Massive 5MW rooftop solar system installed at Queensland shopping centre

A massive nearly 5MW rooftop solar system has been installed and switched on at the Logan Hyperdome, a shopping centre in the suburb of Shailer Park in Brisbane’s Logan City.

The 12,000-odd panel, 4.93MW system was installed by Queensland government-owned utility Yurika Energy, the latest in a collaboration with QIC Global Real Estate, as reported here in 2020.

As reported on One Step sister site RenewEconomy, Yurika is an “arms-length” Queensland government entity, created to deal with “ring fencing” issues that limit the ability of state-owned network operators to invest in storage and deal directly with customers.

It also operates the state’s demand management incentive scheme. Under its Smart Connected Solar scheme, Yurika is installing solar for QIC at Hyperdome and three other Queensland shopping centres – Domain Central in Townsville, Grand Central at Toowoomba, and Robina Town Centre at the Gold Coast.

The Hyperdome system is the largest of the bunch.

“This is a massive system – it has more than 12-thousand panels that generate a whopping 4.93MW of energy,” Yurika executive general manager Carly Irving said.

“The solar networks across these five assets will deliver over 15 megawatts of solar power capacity and reduce CO2 emissions by more than 17,000 metric tonnes per year, bringing clean energy to these centres and providing significant relief to the energy network in the surrounding communities,” she said.

“What we have shown at Logan Hyperdome, and at the other sites, is that Yurika has a product that lowers the cost of energy and also improves the environmental performance of large shopping centres,” she said.

“The Smart Connected Solar platform also allows for integration of batteries, electric vehicle chargers and our Internet of Things ecosystem platform to ensure we can enhance the capability of the systems to meet future requirements.”