Friday July 15 2001, 10am
The Biggest Solar delivered on campus
National renewable energy company Ingenero has completed Australia's largest solar photovoltaic installation at The University of Queensland's (UQ) St Lucia campus.
The vast 1.2 megawatt (MW) solar system - launched today by the Queensland Minister for Energy and Water Utilities, Stephen Robertson MP - spans 11 rooftops and effectively coats four campus buildings with over 5000 polycrystalline silicon solar panels.
It will generate around 1850 MWh per annum, enough to power 250 homes.
According to Rodger Whitby, GM of Generation for Ingenero, "During the day, the system will provide up to six per cent of the University's power requirements, reducing greenhouse gas emissions by approximately 1650 tonnes of CO2-e per annum."
"Ingenero won an extensive UQ tendering process in 2010 in part based on our commercial track record, which includes installations at 500 Australian schools and a major installation at the Alice Springs Airport," said Mr Whitby.
"We were also able to demonstrate the strength of our innovation and installation abilities. UQ needed to feel confident that its installer would be able to manage the complex construction requirements of this project.
"Ingenero has installed a comprehensive monitoring system, which provides detailed data on the performance of individual inverters and strings of panels as well as essential environmental feedback such as solar irradiance and temperature.
"Construction began in 2010 and was severely delayed by rain and flooding in December and January. Eleven containers of solar equipment were damaged, some even floating away from the site."
Ingenero donations
Today's launch also marks two important and related donations by Ingenero:
1. Ingenero will present an $80,700 cheque for the Premier’s Disaster Relief Appeal to the Minister for Energy and Water Utilities, Stephen Robertson MP (during the UQ launch).
2. Ingenero donated a $90,000 concentrated photovoltaic (CPV) solar array to The University of Queensland. This ground-mounted CPV array is one of three installations of its kind in Australia, all built by Ingenero. It will contribute to the University’s solar research and development programme.
