Creative Commercial Solar Installations In Australia

Solar panels on a rooftop are always exciting to look at, although I may be a bit biased. But some businesses and other organisations have been getting creative in how they present their renewable energy installations and what they signify to the world.

Here are just a few Australian examples.

Imagine There’s No Coal Power. It Isn’t Hard To Do.

The first creative use of solar panels here in Australia I can remember was at Tathra Community Solar Farm on the New South Wales South Coast. The 30kW installation commenced operations in 2015 and one of the very cool aspects of this project is it was partly funded through individuals, businesses and community groups who contributed $250 per panel. 120 panels formed the solar energy harvesting sign. More on this project can be found here.

Woolworths Celebrates With Solar Logo

In 2020, Woolworths in Orange, New South Wales got a bit funky with its rooftop array of 357 solar panels arranged in the shape of the Woolies logo. This installation had special significance as it was the 100th Woolworths supermarket to have PV installed. It’s a bit hard to keep track of Woolie’s solar rollout, but there have been a bunch of other installations since this one.

Slick Powerwall Presentation

Early this year, South Australia’s NRG Solar completed an installation for Hindmarsh Plumbing consisting of 266 x 370W Winaico solar panels (98.4kW in total), 4 Fronius ECO 27 inverters, 3 Tesla Powerwall battery systems and a Tesla gateway. The inverters, batteries and gateway were set up on schmick feature wall mentioning the company’s commitment to becoming a carbon neutral service provider. You can read a case study of the project here.

Cheers To Dan Murphy’s Solar Rooftop

In September last year, 160 solar panels were installed on the roof of a Dan Murphy’s store in the Adelaide suburb of Torrensville. More recently, there’s been some artwork added.

So, who will see it? It seems the store is situated under a flight path to Adelaide Airport, so the message relayed to travellers arriving and departing our fair city will be Adelaide folks are really into solar power – and drinking. Around 20 per cent of Dan Murphy’s stores across the country have solar installations, and the rollout hasn’t stopped.

Promoting PV In Penrith

Added March 24: Penrith Solar Centre has recently put up a pretty impressive PV installation on the rooftop of their new headquarters.

The 68 kW installation is comprised of SunPower panels, Enphase microinverters and Clenergy racking.

There’s Lots To Like About Commercial Solar

If a business can afford to pay its electricity bills, it can afford the cost of commercial solar power and look forward to a rapid payback in many cases. It’s certainly not uncommon for simple payback on commercial solar systems to be achieved within 5 years these days.

Beyond emissions reduction and slashing mains-supplied electricity costs, installing a solar power system can also act as a signal to suppliers and customers of a hands-on commitment to a clean energy future for Australia – that can be very good for public relations and a company’s bottom line.

Like some of the businesses above – if you’ve got it, flaunt it!