

A complete development application document is produced for consideration by the community and the suitable planning authorities in the statutory development assessment procedure. The assessment process gives everyone the chance to make formal submissions concerning the final application, prior to it being evaluated. This process of assessment can see the application approved with or without conditions or even refused.  In Victoria, planning regulations around wind farms may change over time depending on the State government attitude towards wind farms.

Decision point: The result of the application development process considered

Step 5

Wind turbine tenders and the final agreement for the grid connection (3rd and 4th year)

If the application is approved with conditions accepted, a contract is made with the electricity network for the future grid connection. Tenders are also sought for the turbines, balance of plant and construction.

Step 6

Financial Close: Making the investment decision (4th year)

Following the approvals as well as the tenders, the people planning to make the investment, then consider whether to make expenses for construction and operation of the wind farm. It generally involves investing 2- 2.5 million dollars per MW installed. The final decision of whether to proceed or wait depends upon several business and economic issues.

Decision point: To build or not to proceed.

Step 7

Wind Farm Construction (4th and 5th year)

If the decision is made is to move ahead with the construction, orders are to be placed for turbines and transformers at this stage. A construction company is also engaged in developing the wind farm in Victoria. Long-term agreements with the landholders are made and a Community Fund is created it is commenced.

Step 8

Generation (5th year)

The wind farm that has been developed in Victoria starts to generate electricity for the national grid.

How Can Your Business Be Benefitted Using Solar Energy?

Solar energy is a good source of renewable energy. This is widely used in domestic purposes around the world but is generally not utilized vastly in commercial sectors. In Victoria region of Australia this trend is getting changed. Many business houses are installing solar panel for getting better benefits and interrupted flow of energy. Apart from providing unstoppable energy there are some other positive points as well. Australian Govt. provides energy efficiency grant in Victoria to encourage usability of the renewable energy. These grants come as some incentives or financial benefits for installing solar panel. Here I have discussed some of the benefits of using solar energy for businesses.
  

1. Solar power reduces the dependency on electrical supplies from power houses. The best benefit of using solar energy is producing your own electricity. You need not have to depend on any other resources. If your business needs constant flow of energy for smooth operation you can trust on solar power grids. These grids save the extra amount of solar energy which is not used in normal times.
   
   
2. Solar energy is a cleaner source of energy. It does not emit green house gases. Thus you can proclaim your business as a green business. This feature will add extra goodwill to the brand name of your products. More people will be interested in buying products from your organization.
   
   
3. Modern solar panels are easy to maintain. Though the older ones still require a great deal of maintenance, the latest panels are easy to maintain. You just need to install it properly to get the utmost amount of energy.
   
   
4. You can get good amount of deductions from government ends if you use solar panel for your business. There is a solar credit scheme available in Australia introduced by Government. This scheme helps to save some money and make the world a better place to live in.
   
   
5. If you do not want to install your own solar panel then you can subscribe it from various solar power suppliers in Victoria. You need to pay a monthly rate which is still much less than your normal electricity bills. 

Above all are some good benefits of having solar power supply for your business. It will be a smart business decision to utilize the solar power for producing manufacturing products, lighting up the business areas and many more. 

Why Should You Choose Solar Power for Your Commercial Establishment?

There are a number of reasons why you must choose solar energy for your business. Given below are the reasons.

Feel secure that you are protected from the rising prices of energy

Once you have the solar system installed on the roof of your office building, you will see that it will keep on producing free electricity from sun, which means you can significantly reduce or eliminate the electricity bills to a great extent. This is going to give you a peace o mind that you are doing whatever is good for the environment and that you are able to keep the bills low while still enjoying the advantages of all devices which electricity powers.

Incentives from government

The government may pay you for the extra electricity that you produce and is not able to use. The government sometimes even provides thousands of dollars in buying a system for commercial use. If you stay in Victoria, you can make use of these government grants by taking the assistance of Enhar. This company generally helps with preparing application related to energy efficient grant in Victoria.

