MNC Solar Power, a leading provider of Commercial Solar Port Macquarie, recently completed a significant solar energy upgrade for Saint Columba Anglican School (SCAS). The project saw the school transition from an outdated 100kW system to a powerful new 320kW installation, designed to significantly offset the school's electricity costs and boost its commitment to sustainability.

This case study highlights the motivation behind the upgrade( including estimated payback period), the technical breakthroughs of the Sungrow Inverter Installation, and the smooth collaboration between MNC Solar Power and Sungrow and the school.

Commercial Solar Upgrade Business Case
As a large institution, SCAS is a significant electricity user, facing sizable utility bills. For Steve Mitchell, the Business Manager at SCAS, the decision to upgrade their existing system was driven by dual objectives: achieving financial savings and advancing environmental sustainability.

"We made the decision that we need to both be sustainable, in terms of electricity consumption. But, also look for ways to save money. Investing in this project has meant that we could achieve both of those objectives," explains Steve Mitchell.

The existing 100kW system was nearing its end of life and insufficient for the school's energy needs. The new project involved installing over 300 kilowatts of solar, supplementing the smaller existing system on the Early Learning Centre (The Cottage).

Sungrow Inverters and Wireless Load Sharing
MNC Solar Power designed a robust system featuring 708 Canadian 440-watt solar panels and three advanced 110kW Sungrow Inverters. The scale of the system and the dispersed nature of the buildings across the campus presented a logistical and technical challenge that the Sungrow technology was uniquely suited to overcome.

Modbus TCP Communication and Wireless Connectivity
For commercial solar arrays of this size, connecting multiple large inverters for efficient load sharing traditionally requires expensive, complex wired infrastructure. However, SCAS's strong campus-wide wireless network allowed MNC Solar Power to implement a cutting-edge, wireless solution.

Yung from Sungrow, who provided technical support for the commissioning, highlighted the technical advancement:

"For this site, we apply the Modbus TCP, communication and all the devices communicate, via the local network... The distance is not that important as long as all the master and slave inverters and the loggers connect with the local network, and it can talk with each other."

This wireless capability is crucial for a large site like SCAS. As Dean Galvin, Managing Director of MNC Solar Power explains, the three inverters are located in "completely three different areas in the school." By using the local network, the inverters can seamlessly work together, controlled by a single meter in the main switchboard.

Efficient Load Balancing Across the Campus
The wireless communication allows the inverters to dynamically load-share 300 kilowatts of power across the site. This ensures that the power generated is used as efficiently as possible across all distribution boards.

Dean Galvin describes the power distribution: "What it will do first ultimately is it will meet the demand of each distribution board that the inverter is connected to, and then the excess power will feed back to the main switchboard and then branch out from there to all the other buildings on site... The solar generated here will be evenly distributed throughout the school to meet their needs."

This intelligent power sharing means that even if the sun is shining on panels connected to one inverter, the generated electricity can be used instantly by a different area of the school, maximising self-consumption and minimising export or reliance on grid power.

A Seamless and Safe Installation Process

MNC Solar Power, a trusted local business on the Mid North Coast, was selected for the project based on their competitive offering and their detailed project plan, particularly regarding safety for the operating school.

Project Timeline and Safety

To ensure minimal disruption, MNC Solar Power carried out the removal of the old system and the entire Sungrow Inverter Installation during the two-week school holidays.

"Undertaking projects like this from a workplace health and safety and a public safety perspective, can pose some challenges. But, MNC were able to deliver that project in school holidays in a safe way," says Steve Mitchell.

Partnership and Support

The strong relationship between MNC Solar Power and Sungrow was essential to the project's success.

Dean Galvin praises Sungrow's reliability and support: "We've been installing their products for over 12 years now... They're always a phone call away. Or like in this instance, they've come to site to assist us on site to make sure everything's 100% which is brilliant."

Sungrow's Technical Service Manager, Yung, was on site to assist with the final commissioning of the new system.

Data and Educational Benefits

The new Commercial Solar Port Macquarie solution provides SCAS with real-time energy monitoring through an online dashboard.

Steve Mitchell highlights the immediate business benefit: "We've now got data on our fingertips, so we can log on to the dashboard. We can see how much electricity the panels are actually generating and what we're consuming and what's going back to the grid."

SCAS is also excited to leverage this data for educational purposes, providing students and teachers with real-world information about energy generation and consumption.

Project Summary