Tag: Solar

Allume has been selected as one of three finalists for the Demand-Side Innovation award at the Startup Energy Transition 100 awards!

We couldn’t be more pleased with the result, especially given the high number of high-calibre entrants to this year’s award. Our selection as a finalist was announced by Dr. Angela Wilkinson, Secretary General and CEO, World Energy Council, who was especially complimentary by revealing that there had been over 500 applications from 89 countries.

You can watch Angela make the announcements here:

The Startup Energy Transition (SET) is the brainchild of the German Energy Agency and World Energy Council. Each year they facilitate the Berlin Energy Transition Dialogue, which brings together the biggest names in the renewable energy industry. This year, German Economic Affairs Minister Peter Altmaier and President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen opened the event with special guest speakers including US Administration’s Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry and US Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm.

The winners will be announced at the (hopefully!) in-person SET Tech Festival in German later in the year.

More about the European Market

With over 40% of Europeans living in apartment buildings, having a solar solution that works for them is vital in the transition to a sustainable future. With the SolShare being able to supply solar to apartments in low to medium rise apartment buildings, that equates to over 200 million Europeans who are now able to access solar energy via a SolShare system. Allume’s expansion into Europe has already caught the eye of not only industry bodies like SET but also noteworthy solar industry players in multiple countries from the UK in the West to Romania in the East.

If you are interested in partnering with Allume to provide the SolShare solution in your area, get in touch to learn more.

SolShares at the Focus Apartments in Turner, ACT

 

An apartment building in Turner is the first to go solar with a new Australian-made technology.  The 20 residences in the Focus Apartments on Gould Street now share one rooftop solar installation thanks to SolShare technology invented by Melbourne-based Allume Energy and installed by ACT solar installer SolarHub. Residents will enjoy lower electricity bills and help decarbonise the energy grid.

“We’re thrilled to be the first in Canberra to install an Australian-made solar sharing system that benefits owners and tenants alike. It’s a win-win!” said resident and OC Executive Committee member, Deborah Purss.

Allume Energy’s SolShare is a patented technology that allows one set of rooftop solar panels to be shared by multiple residents in the same building. The SolShare constantly monitors customers’ energy demand and sends solar power to the apartments when they need it the most. This maximises the use of solar power in the building and reduces electricity bills by as much as possible

“The SolShare was invented with Canberra in mind. Lots of mid-rise apartment buildings with plenty of sunshine throughout the year. We look forward to bringing our World-first solution to established and new-build apartment buildings throughout the nation’s capital” said Cameron Knox, CEO of Allume Energy.

Over 50,000 Canberrans live in apartments, with new apartment complexes being constructed around the light rail corridor and town centres.

“The SolShare means we can bring rooftop solar to customers that previously couldn’t access it, including apartment buildings and shopping centres. This Aussie invention is a game-changer for the industry” said CEO of SolarHub Benn Masters.

Canberra apartment residents are encouraged to contact SolarHub to learn how they can go solar at www.solarhub.net.au or contact Allume Energy directly.

 

An aerial view of a SolShare solar panel installation

 

ARENA has provided $220,000 in funding towards Allume Energy’s world-first solution that will enable The Salvation Army to on-sell any solar energy to other tenants within the building, all at no up-front capital cost to The Salvation Army.

By utilising the SolShare’s ability to share solar power to multiple units within a building, The Salvation Army will purchase solar energy under a ‘classic’ PPA, and on-sell any unused solar to the other tenants in the building for a profit under a secondary, on-selling PPA.

The Salvation Army will become the solar energy retailer within the building. Other tenants will have the opportunity to buy cheap, renewable solar energy from the salvation army and know that when they do, their money will be contributing towards their great cause.

Overview

Non-governmental organisations (NGOs) are the perfect candidate for solar energy: socially responsible organisations who can use the money saved on their energy bills to help their good causes. Often though, there are challenges for NGOs to gain access to rooftop solar: the capital costs are high and their premises are often in multi-unit buildings.

By using the SolShare, we easily solve the issue of supplying solar to multiple, separately metered units within a building – it’s our bread and butter!

But how do we overcome the capital cost that comes with installing a large solar system?

The answer is via a power purchase agreement, often referred to as a PPA. A solar PPA is where an external funding body will fund the capital outlay and maintain a rooftop solar system and sell the generated energy to the tenants within the building. The solar energy is sold at a lower rate to the energy that is supplied by the grid, therefore, generating a ‘win-win’ scenario where the PPA provider generates a return on investment by selling the solar and the tenants get cheap, renewable energy at no upfront capital cost by buying the solar. Simply put, at no upfront cost, a tenant can enjoy cheaper, renewable energy that’s been generated on the roof of the building.

