Diesel reduction using solar

The Balladonia Road House in Western Australia uses diesel generators to power the air conditioning in the guest rooms and the cooking appliances in the lunch bar.

The roadhouse recently installed a 40 kVA solar array, supplied by Perth-based Regen Power, but needed it to function with the existing diesel generators to offer extra power and reduce the amount of diesel consumed.

Magellan supplied its solar zero export control device the Solar Gate, which enabled it to be installed remotely as a turnkey solution.

Above is a graph of a typical day at Balladonia, with the Solar Gate ‘load following’ function in use. The Solar Gate solution enabled the solar array to work with the diesel generators by preventing reverse power flow. It was also used as a reverse power protection relay (IEC 60255). The Solar Gate ensures the diesel is constantly supplying 10 kW worth of load, and the rest of the equipment is coming via solar.

The Solar Gate was provided in a box as a turnkey solution that could be easily installed in a remote location without excessive wiring or complicated installation.