Substantial investment returns

There is not any financial investment better than solar. From the first day of installation you will be able to save on your electricity bills. This translates into a return on an initial investment of fifteen to thirty percent per year for several years to come and the solar energy is going to pay for itself in about three to six years, depending on the size of the system.

Increases your property’s value

Energy efficient office buildings are sold at a large premium in comparison to the commercial establishments that are less efficient. Imagine telling the buyer that they are going to receive cheques every two months rather than an electricity bill. With the rise of prices in electricity, the buyer is surely going to increase his or her focus on energy efficiency and solar while considering which commercial establishment to purchase.

Being environment friendly

Less energy from grid is drawn when electricity in your office is generated through the solar system. This means less amount of coal will get burnt at the power stations reducing use of biggest source of pollution. Installing a solar panel is the most efficient step that can be taken to reduce the carbon footprint. 

The Wind Energy Services to Keep in Mind for Developing Wind Farms

The sector of wind energy is experiencing unexpected growth all over the world including Australia. Australia is a country where wind energy is highly ranked in Renewable Energy Country Attractiveness Index.  In fact, Large-scale Renewable Energy Target produces a financial motivation for growth and establishment of renewable energy power stations inspiring the main activity all over the board. With substantial wind resources, consistent environmental policy and extensive land areas, proper conditions exist in the country for the sector of wind energy to strengthen and expand.

For fulfilling its potential, the sector of wind power needs continued diligence in choosing and developing proper land areas with reliable resources, apt availability of equipment, wind turbine technology and controllable and safe power.

If you own a business in Victoria and its planning involves wind power generation for exporting energy at any distribution or for the transmission level in the country, you first need to realize the opportunity of your wind farm. While assessing this, you need to keep in your mind that there are a few services which would be of great value for your business. Mentioned below are those services:

• Finding a site and acquiring wind farm prospects
• Optimisation and design of wind farm
• Wind farm planning approval in Victoria 
• Visual evaluation of the wind turbine projects
• Data analysis and monitoring of wind 
• Assessment of noise of the wind energy projects 
• Energy yield reporting, calculation and assessment 
• Wind farms construction management 
• Intervention of the environmental issues with regards to wind energy 
• Market entry in the wind sector of Australia and forming partnerships within the country 
• Capability statement for wind farm development 
• Training of the staffs on wind power 
• Shadow flicker evaluation of the wind farm

Germany Outranks United States in 2014 International Energy Efficiency Scorecard

A lot of industry observers will however not be amazed to find out that Germany, who won that FIFA World Cup 2014, outranks the United States in energy efficiency. Moreover, they are moving with the goal of reducing their energy consumption by fifty percent by 2050 in comparison to what it was in 2008. But it is not only the Germans who have become popular for their engineering prowess and efficiency, India, Spain, China and Italy are also a few world economies which ranked above the United States.
 

The countries that account for about seventy-one percent of the world energy consumption were assessed across thirty-one categories for 100 points. The categories mainly fell into 4 areas-energy usage at buildings, transportation, industry and national level. Germany took the top spot in the industry, China scored high in building efficiency, EU led the score in the national efforts and Italy was first in transportation.

There was simply no excuse for US lagging behind the other nations of the world on energy efficiency. Using energy efficient grant in Victoria, states such as Vermont even proved that energy efficiency reduced impact on the environment, saves money and creates a lot of job opportunities.
 

This year ACEEE added a few new metrics such as agricultural efficiency, water efficiency, building retrofit policies and energy efficiency investment by the private sectors. And the US topped the score in building efficiency tying with United Kingdom. In 2012, the country ranked 9th out of 12 countries. So, all these suggest that the nation had not many any such improvements in the last two years. A lot of improvement needs to be made especially in the area like industrial efficiency, where the United States can vastly increase its use of power systems and combined heat and conduct mandatory energy audits like other nations already do. The country needs to do a lot on energy efficiency for remaining competitive in the increasingly competitive global marketplace.