5B Maverick

Solar roll-out

A large, eye-catching exhibit was on display at this year’s Smart Energy Show, the 5B Maverick solar array.

THE PORTABLE, PREFABRICATED, MODULAR SYSTEM is the brainchild of UNSW cofounders Chris McGrath and Eden Tehan, who have established a state-ofthe art production facility in the Sydney suburb of Alexandria equipped with a team of technologists, inventors and innovators.

The company website provides insights into the origins of the innovative solar system.

The story goes back to mid 2013 when Chris, then development manager for Infigen Energy, was standing in empty paddock in remote NSW when struck by the idea of solar modules in an apex, replicated across the entire 100 ha paddock.

“I raced back to Sydney to start work, on the phone to Eden most of the way, and over the next 15-months, working from our backyard in North Bondi, we developed the prototype for a new kind of solar array,” he wrote. “One that would smash on-site construction times and drastically simplify supply chains.”

Starting from scratch, they redesigned the most expensive components of a solar farm, racking and installation, to develop their flagship technology: a world-first portable, prefabricated solar array.

As seen in the images on this page the non-penetrative, above ground solar mounting system sits on concrete beams on rubber levelling pads, rather than relying on pile-driven racking.

The prototype proved successful and took off; projects to date total more than 5 MW.

One of the earliest completed was the 26 kW system using two MAVs installed in November 2016. Deployment time for the turnkey solar farm in Mittagong was just 15 minutes, with a team of two carrying out the task.

A more recent project was the 120 kW array using 9 MAVs at Smithfield in NSW that took a team of three just one day to deploy.

With the majority of labour and logistics taking place in the factory, onsite time is cut by 50 to 90 per cent compared to traditional solar farms.

The website states that a 5B team of two can install a 12 kW MAV on a greenfield site in around half an hour. This equates to 200 kW in a day and one MW in a week with a team of just three people.

“Essentially we are building the pre-fab solar array, a solar farm in a factory,” a company spokesperson told Smart Energy. The 1.5 MW Maverick solar array in Albury, NSW. 5B has reimagined the solar array as a portable, prefabricated, modular system, a plug-and-play unit ready to connect to DC isolator or inverter

Two sites for a client: Borroloola and Timber Creek, NT at 843 kW. Borroloola recently survived Cyclone Trevor completely unscathed

5B Maverick requires little or no ground penetrations, enabling ‘lightning fast solar PV project delivery’

What’s on their minds

DURING THE SMART ENERGY CONFERENCE a panel of speakers was asked to share their excitement and concerns about the renewable energy industry.

Their responses pretty much sum up the views of the greater industry, as follows:

The excitement:

• The pace of renewables is getting ahead • The substitution of coal by renewables – we are bypassing gas • Consumer involvement, and people are learning more and taking control of their generation and energy efficiency, and also the onset of battery storage and what that might mean for homes • Demand side engagement and demand response and VPPs • “I’m loving the fact we proved all those doubters wrong” • The growth of renewable energy which back in 2001 was dubbed a mickey mouse scheme

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The concerns:

• Delays or difficulty in connecting renewables to grid • The policy and regulations keeping up with the consumer thirst for renewables • Level of disruptions with bus models and the economics we need to sort through. • The make up of the senate after the federal election • Lack of investment in infrastructure connecting re power station with customer and that we are not using all the power stations • And not using all the distribution and energy storage