- [Troy] So, my name is Troy Bryce. And we are part of the Bakehouse Espresso Group. We have bakeries on the south coast of New South Wales, located at Huskisson, Nowra, Sanctuary Point, and we have a retail outlet at Woollamia Industrial Estate. Yeah, we're fairly energy hungry, in the sense that we are on a large power-consumption site, so solar has presented itself as a viable option for us.
- Yeah, the commercial side of power, he was using one of the energy providers that uses a sliding scale. And obviously, the more power he uses, the higher the costs. So, while it's generating power, and it's lowering his consumption, it's also lowering his tariffs. So, it's benefiting him from, basically, a two-fold effect.
- [Troy] Our predominant energy use would be our oven. We're located in an area that doesn't have natural gas, so bottled gas is always a problem. So, we are running on electric ovens. The cost relating to that is quite significant on mains power. Yeah, so, the costs of refrigeration, they're running 24/7, so freezer workers are constant throughout the day. As the day heats up, there's more traffic movements, more door-openings, and that costs us more for the refrigeration freezers to run.
- Because the business basically works, well, it operates 24/7. It was more important for us to get the power operating earlier in the morning, so we put half the system facing east. So, we then opted to put the rest facing north, and that was just going to pull a heap of power during the middle of the day, which was sort of where they were starting to wind up.
- The main outcome was to improve our bottom line. Obviously, there's a cost there, that you've got to put that cost out there, and endeavor that it's going to return in four, five, or six years' time. But the purchase of the LG product was derived, basically, due to quality. And we found that the LG one stacked up with its warranty claims, its performance in low light, and also the ability to use optimizers. I think that is some of the key attributes to use of the LG panel. And also, the LG company's been well-known, and you know that they're there for many, many years, to give you that warranty period.
- In terms of how that system is performing for the business there now, you know, it's definitely something that he's very happy with it, performance-wise.
- [Troy] We're happy with the system and the install, and we know we will have a quality product that'll be for many years to come.
How did The Bakehouse utilise the orientation of high quality solar panels to offset it peak energy periods?
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