MRL – 20 Walter Drive, Commercial Solar System
MRL (Mineral Resources Limited) approached Westsun Solar to design and install a 195.75kW commercial solar system for their headquarters located at 20 Walter Drive in Osborne Park.
MRL is an innovative and leading mining services company with a growing world-class portfolio of mining operations across multiple commodities, including iron or and lithium.
MRL is committed to an environmental management approach that maintains their licence to operate in an environmentally responsible and sustainable manner. To demonstrate their commitment to climate change, MRL has adopted a Paris-aligned climate-related risk framework and long-term emission reduction target of net zero operational emissions by 2050.
MRL will continue to utilise their experience gained over three decades of operations and proven ability to deliver – combined with their build own operate (BOO) capability and innovative material handling solutions to respond to climate change challenges at our operations and provide mining services solutions to assist the resources industry in its decarbonising efforts.
Due to the complexity of this job being on a multi-level high rise building, Westsun Solar engaged Clenergy who agreed to help with the drawings. Clenergy’s engineering team provided strict guidelines that needed to be implemented in order for the job to be completed both safely and successfully.
The design included:
- 195.75kW Solar System
- 435x Longi LR4-72HPH-450M
- 6x SolarEdge 33.3kW Inverters
- 223x P950 Optimisers
- SolarEdge metering for export limits and consumption monitoring
- Clenergy racking and certification for klip look roof sheeting (some panels have up to 7 rows of rail)
- DC design with assistance from SolarEdge to achieve maximum benefit/efficiency over each aspect/facing roof
Meter 1
- 3x33kW SolarEdge Inverters
- 214 Panels (96.3kW)
Meter 2
- 3×33.3kW SolarEdge Inverters
- 221 Panels (99.4kW)
Panel/DC Configuration as follows
- Inverter 1 – 71 panels 31.95kW
- Inverter 2 – 70 panels 31.5kW
- Inverter 3 – 81 panels 36.45kW
- Inverter 4 – 81 panels 36.45kW
- Inverter 5 – 70 panels 31.5kW
- Inverter 6 – 62 panels 27.9kW
The implications of having a system that covers all aspects of the roof meant that an optimised solution needed to be implemented. Due to the consideration of micro-inverters Westsun Solar partnered with SolarEdge after considering a number of factors that could affect the built environment. The defining factor was SolarEdge’s ability to maximise the energy from all roof areas including the safety and design that SolarEdge was able to provide.
Moreover, to achieve the required DC size panels were placed in zones throughout the roof which typically wouldn’t happen on a normal installation as there were south facing panels. This required a customised racking system that Westsun Solar designed with Clenergy’s engineering team to ensure it was compliant with health and safety standards.
The proposed design provided by Clenergy’s engineering team called for almost four timex the amount of railing that would be used on a standard 200kW solar system. The proposed rail design was equivalent to an 800kW install on a normal commercial roof but due to the complexity of the job it was necessary to ensure the panels were going to be both safe and secure on the roof.
Moreover, the design of the AC integration was a major challenge to to MRL’s new building being connected to HV, which required the addition of 20 EV chargers to the site. The integration of solar to the building management system was designed and and completed to allow maximum access to solar during high vehicle charging periods.
To complete the job, Westsun Solar needed to demonstrate to MRL that we could meet the highest health and safety requirements. This was pivotal due to MRL being such a high-profile company in the building and mining services industry and they have a reputation they must uphold.
Over the duration of the installation, Westsun Solar were able to deliver a project that had zero incidents or near misses continuing the LTI for 2021 and 2022. Westsun Solar were able to implement and deliver an extensive safety management plan that say the project delivered within the proposed time frame.
