Toyota Installs 500kW of KYOCERA Solar Modules in Australia

Autonomous Energy has announced the completion of a 500kW solar power system at Toyota Motor Corporation Australia's manufacturing plant in Melbourne. 2,000 Kyocera solar panels now cover the roof of Toyota Australia's Engine Factory at its Altona North plant. It is the largest roof-mounted solar photovoltaic (PV) system in Victoria and the third largest nationally.

"One of the exciting things about this project was the number of firsts for solar in Australia," Says Mario Como, Production Engineer at Toyota Australia.

"For example we are the first site to directly connect a solar array to an industrial site's internal high-voltage network via a single 500kW Central Inverter and transformer."

The 500kW Central Inverter and transformer were manufactured by leading power engineering company ABB, this being the largest ABB inverter installed in Australia to date.

"From day one the priorities for this project have been safety and quality," said Mark Gadd, Managing Director at Autonomous Energy. "Working closely with Toyota's engineers we have set a new standard in the Australian solar industry for safety management and installation quality."

Autonomous Energy's industry-leading solar engineering, installation and project management teams were responsible for all aspects of this complex and innovative project. The premium quality Kyocera solar modules in this system produce enough renewable energy to power the equivalent of 200 households.

"Kyocera has been manufacturing solar panels for nearly 40 years now, and this is the largest installation of Kyocera solar panels in Australia to date," said George Phani, National Manager at Kyocera Solar.

"This installation is an excellent example to other businesses that large-scale solar installations should be implemented not only to help the environment, but also to benefit the bottom line."

Toyota officially launched its solar power system on June 5, 2014, coinciding with World Environment Day.

This is an important project for Toyota, demonstrating the company's commitment to environmental sustainability, clean manufacturing and innovation. This project was made possible with Government co-investment from the Clean Technology Investment Fund.