SolPod Solar PV Demonstration Project
- $975k Funded by ARENA
- $5.06m Total project cost
Summary
Solpods are innovative solar racking systems designed for large flat roofs, typical of commercial or industrial buildings. The project aims to increase the uptake of solar PV in the commercial and industrial sectors by offering commercial tenants a cost-competitive solar system that is able to be redeployed elsewhere.
How the project works
The Solpod Solar PV Demonstration project will see Solpod install solar panels at 25 sites across Victoria, New South Wales and Queensland. Each site will possess up to 100 KW of solar for a total of 2.43 MW of PV capacity.
The innovative company uses an innovative way of fixing solar panels to roofing by using a redeployable racking and mounting system. This reduces the costs of installation and offers the ability to quickly remove the panels to be redeployed elsewhere.
Solpod systems can be purchased, leased for three years or incorporated into energy supply contracts. This means that customers are not locked into long term commitments should they need to relocate.
This project consists of:
Learn more
Video: A New Redeployable Solar Technology for Commercial Tenants
Highpoint Shopping Centre in Melbourne’s inner-west is one of the first sites to trial SolPod’s redeployable solar panel mounting system.
Media Release: Redeployable Solar to be Trialled on Shopping Centres
ARENA announced funding for an Australian start up Solpod Pty Ltd (Solpod) to trial installing redeployable rooftop solar on commercial and government buildings.
Area of innovation
The Solpod Solar PV Demonstration Project innovations include:
- prefabricated, redeployable solar PV arrays
- reduced installation time on site
- reduced damage to rooftops (non-penetrating solution)
- improved quality assurance
- economic removal costs
- new, shorter-term finance options
Benefit
The Solpod project is helping to accelerate solar PV innovation and allows for renewable energy penetration in niche markets, providing a cost-competitive alternative to standard methods of fixed mounting to deliver grid connected solar PV.
Read more
ARENAWIRE Blogs
ARENA looks to the future amid renewable boom
Armed with a suite of new investment priorities and faced with an increasingly complex energy transition, ARENA has spent 2019 investing in projects at the forefront of renewable energy innovation and technology.
Commercial tenants stand to save with Solpod’s relocatable solar system
With the power to slash power bills and emissions, everybody wins from solar. Right? Not necessarily.
