Located in Brookvale on Sydney’s Northern Beaches, St Augustine’s College is home to 1,200 students from Years 5 to 12.
With its newly installed solar system, the college is reducing its carbon emissions by 40 per cent each year and saving over $40,000 in power bills. The system cuts the school’s carbon footprint by approximately 255 tonnes per year – equivalent to taking 11 school buses off the road.
Anthony Bataille, Director of Strategy and Compliance at St Augustine’s College said the construction of the school’s new award-winning Goold Building was a great opportunity to install rooftop PV, with additional roof space constructed as part of the development.
The school needed a solution that would reduce daytime power consumption, offset carbon emissions, meet its energy needs and ensure as little disruption to the academic term as possible.
To prepare St Augustine’s College for the large-scale installation, the school’s main switchboard had to be upgraded. A commercial-sized 232.26kW system with almost 600 solar panels was installed by Solahart.
The project also saw the installation of three phase inverters, dual DC power optimisers, and a consumption monitoring system – allowing the school to monitor its energy consumption and system performance.
In the event of a blackout at the school, the SolarEdge DC inverter system will step down the panel voltage to ensure that there are no live high-voltage cables inside the school building.
St Augustine’s College has seen immense cost and carbon emission savings since switching to solar. Along with reducing its carbon footprint by 40 per cent, the school is expected to see savings of over $40,000 per annum in electricity bills.
According to Mr Bataille, the expected savings will be key to balancing the sustainability of the school’s current operations, as well as investing in future developments to ensure current and future students continue to receive a world-class education.
“Student voice is a priority at the College, with students being major stakeholders in the development of the College’s strategic intentions. Our students nominated making the College more environmentally sustainable as a key target in our strategic plan, and we are pleased this project helps us in achieving that goal.”
“We are proud of making the switch to solar and allowing our students to see first-hand the benefits of renewable energy, and how the student body contributes to the growth and improvement of the College,” concludes Mr Bataille.