Home for the Aged Gets Cosy with Solar
Kaloma Home for the Aged provides live-in medical care for the ailing elderly—now, it’s taking care of itself and its finances. Tuning into the saving offered by solar, Kaloma chose Enphase for its proven safety and user-friendly monitoring platform.
Taking Control of Energy Costs
Maintaining a comfortable living environment for a 50 person residential community requires 24/7 heating, cooling, plumbing, and lighting. And for any business, these expenses add up. Kaloma Home for the Aged is a nonprofit organization looking for any way to shave off dollars here and there, and with the help of local installer Laser Electrical Goondiwindi, Kaloma found a solution that would save them money for years to come.
After conducting an energy appraisal, Kaloma learned its biggest expense was water heating, followed by all around high consumption loads throughout the week. Knowing solar could offset the facility’s large demand for energy, Laser Electrical Goondiwindi designed a multi-roof Enphase System.
Enphase technology enabled Laser Electrical Goondiwindi to maximise roof space and work around obstructions such as vents that take roof space and cause shading.
“With Enphase, we were able to do something we never could have done with string inverters,” said Jeff Cairns, Managing Director and Owner of Laser Electrical Goondiwindi. “We’ve created a system that spreads across seven buildings, 6kW each.”
New rulings requiring DC wiring to run through buildings with conduits meant installation costs for a string system would have been much higher. With Enphase, Laser Electrical Goondiwindi was able to run normal AC cable to the system, resulting in a safer, lower cost, and faster install.
Real Data, Real Results
Kaloma’s Board mandated that any solar PV system that was installed at Kaloma could be monitored on a day-to-day basis. Enphase Enlighten met this criteria, providing an easy-to-use monitoring platform that gives access to the system’s performance whenever and wherever it is wanted.
“As a nonprofit, Kaloma had to prove to its Board that the return on investment from solar is worth the price of the system,” said Cairns.
Through Enlighten, Kaloma’s maintenance crew can give stakeholders a monthly performance report.
Solar for the Long Haul
For Kaloma’s case to add up to the Board, it also needed a system that could last long-term. The warranty on Enphase technology provided peace of mind.
“Although the system costs a bit more, its lifetime value works out better,” said Cairns. “With better quality components, the system is capable of producing more energy and is built to last longer.”
