Installation Costs below will change based on site location, access & equipment being installed.
- Supply Plant Equipment: (Hire/Lease as needed per site)
- Ground Screw Tractor and fittings.
- Trenching Machine.
- Spider Crane.
- Off-Road Forklift.
- Cost: *$25'000
- Other Equipment Hire, Fuel, Compliance Fees & Labour Costs:
- Project design, environmental study & Council administration costs.
- Temporary Site Sheds: Site Office, Security, Lunch & Wash room/Toilet, if required.
- Land preparation, Clear, Rake & Level ground of Rocks & Debris.
- Install Foundations, and Assemble DART Solar Racking Units.
- Dig Conduit Trenches from DART’s to Inverter room.
- Layout Conduit in Trenches & Pressure Test, before Back-filling Trench.
- Install inverter Room in elevated flood-proof sub-station.
- Dig Trench, Lay, Seal & Pressure Tested Electrical Conduit from Solar Racking to Sub-station inc..
- Trench, Lay & Seal Hi-kV Electrical Conduit & Cabling, from Sub-station to Distributor infrastructure.
- Costs to Test, get CEC Certification & Commission the connection into the State Grid Infrastructure.
- Estimated Installation Costs: +safety margin: *$100'000
- Freight Shipping Containers & Equipment to site: *$4'000 (depending on location)
- TOTAL UP-FRONT CAPITAL OUTLAY: *$251'200
- 2023: Less -$40'885 8 years STC Government incentive after Commissioning Solar Farm.
- TOTAL OUT OF POCKET COST Fully Installed: *$210'315
- Project completion: Approx. 2~3 months, allowing for variations in site conditions & unforeseen delays.
To Calculate Today’s Cost: Multiply AU$210'315.00 by US Exchange Rate $0.75, then ÷ by Today’s Exchange Rate!
Example;
AU$210'315.00 x .75 = US$157'736.00, then Multiply that by lets say 0.66 = AU$238'994.00.
You could install the cheapest and less efficient Cave-Man Fixed Tilted Racking (FT), that can ONLY Generate peak energy for under 2 hours, then only Shoulder Power is Generated for the remainder of the day.
If looking to accurately Calculate what all FT Racking can Generate per Day, you simply multiplying the system's kW by 5 hours for Summer and 4 hours for Winter (e.g. Summer: 100kW x 5hours =500kWh Maximum Energy per Day, in Winter: 100kW x 4hours =400kWh), the Reduction to 4 hours Generation in Winter, is due to the sun's lower arch through the sky, where the acute angle of the sun striking the Panels reduces the generation considerably, where 100kW DART Racking will Generate *1MWh Energy per day peak, based on DART Racking constantly reading the Sky's Brightness, and DART's can be mounted some 4mt above ground level, thus further reducing Morning & Evening shading from surrounding trees and natural terrain.
In general terms, with all Plant & Equipment on site, a well organised & efficient team of 3~4 workers, should only take 14 days to fully install a 100kW DART Solar Farm, Ground Screws Foundations provide a Cement free and quicker Installation!
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Small-scale Technology Certificates (STC's)
Under the Small-scale Technology Certificates (STC) scheme, system owners can claim the One-off Payment for STC's, for Systems 100kW or under, in 2022 this equated to approx. $46'000, and reduce there investment break-even time, and there environmental carbon footprint of there business.
User another Solar Farm Investment Calculators, to see how long it will take to break-even on your investment!
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VISION
Solar Farms owners (Prosumers) should investing in incorporating Energy Storage equivalent to there daily Generation, then during Peak times can export there Energy at a substantially better rate, or during Overcast and extended bad weather will not need to Import Power.
There are several Australian companies currently developing leading edge Energy Storage Technologies that are anticipated to come to marked in 2023, three of these are;
- 1414°, an Australian Thermal Energy Storage Technology, listed on the ASX Stock Exchange (14D).
- V, a Hydrogen Energy
So, anyone with a Large source of what would normally be Wasted Energy &/or Green Fuel Generation, should have the Vision to Invest & Partner with these companies will provide energy storage at 1/10 the cost of the commercial TESLA battery installation, and other Battery type Energy Storage systems.
In 2020, the smallest TESS available was 10MW module & they are now developing Battery Energy Storage System (BESS), all for Commercial applications, allowing the Generator the option to first self consume and sell any excess stored energy on National Electricity Market (NEM) during Peak demand (Peak Power), providing a better financial return, via !
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Peer-to-Peer Energy Trading (P2P) is the latest exciting development in Australia Energy Market in the last 100 years!
P2P energy trading is being led by Power Ledger, an Australian company, P2P Energy Trading is set to become a Big Disruptive force, that bye-passes the need of the deceptively named "Energy Retailers" that don't actually pay for the energy customers consumers.
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Energy Generation
Solar energy generated can vary greatly depending on the Solar Racking type, you can Calculate the energy generated of different Racking methods here.
NB: 700W solar module/panel technology, improves energy generation from very early & Late in the evening, half-cut panels are also designed to improve energy generation where there is Shading!
So, in short, it is better to use higher Wattage panels, to reduce Pay-back period. This is the same for residential or commercial, no matter what method of installation is used, be it Fixed Flat, Fixed Tilted, Single or Dual-axis Tracking Arrays !
The final cost of a fully commissioned Solar Farm can vary considerably, as location & labour plays a large part based on whether the site installs Fixed Tilted Racking, being the cheapest short term, with Single-Axis or Dual-Axis Tracking being the more expensive in the short term, or a combination of both can be used as shown in the modelling below.
Remember quality solar panels will Generate energy for 30+ years !
As an example:
- Use this Solar Farm energy calculator to see the different Generation between the different Racking types, where Dual Axis-solar Tracking Racking generates peak energy, up to and over *10 hours per day.
*Approx. Costs do not allow for bad weather conditions, contracted labour, additional equipment & unforeseen costs characteristic, due to variations in racking, site conditions and changes to project conditions. |
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