Australian Conservation Foundation has installed a 15-kilowatt solar PV system with Enphase Energy’s Microinverters at its iconic Melbourne headquarters, the 60L Green Building.

Andrew Gemmell, 60L building manager at the Australian Conservation Foundation, said, “It’s important for us to set a strong example for corporate Australia, especially at a time when commercial solar is starting to take off. Solar remains a crucial way for households and businesses to cut greenhouse pollution and future-proof themselves against the inevitable rising cost of energy.”

In the mid-1990s the Australian Conservation Foundation decided it would make its own headquarters an example of a best practice sustainable commercial building. The 60L Green Building opened for business in 2002, with a focus on energy and water conservation and the use of recycled materials.

Working with limited rooftop space, system designer and installer Going Solar secured energy production potential by mounting the system north-facing, with some modules flat to the roof and others on a 10-degree tilt.

Going Solar project manager, Graham Sutherland, said, “We installed top quality Winaico WST-250P6 modules, and by using Enphase M215 Microinverters we were able to maximize annual production, alleviate shade effects, and provide access to system monitoring and production data.”

According to Going Solar, powerful, intelligent monitoring is a key requirement of the project. The Australian Conservation Foundation requested a high level of operational transparency for the system to enable granular, module-level monitoring capability in real time. Enphase’s cloud-based Enlighten software allows both the installer and building manager to keep a close eye on system performance and provides remote system diagnostic tools for any cleaning and long-term maintenance requirements. Mr. Sutherland said, “We were able to give ACF peace of mind with the Enphase System, the respected brand name of the highest reliability.”