- Supply Plant Equipment: (Hire/Lease/Purchase)
- Ground Screw Tractors and fittings.
- Trenching Tractors.
- 3 ton Spider Crane.
- 2.5 ton Off-Road Forklift.
- TOTAL: *$200'000
- Supply, Test & Commission of Electrical Equipment:
- 2x 2'500kW Inverters & Ballast Modules & Switch Gear equipment.
- Weatherproof elevated sub-station & field junction boxes.
- Electrical Cabling;
- *15klm Orange Electrical Ground Conduit, Safety Tape, and Chemical Sealer.
- Pressure Test under-ground Conduit.
- Solar Wiring from Solar Racking to End-of-String Switch Gear node, to main Sub-station inverter.
- *4mm2/6mm2/8mm2 DC Tinned Copper Solar cable as required, from DATs to Junction Boxes & Inverters.
- *90mm HV Cable, 11kVa 100% Copper Wiring feed from Sub-station to State Grid Distribution infrastructure.
- Test & Commission Energy Infrastructure costs.
- TOTAL: *$750'000
- Freight Delivery Shipping Containers & Equipment to site: *33x40'@$1'300 *$43'000 (depending on location)
- Labour, Fuel, Plant & Hire Costs:
- Approx. 12 month Project design, environmental study & Council administration costs *$75'000.
- Temporary Site Sheds: Site Office (Security Motorhome) Lunch room & Toilets facilities.
- Land preparation, Clear, Rake & Level ground of Rocks & Debris.
- Set-out & Screw-in approx. 3'920 Racking Ground Screws (Spider Foundations).
- Install 463 DART Masts & Assemble Racking & Modules at Ground Level on Trestles.
- Crane 463 Assembled DART Units with Panels onto Main Masts.
- Install SMA inverters in 6mt Shipping Containers, elevated Flood proof sub-station.
- Install Perimeter Security Fencing & Solar WiFi Lighting & Cameras.
- Dig Trenches from Solar Racking to Sub-station, Lay, Seal & Pressure Tested Electrical Conduit.
- Trench from Sub-station to State Grid infrastructure, Lay & Seal 11 kVA Electrical Conduit .
- Estimated Installation Costs: +safety margin: *$875'000
- Project Planning, Submissions, Insurance & Safety Margins: *$55'000
- Fully installed & commissioned project *$6'0635'500
- Project completion 6~12 month, allowing for delays.
The above costs based on the supply & installation of the most efficient Solar Racking, being Dual Axis-solar Radiation Tracking (DART) Racking.
NB: Using 700W Solar Panels, require less Panels, less Racking, less Trenching, less Cabling as well as less Labour to install.
You could install the cheapest and most inefficient Solar Racking, being Fixed Tilted (FT) Racking, However FT racking is only able to Generate between 20~25MWh Maximum Energy per Day, this will vary greatly between Winter & Summer, due to the sun's arch through the sky, where the acute angle of the sun striking the Panels before 10:30PM and after 2:30PM Generation considerably less energy, meaning there will Only be Peak Energy Generation for approx. 2 hours per day, the remaining of the day will be shoulder Energy generation.
Where 5MW SAT Racking would Generate *35+MW day, and DART Racking could Generate *45+MW day peak, based on DART modules can be mounted up to 3mt above ground level, thus further reducing Morning & Evening shadowing from surrounding trees and natural terrain.
In general terms, with all Plant & Equipment on site, a well organised, skilled & efficient team of 6~8 workers, should only take 10~14 days per MW to fully install a DART Solar Farm, Ground Screws Foundations provide a Cement free and quicker Installation!
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Renewable Energy Credits:
The System owners claim there Large-scale Generation Certificates (LGC) to reduce there investment break-even time, and reduce there environmental carbon footprint, for there business.
User one of these Solar Farm Investment Calculator to see how long it will take to break even on your investment!
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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.
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 25~35+ years !
As an example:
- Use this Solar Farm energy calculator to see the different Generation between the different Racking types, where Dual Axis-solar Radiation Tracking Racking generates peak energy, up to and over *10 hours per day.
 The main consideration between Fixed Tilted, Single & Dual Axis-solar Racking is the final Material, Installation & operational cost, installation cost is usually calculated in MW per man hours. No matter what system is used, the racking fittings & fixtures including motors & software play a significant part of the initial supply cost. The DC~AC conversion stations, Cabling and Installation cost, inc. Sub-Station cost, are as equally expensive, and need to be planed well in advance, as speed of installation is critical to enabling a quick return on investment.
A solar farm is divided into areas/sections, so as the power is generated, it is sent to SMA 1500V MVPS 2500kVA (image right) or similar power conversion station(s), strategically located around the solar farm that best suits the site. Stations incorporate the central PV inverter(s), transformer and associated switchgear and monitoring systems.
These stations convert DC solar array power to AC power, then the AC power is fed either into on-site energy storage for later dispatch as peak power, or directly into the state grid distribution via high voltage 11kVA transition lines, where power is then distributed to the local community.
Below modelling shows projected Generation of various Racking types.
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25° Fixed Tilted, North Facing Racking.
*22MW = 4+ hours day peak generation. |
25° Tilted Single-Axis Tracking, East/West .
*33MW = 6+ hours day peak generation. |
Dual Axis-solar Tracking Arrays.
*45MW = 10+ hours day peak generation. |
* Approx. figures, do not allow for bad weather conditions, contracted labour, additional equipment & unforeseen costs characteristic, due to variations in racking, site conditions and possible council or infrastructure changes, may change the figures shown above for this size project. |
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