Fertiliser company installs 100 kW solar system

SolarMax has provided grid-connected solar inverters to Martin’s Fertilizers, an Australian manufacturer of bagged and bulk potting mixes, fertilisers and garden products.

The company has delivered six 15 kW 15MT2 and one 10 kW 10MT2 grid-connected inverters through Ygrene Energy to Martin’s Fertilizers for a 100 kW rooftop solar PV system comprising 420 250 kW Yingli Solar solar PV panels in Yass, New South Wales.

The system will generate over 170 MWh of solar power annually and is expected to reduce Martin’s Fertilizers’ energy bills by up to $45,000 a year. It will minimise Martin’s Fertilizers carbon footprint by 157 tonnes and deliver an internal rate of return (IRR) of 26% each year.

“We decided to turn to solar power as rising energy costs impacts on the price competitiveness of our products. The carbon footprint for the production of fertilisers and soil tends to be fairly large and as this requires a significant amount of energy for production, solar power makes perfect sense as it will reduce our reliance for electricity from the grid,” said Brendon Martin, director of Martin’s Fertilizers.

Martin’s Fertilizers will rely on SolarMax’s remote monitoring platform and utilise MaxWeb xp to access the SolarMax WebPortal over the internet. This monitoring solution provides a real-time display of performance data such as input and output voltages, input and output currents, frequency, device temperature and yield, and it will allow Martin’s Fertilizers to get ongoing updates on its systems’ performance.

With a maximum efficiency of up to 98%, SolarMax’s MT series inverters are suitable for both indoor and outdoor installations. The MT series inverters satisfy the safety requirements stated in AS/NZS 5033:2012 standards (IEC 62109-1/-2) as well as the AS 4777.2 and AS 4777.3 standards. SolarMax products are accredited by the Clean Energy Council (CEC). All SolarMax string inverters have a five-year standard warranty which can be extended up to 25 years.

Over the last 18 months, SolarMax has been installed at a number of sites around Yass, and this has spawned from both the commitment of Ygrene Energy in driving the awareness for solar and the increased interest from organisations that are seeing the competitive and environmental advantage solar offers, said Gavin Merchant, key account manager for SolarMax Australia.