TLC for Kids Waves Goodbye to Power Bills
TLC for Kids Waves Goodbye to Power Bills!
As you may know, we are lucky enough to work in an expansive office space in Brunswick that was donated to us by one of our longest-standing supporters, Matt Ciavarella of Carrera Motors, having a huge impact on costs saved. But people’s generosity doesn’t end there…
We’re thrilled that Enphase Energy, Suntech and Living Energy have come together to donate a 30 kilowatt rooftop solar system for our Brunswick headquarters, and it’s just gone live today.
Their $50,000 gift is one that will keep on giving because it will save us up to $350,000 in energy bills during the 30 year life of the solar system. By powering almost 100 percent of TLC for Kids’ energy use during the day, we can put these savings back towards funding our services for children in need. This equates to approximately 750 kids or families we will now be able to support as a result.
Designed and installed by Living Energy, the system includes 122 top-tier Suntech One solar panels and is powered by the Enphase Microinverter System.
Watch the video below and read on to learn more!
A bit about solar systems
Did you know that Australia has more residential solar per capita than anywhere in the world? However, the vast majority of these solar systems are the old technology. The system that just got installed at TLC for Kids is the latest cutting edge, super smart technology.
A solar system is made up of solar panels and either a string inverter (old technology), or many microinverters (new technology). String systems wire all the panels together and they behave like Christmas lights, meaning if one panel is shaded, damaged or has a fault, the whole system will produce power at the level of the lowest common denominator. String systems often don’t come with a monitoring app so you can go months without knowing there’s something wrong until you get your power bill and it’s gone up higher than normal.
The Enphase Microinverter System is the latest technology out of Silicon Valley. They are super smart and designed to yield the maximum energy from each panel, regardless of what the next one is doing. The Enphase Microinverter System has a user-friendly monitoring app called Enlighten which shows us exactly how much our system is producing throughout the day.
To see what TLC for Kids’ solar system is doing in real time, click here.
Solar panel companies are given an independent rating by Bloomberg that categorises them into ‘tiers’ to make choosing a good solar panel brand easier. Suntech, a leading worldwide manufacturer since 2001, donated the solar panels for our system. We’re thrilled to know that the company has a top quality, tier one rating (this basically means they’re pick of the bunch), with long standing investment in Australia. Suntech panels have also undergone lots of independent testing, so we know they’ll keep producing great results over the life of our solar system (that’s at least 25 years!).
The system was donated at a fundraising event held at Progression Fitness Club in July and announced in a live interview with Collingwood Football Club Captain, Scott Pendlebury on Triple M radio.
If you are thinking about getting a quote for your solar system but don’t know where to start, Living Energy, Enphase and Suntech have a great offer especially for TLC for Kids supporters. You can get a top quality system like ours installed at your home or business – with the intelligence of the enphase micro inverter system and premium quality Suntech panels! Living Energy will make it easy by doing all the design, installation and connection. Thanks to the solar trio’s continued support, they will donate up to $400 per solar system to help us help more kids smile.
To request a solar quote and support TLC for Kids at the same time, email gosolar@livingenergy.com.au
