The job
Before any design work we installed an energy logger on the site's switchboard for two weeks. That gave us the real load profile: when the workshop draws hardest, how long the peaks last, and how much of the day's consumption a battery could shift.
The design that came out of the data was a 95 kW roof-mounted array paired with 50 kWh of battery storage, both on SAJ equipment. The battery is there to carry the afternoon peak that was driving the site's demand charge, not just to store surplus.
Installed cost was about $116,000. We estimate savings of $3,000 to $4,000 a month depending on the season.
Once the load study was signed off, the install took two weeks.
