Victorian commercial solar installation specialist Energy Aware has designed a unique rooftop solar system for agribusiness group Elders on their 35,000 square metre, $25 million (USD 17 million) wool handling hub outside Melbourne.

The installation imitates the Elders logo, which is the word Elders in cursive writing, using 700 Trina Solar 500 W solar panels, and is located in an industrial zone, 20 kilometres west of Melbourne.

Energy Aware Sales Director Nick Burrows said the idea was pitched to Elders which agreed and preparation for the installation was incorporated during the build of the industrial-scale facility.

“The installation is complicated because strings are not in a straight row and also the racking, and building of the clamping zones. You can’t penetrate under skylights,” Burrows said.

“So yes, the stringing is hard but then we need site-specific engineering certification for every job, so to get the solar to marry to the clamping zones is very difficult with the skylights,” Burrows said.

“There’s a lot of work in the front end of the project, and we did the installation during the building’s construction which was possibly harder for the number of trades that are involved.”

The rooftop installation will provide 350 kW of capacity to the wool hub and is part of an effort by Elders to reduce carbon emissions at the site, which includes the installation of seven charging stations for automous vehicles.

Energy Aware partnered with Sydney-headquartered construction company Qanstruct and  incorporated mounts from Melbourne-based commercial solar mounting solutions company Sunlock.

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