Bifacial Solar Panels For Cairns Regional Council PV Project

Cairns Regional Council has announced the awarding of a contract to construct ground-mount solar farms at five wastewater treatment plants.

The systems to be installed at its Northern, Southern, Marlin Coast, Edmonton and Gordonvale facilities will have a collective capacity of 1.78MW. The $3 million project is expected to slash Council’s total electricity consumption by 8 percent and total emissions by 8%.

Bifacial solar panels will be used for the project¹, which capture light from both sides of the module. To boost energy harvesting from the underside, crushed concrete² will be used as ground cover to reflect more light and also reduce maintenance ³ .

The project, awarded to Solgen Energy Pty Ltd, is expected to be completed by September next year.

The treatment plant installations will add to Council’s 1MW of existing rooftop solar capacity (3,908 panels) across 26 of its buildings, which it says are providing savings of $360,000 each year.

Solar Panels For Pools, Street Light LED Rollout

Another PV project noted in Council’s Budget 2019-20 will see three swimming pool complexes – at Gordonvale, Smithfield and Woree – have solar panels installed. Capacity isn’t stated, but $250,000 has been earmarked for the initiative.

Also for this financial year (and may have already begun) is the switching of more than 300 street lights in Cairns’ CBD from 400 Watt Metal Halide HID fixtures to 250 Watt LEDs, which will reduce electricity consumption by around 37.5%.

Emissions Target Update

Council had previously committed to a 50% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2020, compared to 2007. By July this year, it had reached the 47% mark. Cairns Regional Council is now forecast to reach 50% emissions reduction during the 2020/21 financial year, once the wastewater treatment plant solar power project has been completed and operational for a year.

If that project isn’t completed until September 2020, that will take a full year of operations into 2021/22 – but regardless,  it’s going to be pretty close.

On the agenda for yesterday’s Council meeting was what’s next after this achievement – and a potential 100% renewable energy target for 2030 was flagged for discussion.