Sydney Market solar car park to be Australia’s largest, as new install takes capacity to 911kW

One Step Off The Grid

New South Wales’ Sydney Markets will soon boast the largest purpose-built solar car park in Australia, with local group Autonomous Energy set to add another 630kW of solar shading at the Flemington site, bringing the market’s total PV capacity to 911kW.

The third round of PV panels will be installed by Autonomous on the top floor of a new multi-storey carpark which is currently under construction at the market, which is well known for selling fruit and vegetables and flowers.

The huge commercial PV project kicked off in early 2014, when Autonomous Energy was engaged by Sydney Markets Limited to replace its old 1970’s carports with purpose built carport structures, integrating 170kW of premium Kyocera solar panels as the roof, and providing undercover parking for 71 cars and trucks.

Phase two of the project was rolled out a year later in 2015, with another 100kW solar array added at the entrance to ‘Building D’ which houses Sydney’s famous Paddy’s Markets.

That system used LG NeON solar panels, which have a total module efficiency of 19.2 per cent, thanks in part to the technology’s ability to absorb light from the front and the back of its solar cells with its bi-facial cells and CELLO technology – technology recognised with the 2015 Photovoltaic Innovation Award at the Intersolar Industry Event in Germany.

As you can see below, the Sydney Markets system also features a solar data monitoring program, that is open for the public to see.

As noted, phase three, which will also use LG NeON panels, will bring the car park’s total capacity to 911kW, which makes it the largest such installation in the country, so far– at least until the 1.17MW solar array on Adelaide Airport’s short term car park is commissioned early next year. (Brisbane Markets has a 1.06MW solar array, but it is installed on the market buildings themselves, as opposed to Sydney’s purpose-built solar car park.)

Autonomous says its engineering team has carefully designed and specified the shading system for maximum solar generation performance, carpark amenity and aesthetic appearance. It will feature weather proof sheeting under the solar panels and a complete guttering and drainage system, providing protection from rain as well as the hot sun.

The structural components themselves are being manufactured in Germany to Autonomous Energy’s specifications by specialised solar carpark equipment manufacturer Schletter – the same company behind construction of Queensland’s Fraser Coast Community Solar Farm in 2012.

Meanwhile, in Adelaide, work is underway on a 647kW solar car park canopy installation at Westfield Marion.

The Origin Energy built system, which just beats out the 636kW installation on the roof of the carpark at The Pines Elanora on Queensland’s Gold Coast, is expected to be finished and generating power by August.

This article was originally published on RE sister site One Step Off The Grid. To sign up for the weekly newsletter, click here.