Riviera: Case Study
The Consultation Process
The largest and most awarded luxury yacht builder in Australia, Riviera is a global leader in the marine industry. Established in 1980, Riviera builds its world-renowned luxury yachts at its 14 hectare, state of the art waterfront site located at Coomera on Queensland’s Gold Coast. Every yacht is carefully constructed to reflect Riviera’s unmatched passion for excellence in design, technology and performance, without forgoing on luxury.
Manufacturing in Australia is a challenging environment for many business, with currency fluctuations and high local labour costs key considerations for success. Riviera is no different, and with tough competition in the global market, the price and quality of its product are critical.
In order to cut electricity costs and help their business remain competitive, Riviera began investigating solar. After diligent research, Infinite Energy were selected as Riviera’s preferred solar provider due to our analytical approach, and tireless efforts to provide Riviera with as much information as possible in order to help them make a fully informed decision.
“With the size of our site and the beautiful weather we have here on the Gold Coast, it seemed only natural that we make the move toward solar. As production gears up on-site, reducing our electricity bill will make a great difference to Riviera.
“The initial consultations with Greg were great – he provided us with a wealth of information, was very thorough in his processes, and had no problems with helping us to understand the details of solar installations.”
The Solar Solution
After carefully analysing Riviera’s electricity usage and spend, Infinite Energy discovered that due to being on a demand-based tariff, just 60% of Riviera’s electricity bill was associated with the actual electricity consumed onsite.
Therefore, investing in solar would not only significantly offset Riviera’s grid-purchases of energy, but also decrease the peak demand of Riviera, reducing the kVA-based demand charges payable. Taking this into account, Infinite Energy recommended a 100kW solar PV system with real-time monitoring.
The 99.96 solar PV system we installed boasts an annual production of over 160,600kWh, and will not only offset a significant proportion of Riviera’s electricity usage, but also provide protection against future energy price rises.
The system is comprised of:
- 357 x Trina 280W Solar Panels
- 4 x SMA TriPower 25kW inverters
- Integrated SMA Monitoring
In a year, Riviera’s total emission abatement is estimated to be 150 tonnes. This is the equivalent of planting 6,817 trees per year, or taking 50 cars off the road for an entire year.
Solar Savings
In the first year alone, Riviera’s 100kW solar PV system is expected to provide approximately $24,100 in savings. 54% ($13,100) of these savings came from a direct reduction in electricity costs, while 46% ($11,000) came from a reduction in demand costs.
According to Riviera, these savings will greatly benefit the company as a whole, “With the expected results from having our first solar panels installed at Riviera, we hope to be able to move further toward overall efficiency. Reducing our operational costs and working toward being a greener company will be of great benefit to our site, our staff and our customers.”
If it delivers as promised, Riviera is hoping to upgrade to a 500kW solar PV system in the near future.
The Bottom Line
Commercial solar has become increasingly more common thanks to falling component costs and rising electricity price rises. Plus, in addition to traditional capital purchases, flexible finance options like PPAs and Solar Leasing have become more common, allowing businesses to remain cash flow positive from day one, while still gaining a long life asset.
Solar is perfect for manufacturers like Riviera, as the majority of energy usage occurs during daylight hours. Find out how much going solar could save your business, and request a no obligation quote today.
