Earlier this year, one of Adelaide’s leading private schools faced a dilemma. Energy prices had been increasing rapidly, and was becoming a significant operational expense.

Westminster School’s Director of Corporate Services, Tania Sargent, knew that rooftop solar probably made sense but after getting quotes from a couple of vendors, determining the right solution appeared more and
more confusing. One quote they received was for 800kW, another was for 100kW and another still was for something in between.

The school turned to The Energy Project for advice.

The Energy Project’s Director of Solar Projects, Patrick Greene, analysed the load across the school and worked with the school’s Project Management team at Trice Project and Development Managers to develop an estimate of energy consumption for the new Integrated Learning Hub that was still under construction.

The Energy Project presented a business case to the school that clearly identified building suitability, optimal system sizing for each connection based on load, roof constraints, orientation and projected growth and provided a campus-wide solar strategy for the schools’ multiple connections to the grid.

The Energy Project was retained to develop a technical specification for the solar systems and run a tender for the supply and installation of solar. AGL’s Solar business team and local delivery partner NexGen Energy Solutions were awarded the tender for the supply of 400kW of solar across 5 buildings on the schools’ campus, making it one of the largest school solar installations in South Australia.

Westminster will reduce its energy consumption from the grid by approximately 25% and save more than $100,000 each year.