Tigers install 100 kW solar system

Enphase Energy and Yingli Green Energy Australia have installed a 99.77 kW solar system at Richmond Football Club. Metro Solar, a family-owned, national solar installer and the club’s official sustainability partner, provided the solar solution to meet the high energy consumption of the Punt Road Oval. 

Yingli Solar PV panels and Enphase microinverters now power the roof of the famous black-and-yellow ME Bank Centre, the club’s headquarters and training facility. As one of the first AFL clubs to go green, the Tigers are proud of their decision to install solar and the example they are setting for the broader community. 

Club CEO Brendon Gale says, “Metro Solar was able to deliver a solar solution to meet the club’s power consumption and exploit the roof’s energy potential, using a top-quality solar system that can generate more energy than other systems.” The sports facility, housing a high-performance training gym, treatment and recovery clinic, education, workplace and retail spaces, has an extremely large base load, most of which is consumed during the day. 

Enphase’s patented Burst Mode technology, which initiates during low-light conditions, allows the system to produce additional generation in the morning and at dusk, increasing overall savings for the Tigers. During burst mode, the microinverter stores a small trickle of power coming from the panel until there is enough to send a burst of energy. By doing this, the microinverter is able to maintain highly efficient operation during low-light conditions, extending the system’s daily production hours.

Using Enphase Energy’s intelligent, cloud-based Enlighten software platform, Metro Solar was able to integrate powerful energy production data into its proprietary monitoring package. In real time, the software reports on the performance and health of the Punt Road Oval solar system, which is proudly displayed to the public at the clubhouse. 

The solar system is part of a broader effort by the Tigers to make their 170-year-old training headquarters eco-friendly. They are now considering ways they can promote renewable energy to the broader community through the example they have set.

Yingli Solar has a long history of involvement with sporting organisations across the world in developing and implementing sustainable energy solutions at stadiums and other sporting facilities. Most recently, as a sponsor of the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil, Yingli Solar equipped the Maracana stadium in Rio de Janeiro and Arena Pernambuco in Recife with over 5100 Yingli Solar PV panels.