The Crowne Plaza Alice Springs 305kW solar power plant was, at the
time of commissioning in February 2009, the Southern Hemisphere’s
largest roof mounted system in the southern hemisphere involved the
installation of over 1,300 individual photovoltaic (PV) solar modules.
This ground-breaking project is a joint initiative between the Crowne
Plaza Alice Springs and the Australian Government. The initiative is
part of the Alice Solar City Project – one of the seven cities selected
for funding under the Australian Government’s $94 million Solar Cities
Program.
The rooftop combined solar arrays generates nearly 1,500 kWh’s of
energy per day or over 530,000 kWh per year, which is enough to power
more than 60 family homes. Importantly it will provide between 40 and
80 percent of the hotel’s power requirements depending on the time of
year, reducing its carbon footprint by 420 tonnes of Carbon Dioxide
CO2. The project will also assist in reducing the total energy load on
the Alice Springs town grid by about 0.5%, or 250kW of the 50,000kW
generated in the middle of summer.
Crowne Plaza Alice Spring’s location and building design highlighted
enormous potential for the hotel to make a substantial difference to
its impact on the environment made more viable by the fact Alice
Springs has the highest solar resource of any town in the country.
Other energy efficiency and waste reduction efforts have also been
undertaken to further improve sustainability and include solar water
heating, decommissioning of steam boilers, replacement of inefficient
lights and fittings, installation of water saving devices and
air-conditioning improvements.
| System size: | 305.4 kWpeak |
|---|---|
| Number of panels: | 1326, SunPower SPR-230-WHT |
| Number of inverter: | 52 – SMA SMC6000s |
| Maximum output: | 280 kW AC |
| Total energy output: | 530 MWh/year |
| CO2 emmisions saved: | 420 tonnes/year |
| Total cost: | $AUD 3 million |
| Construction time: | 5 months |