Island Berries Celebrates 8 Years of Sweet Solar Success

At the heart of this solar success story is a love for Tasmania and the belief that we can do great things on our little island. That’s why, when it was time for Island Berries to expand in 2015, we built a new food manufacturing facility at Cambridge and decided to power it with solar energy.

We built our factory and Powercomm installed the 80kW of solar panels just over 8 years ago.

The panels paid for themselves extremely quickly, and now they’re saving Island Berries money on our power bill each year.

At the factory about 38% of our electricity comes from solar and we save roughly $20,000 per year. The payback in today’s money and electricity prices is 2.5 years.

Even here in Tassie, the power of the sun is more than enough to give us huge relief on our power bills. 

It’s perfect for us, because we do all our energy intensive work throughout the day. The panels work hardest when it’s hottest. That’s great for Island Berries, because we run several big freezers and coolrooms hard when it’s hot outside to keep our products cool.

I liked the Panels so much that I got solar installed at home, and decided to give the home battery a go. In the spring and summer months, the battery means that I pay nothing for power at home. 

We are considering doubling the size of the system at Island Berries, from 80kW to 160kW, because as the business has grown, so has our electricity consumption.

The solar panels have not just weathered the years, but they are a real life example of how environmental and financial success can go together. Beyond the financial advantages, clean energy provides a big benefit for future generations. 

I like doing the right thing for the climate, my children and grandchildren. I want to do my bit to make the world better for them and their mates.

Andre Richardson 
CEO, Island Berries
CAMBRIDGE