Northpoint Tower Sydney

In May 2011, ABS won the contract for the design, supply and installation of a 33kW PV system on the Northpoint Building at North Sydney. This building was over 30 years old, 40 storeys high and was located in a prominent position with favourable solar access.

Whilst there were some low level roof areas which had some shading issues from other buildings and tower roof shading issues from a 3.6m high parapet wall, ABS recommended 2 locations and layouts for the installation of the PV panels, which met the optimum solution for balancing cost with energy generation. The installation was expected to generate approx. 40MWh pa in renewable electricity and save 880 tonnes of CO2 over 25 years.

BIPV Feasibility

In addition, ABS was commissioned to carry out a feasibility study to determine the viability of cladding the Tower’s concrete  façade with Black aluminium framed Photovoltaic panels, not only to generate electricity but to also give the aging building a modern appearance.

ABS carried out a preliminary costing and energy forecast to determine the pay back period. The recommendation was to clad the North, East and West sides of the tower with 1100kW of PV panels, whilst the south would be covered with black glass. The resulting feasibility study of the PV façade system estimated annual electricity generation of  860MWh pa and saving 21,500 tonnes of CO2 over 25 years.

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