Solar-powered Aged Care a First for Queensland

In a first for Queensland, Carinity has switched three aged care communities to solar power under a $1.1M plan which will see the majority of its sites relying on renewable energy by the end of the year – saving around 459.8 tonnes of greenhouse gases annually.

Over the past month Carinity, a not-for-profit outreach of Queensland Baptists, has switched three of its aged care facilities to solar power as part of its sustainability strategy. Another five sites will transition across the state and make the switch within the next seven months.

Carinity is the first aged care provider in Queensland to switch all its care communities to solar energy.

Carinity Aged Care – Shalom in Rockhampton, Carinity Aged Care – Kepnock Grove in Bundaberg and Carinity Aged Care – Clifford in Brisbane are now operating predominately on solar power. The estimated greenhouse gas emission savings from switching Carinity’s current eight aged care communities to solar is equivalent to 165 tonnes of landfill.

Carinity Executive Manager Business and Development Peter Lamberth said the $1.1M initiative was part of an organisational-wide campaign to be more sustainable.

“Aged care is one of the biggest growing sectors in Australia and the move to sustainable energy makes financial and environmental sense. It also helps Australia reach its renewable energy goals,” Mr Lamberth said.

“Working with BlueNRGY Company, we have built photovoltaic systems which are expected to account for a major percentage of our energy consumption based on average use for the past year."

Using a sophisticated control system to manage the energy production of the solar inverters, Carinity will ensure solar electricity production does not exceed the electricity load of the complex at any time.

All the electricity generated will be used in the facility to power all, if not the vast majority, of energy use.

The solar panels are positioned at different orientations and pitches to increase the production of solar energy from the middle of the day to morning and afternoon.

Mr Lamberth says, “As a non-for-profit organisation, our commitment to care not only encompasses the people we assist but also the wider community. We want to ensure as an organisation we are playing our part in ensuring the health of our planet to future generations.”

“Our first step in our sustainability plan is to have five of our aged care communities being run predominantly on solar energy by the end of the year.”

“While we will not be returning power to the grid, the systems are designed to provide sufficient power based on daily consumption to meet the majority of demand needs,” he said.

The total 1460 solar panels are estimated to generate a total peak capacity of 528.50 MWh across the five sites.

Click here to find out more about Carinity's aged care services.