20-Jan-2010 Kennards Hire Goes Green SolarSwitch has been chosen for a prestigious pilot project to install a 10kW solar electricity system for one of Australia’s leading hire companies Kennards Hire. The system will be installed on the company’s St Marys site in NSW which is one of 100 Kennards Hire centres across Australia.

The 56 panel installation will generate around $9000 worth of solar electricity per year which will more than cover the site’s annual electricity bill. It will also save over 13 tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions being pumped into the atmosphere annually.

“We are trialling the solar panels at our St Mary’s branch and if successful, we hope to install them in our hire centres throughout New South Wales. We want to reduce our carbon footprint where possible and this seems like a great solution. Not only will it reduce our power consumption, it has the added benefits of reducing our energy bills and helping the environment,” said Cameron Kennard.

The investment of around $50,000 after rebates, will pay for itself in about five years and then generate 20 to 30 years worth of free electricity.

Kennards Hire operates more than 100 hire centres nationally and employs over 900 Australians.

“SolarSwitch is very excited to be working with such a prestigious company as Kennards Hire. We are finding more and more businesses are approaching us wanting to invest in solar power and do what they can for the environment” said Adam Tesoriero, Director of SolarSwitch.

Investing in solar electricity has now become an extremely attractive investment option for businesses thanks to the new solar electricity rebate and the gross feed-in-tariff introduced in NSW this month. The new solar electricity rebate, known as the “Solar Credits Scheme” is now open to everyone including businesses, unlike the old Solar Homes and Communities Plan. Kennards Hire received a $10,000 point of sale discount from SolarSwitch through the Solar Credits Scheme.

On top of this the new solar buy back scheme or gross feed-in-tariff means anyone with a solar electricity system in NSW gets credited 60c per kilowatt hour for all the electricity their system generates. That’s almost four times the current retail rate. The feed-in-tariff is limited to the first 50 Megawatts installed in NSW of which more than 20MW have already been allocated.

SolarSwitch has worked with home owners, local government and businesses installing almost 2000 grid connect solar electricity systems.

For more information about installing solar electricity on your home or business contact SolarSwitch here or on (02) 8985 9945.

< Back to News Items