Feasibility Study of Additional Solar PV Generation in a Manufacturing Facility

Dobinson's Spring and Suspension, a manufacturing facility in Central Queensland, recently added additional equipment at their Rockhampton site, which increased the site load. Dobinson's was also required to move to a new retail energy tariff as their current tariffs were made obsolete for future contract agreements by the distribution company. The structure and costs associated with the chosen tariff was to affect the viability of additional Solar PV generation at the site. For this reason, analysis is required to determine the most suitable new energy tariff and the viability of additional Solar PV generation after moving to the new tariff. This paper investigates and determines the economic viability of additional solar PV generation at the site to reduce energy costs considering the tariff structures.