 

A diagram representing a classic PPA arrangement

This is a great solution but how can we make it more beneficial to the NGO and more appealing to the other tenants within the building?

We create a model where the NGO becomes the solar energy retailer.

By using the SolShare, we can direct the solar energy to the NGO, creating the highest savings for them. But instead of wasting any excess solar energy that they don’t use by sending it to the grid the SolShare will direct it to the other tenants in the building, who will buy it from the NGO.

It’s a fantastic solution that will not only make better use of the solar energy by maximising onsite consumption but will also generate revenue for the NGO, helping contribute to their good causes.

 

A diagram representing a SolShare on-selling PPA arrangement

 

ARENA Funding

The Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) is contributing $220,000 of funding towards this $1.04 million project. The funding will go towards the technical and legal development of the SolShare to enable the solar PPA on-selling functionality. More information can be found on the ARENA project page.

Consortium

Allume Energy – Project Lead

Allume will supply the SolShare and developing the solar sharing algorithm to enable excess solar energy not used by the NGO to be directed to the other units within the building. We will also manage the on-selling billing functionality via the SolShare.

Green Peak Energy

Green Peak Energy is the project financer. They will fund the solar PV capital equipment and sell the generated solar energy from these systems to the NGOs under a standard PPA.

The Salvation Army

As a world-renowned organisation, The Salvation Army’s commitment to creating a better world cannot be understated. They have kindly agreed to install the first pilot system on one of their buildings in Glenorchy, Tasmania. The outcome from the pilot site will see The Salvation Army save money on their energy bills by buying solar energy when they need it and make money by selling solar energy to the other tenants when they don’t.

I Want Energy

I Want Energy is one of the most established and respected solar installers in Tasmania. In their 10+ years of operation, they have installed over 3,000 solar systems, are Fronius Service Level Plus Partners, certified Tesla Powerwall Installers, and were one of the world’s first SolShare Installation Partners.

Sub-Buying Tenants

The unseen but key members of the project! The sub-buying tenants will be reducing their carbon footprint and saving money on their energy bills by buying solar energy from the NGOs when there is excess solar supply.

Technology

This ground-breaking solution is only achievable with the use of the SolShare’s unique solar distribution technology. As the world’s first behind-the-meter solar power division control system, the SolShare is able to distribute the solar energy generated from a single solar system to multiple, separately metered units within the same building.

Development

Allume will develop the SolShare’s algorithms to enable the on-selling of excess solar energy to other units within the building.

As this is the first time that an on-selling PPA will be created via the SolShare, legal frameworks will be created to enable the other tenants within the building to buy the solar energy off the NGO.

Functionality testing will take place at the pilot site in Glenorchy, proving the concept for a wider rollout.

Project Goals

Following successful installation, The Salvation Army will be running the world’s first on-selling PPA, enabling them to be the solar energy retailer in their building at no capital cost to them. This will result in a fantastic list of benefits for all parties involved:

For more information or media enquiries, please contact us.

As Australia works through the unprecedented health and economic crises due to the COVID-19 pandemic the public dialogue has progressed to how to assist with the economic recovery.

There has been a lot of discussion as to the framings of such a recovery. These include that it must draw on the Aussie concept of the ‘fair go’ and help address some of the persistent inequalities that predate the crises.

One of the widening inequalities in the Australian community is access to distributed energy.

While residential rooftop solar has been a massive success story in Australia, some groups in the community have been left out. Renters, apartments residents and social housing tenants have missed out.

This is particularly unfortunate considering it is these groups that have been most likely to endure energy poverty, i.e. a lack of access to modern energy services.

In Australia one of the major drivers of energy poverty is the extremely high cost of electricity and gas, such that families have to make despairing decisions over whether to buy food, pay the rent, or pay the power bill.

Rooftop solar is one way of addressing energy poverty: it can provide free electricity from the sun, reduce bills further through Feed-in Tariffs, and give families confidence to switch on the air conditioner on sweltering hot days when previously they would have declined to do so for fear of the impact on their electricity bill.

It is for these reasons that Allume Energy has been advocating for rooftop solar for social housing to be included as a priority for government funding as part of the economic recovery to COVID-19.

The benefits of a government-funded rollout of rooftop solar for social housing included:

 

Economic and environmental benefits of a stimulus initiative on rooftop solar for social housing

 

Allume Energy’s COO, Alex Marks, made a presentation on the topic to the Smart Energy Council’s Stimulus Summit on Wednesday 6 May. To learn more about the proposal, watch the video from the summit here. Read Reneweconomy’s coverage of the summit here.