West Australian Alternative Energy was engaged to design and install one of the biggest solar panel installations of its kind within the City of Busselton at local water authority, Busselton Water. More than 300 solar panels were installed across three buildings at its Water Treatment Plant 2 operations. Plant 2, located on Queen Elizabeth Avenue, is one of three water treatment plants operated by Busselton Water, supplying 63% of Busselton’s water.

The solar system installed is expected to save the corporation almost $40,000 ex GST each year in electricity costs and will significantly reduce its carbon footprint. Busselton Water also expect to recoup the costs of the installation in less than four years.

WA Alternative Energy Director Simon Barclay said while the company has completed installations of this size elsewhere in the state, the Busselton Water job is its biggest in the City of Busselton.

“Just to give you some idea, an average sized house will usually require a 3kW solar system – Busselton Water is installing a 100kW system,” Mr Barclay said. “Our team will also trench significantly across the yard to connect all three buildings to a central system, as well as provide extra grid protection and upgrades to the electrical system to be able to incorporate solar energy”.

After successfully installing 100kW of solar at their Treatment Plant 2,  West Australian Alternative Energy has extended its partnership with Busselton Water to install 70 new solar panels on the Administration Centre building on Fairbairn Road.

The anticipated energy efficiencies further bolster Busselton Water’s efforts to reduce its energy footprint and will extend their energy saving capabilities significantly. It is expected that the combined generation of more than 200 MWh per year across both sites will offset almost half of Busselton Water’s power usage.