Hindu temple powered by solar

In the western Sydney suburb of Kings Park, a Hindu temple has embraced solar power.

A recent installation at Shree Swaminarayan Temple Sydney, completed by RK Solar and Consulting Services, comprises 100 Trina Solar Honey 260 W panels with Enphase M215 Generation 4 inverters, plus the provision to upgrade the system to utilise storage batteries. The system is estimated to produce 33 MW per year.

One of the founders of the Sydney Shree Swaminarayan Community, Dhanji Varsani, said the temple comprises two halls which are used every day from 6 am to 10 pm. “Our energy consumption is quite high,” he noted, “as the buildings are centrally air conditioned and every weekend we cook food for our members.” Lighting is also required to spotlight statues and paintings, he added.

Varsani said the new installation serves as a continuation of the community’s solar generation policy. He said, “As the solar panels are now on one roof, we plan to increase our generating capacity by installing panels on the second roof.”

Kunal Kapoor, of RK Solar and Consulting Services, said the installation was completed in two days. He expects the $26,000 cost to be covered by the temple’s savings in energy costs in three-and-a-half to four-and-a-half years.

“As the temple plans to have batteries installed at a future date, this would also reduce their evening and night-time usage of grid power,” he added.