Rooftop solar system at Adelaide Airport

Adelaide Airport has claimed that it will build the largest airport rooftop solar power system in Australia, reducing the airport’s energy consumption and carbon emissions by close to 10%.

With international and domestic passengers expected to increase by over 4% per annum over the next 20 years, signalling an increase in operating costs, Adelaide Airport developed a five-year sustainability strategy and carbon management plan that has identified a number of future carbon-friendly initiatives — solar power being one of them.

The new 1.17 MW solar system, to be built on the roof of the short-term car park by Solgen Energy, will be more than 10 times larger than the airport’s existing system, bringing the total rooftop solar capacity to 1.28 MW. The system is expected to offset 100% (and possibly more) of the car park’s electricity consumption, with excess power generated to be consumed within the airport site itself.

The solar array will consist of 4500 Trinasmart solar panels with the ability to operate independently through built-in Tigo Energy power optimisers. As a result, each panel will be able to operate at its maximum output irrespective of partial shading that may occur on the array. In addition, each panel is independently monitored; for added safety, the entire array can be shut down at panel level from a single switch.

“This project further demonstrates the growing uptake of solar power as an integral part of any business’s energy mix, irrespective of industry,” said Solgen Energy Director David Naismith.

“Working within Adelaide Airport’s site constraints, we engineered a bespoke solution to solve the delicate balance of optimising power output while delivering a robust business case.”

The solar array has a footprint of 8000 m² — about the same size as a football field. According to Adelaide Airport Managing Director Mark Young, it will be big enough to power the equivalent of more than 300 homes.

Construction on the new solar system is expected to start in December and be completed by April 2016.

Image credit: ©FreeImages.com/Suzanne T