St Joseph School in NSW Installed 30kW Solar for Big Savings

PROJECT SUMMARY

St Joseph’s Catholic Primary School was a relative early adopter of solar for schools.

We worked with them to install their 30kW system in late 2013 for a 2014 commissioning.

They were a pioneer, but schools have started to rapidly jump on board. Why? Solar is ideal for schools because they have:

• Large roof spaces
• Long tenure
• Large power consumption
• Majority of electricity usage during the daytime

The majority of school electricity usage is from three sources: lighting, air conditioning, and computers.  

Schools already do what they can to reduce energy and water costs, which makes solar the natural next step.

St Joseph’s Catholic Primary School saves on average $11,000 every year from their system. This is about 17.5% of their electricity costs.

The schools says “We installed solar to help reduce our energy spending and to help set a good example for the children attending the school”.

Solar teaches kids many things, among them environment stewardship, science, basic construction principles, and investment math. It’s also a way to introduce the topic of climate change.

SPECIFICATIONS

SYSTEM SIZE30kW

PANEL BRANDLDK

PANEL MODEL250W

PANEL QUANTITY120

INVERTER BRANDPowerOne

INVERTER MODEL27.6kW

KEY FEATURES

• System size: 30kW
• Annual solar production: 40.1MWh
• Average daily solar production: 110kWh
• Net-metered project exports excess generation to the grid
• Return on Investment: 39.41%.
• Annual savings: $11,508.
• Projected payback period: 2.5 years
• Annual offset of CO2 emissions: 56 Tonnes