SJW Mushrooms owner Steven Willemse has invested more than $100,000 in a solar system that will drastically improve his operations, save him money and give him guaranteed peace of mind. The 60kW solar hybrid system was installed by MaxiSolar and is believed to be the biggest of its kind on the Sunshine Coast. Mr Willemse said he decided to avoid rising electricity costs and protect his farm from costly power outages. The farm had no electricity for four days and lost $20,000 in stock in a blackout associated with Cyclone Oswald in January last year.
The new hybrid solar system includes a battery back-up which can power the farm for two to 20 hours, depending on the amount of electricity usage. The system has 240 solar panels on three different stand-alone arrays behind the farm sheds to capture the sun from the north, the north-east and west.
MaxiSolar chief executive Bruce Jones-Walker said the batteries would power the cooling of the sheds at night or if there was a black-out. Mr Willemse said the farm would still rely on some electricity from the grid at night because battery costs meant it was not viable to go fully solar. He expects the system to have paid for itself in five years.
Member for Glass House Andrew Powell and Mayor Mark Jamieson attended an official “switch-on” last week. SJW Mushrooms farms at Chevallum and Woodford have 62 staff and produce 26 tonnes of mushrooms a week. Eighty percent of the farm’s product goes to Brisbane and surrounds as well as Woolworths and wholesale outlets in north Queensland. It also supplies Sunshine Coast businesses, IGAs and wholesalers.
“A few of our competitors are bigger than us, but they can’t match us on quality,” Mr Willemse said. “This (system) is all about staying in business. If we can save some money, it’s better for us for the future.” he said.
