The Royal Australian Mint goes solar

The Royal Australian Mint will soon have one of the ACT’s largest rooftop solar energy systems, leading the way for commercial businesses to take a more sustainable approach to industry. 

More than 900 solar panels will be installed on the roof of the iconic Mint building, forming a custom solar panel photovoltaic (PV) energy system that will see a greener approach to coin production taken in Australia.

Origin Energy was awarded the tender to design, build, own, operate and maintain the solar PV system, which will be installed in the coming months in accordance with the Mint’s heritage management plan. No solar panels will be visible from the ground to preserve the historic façade of the building.

The Royal Australian Mint will save energy and operating costs by going solar.

The Royal Australian Mint CEO Ross MacDiarmid says they will continue to look at energy efficient initiatives wherever possible.

“Given the size of the roof and its orientation we saw that placing a solar panel system on to it was a great way of minimising our carbon footprint and making a contribution to saving on conventional energy in Australia,” MacDiarmid says.

The Mint will adopt a greener approach to coin production with the solar PV system.

“We hope that all businesses are constantly looking at initiatives like this to gain energy efficiencies and minimise their carbon footprint.”

Renewable resources: Sustainability, the environment & commercial property

Origin Energy Executive General Manager of Corporate Affairs, Phil Craig says small business owners can not only look to reduce their carbon footprint by investing in solar energy, but can also reap long-term benefits in savings.

“Energy use can be a significant operating cost for many businesses. For some, solar presents a compelling opportunity to save on energy costs, improve cash flow and ultimately help their bottom line,” Craig says.

“The key to maximising the benefit of a solar system is how much of your solar generation you consume given this is energy that you do not have to purchase from the grid.

“Businesses that have a constant, predictable energy demand during daytime hours are ideally placed to benefit from having solar on their roof.

“Costs of systems are cheaper than they were a few years ago and now under the Federal Government’s recently announced $20,000 small business tax break there are quite affordable ways to go solar.”