Council's Solar Initiative

Colac Otway Shire Council is currently utilising solar PV systems across Council facilities: Council's Rae Street office precinct, the Bluewater Leisure Centre, Pound Road depot and the Colac Library. The energy production and consumption of both of these facilities is monitored, and the data is available to be viewed live on two different portals. 

Rae Street PV System

Originally commissioned in January 2015, the 100kW solar PV system at Rae St is spread across several roof spaces for maximum solar exposure and weight dispersion. Upgraded in 2018, the system as a whole generates around 125 MWh per year, which equates to just over 20% of overall consumption, providing the equivalent of 168 tonnes of CO2 abatement over the year.

Please visit Council's section of the Sunny Life portal directly here (please note this is an external website).

Bluewater Leisure Centre

The 100kW solar system at Bluewater was commissioned in July 2018. Very high output PV panels (360W per panel) were necessary due to roof loading restrictions, paired with highly efficient inverters. Overall the system generates around 133 MWh per annum, providing just under 20% of total electricity consumption and preventing 178 tonnes of CO2 from entering the atmosphere.

Please visit the Bluewater Leisure Centre Overview page on the Solarweb portal to see live monitoring that is similar to what is visible above for the Rae Street precinct. (Please not this portal is on an external website.) Once in the portal, you can click on 'energy balance' to get a clear sense of real-time energy being generated by the Bluewater system.

Colac Library

A 30.69kW solar PV system was installed on the Colac Library by local installers Walsh Electrical in June 2020. In collaboration with the building owner (Vic Dept. of Education), the solar installation will provide significant environmental and economic benefits for both Colac Otway Shire and Colac Secondary College, who share running costs at the facility. Mounted on tilt frames, the solar system is expected to generate around 40MWh annually, saving around $10,000 per year in electricity costs and preventing 44 Tonnes of greenhouse gases (CO2-e) from entering the atmosphere.

Pound Road

A 29.04kW solar system was installed by Urban Renewables at the Pound Road Depot in January 2020. The system comprises 88 x 330W Trina PV panels with a 25kW SMA Sunny Tripower inverter. The solar panels are mounted on the work sheds located along the western side of the site, angled on tilt frames for optimal solar yield. The system is expected to produce around 39MWh annually, saving around $9,500 and reducing carbon emissions by 42 Tonnes of greenhouse gases (CO2-e) per year.