Going solar to cut costs
Care facility installs 900 roof panels
FROM the ground, everything looks normal at St Vincent’s Care Services facility in Toowoomba.
But a bird’s-eye view shows hundreds of new additions that will help keep energy costs down.
Nearly 900 295-watt solar panels have been installed on the roof of the buildings making up St Vincent’s on Spring St, along with a 263 kilowatt-system.
The installations, finished late last month, are part of the organisation’s National Energy Action Program to help lower costs and reduce the carbon footprint of its 16 facilities across Australia.
“One of SVHA’s strategic drivers is growth to ensure the long-term sustainability and continued delivery of our mission,” SVHA group general manager David Bryant said.
“Energy is a direct cost to SVHA - the provision of health and aged-care services cannot occur without energy.
“The primary focus of the NEAP is to drive a cohesive and coordinated approach to delivering major reductions in our total electricity use, through selective application of energy efficiency technologies.”
More than 9100 solar panels will be installed across Australia, with enough energy generated to power more than 600 homes.
Mr Bryant said the organisation hoped to reduce its annual energy consumption by about 40 Gigawatt hours by mid-2018.
“This represents a 35-40% reduction of current consumption and will deliver a cost saving of approximately $6.5 million annually while reducing greenhouse gas emissions by around 34,000 tonnes per annum,” he said.
“SVHA’s NEAP has three main components: the rollout of solar panels across our sites; implementing a wireless system for energy management and appliance control across our facilities; and retrofitting existing incandescent and fluorescent lighting with LED alternatives.”