Newcastle City Council installed a 20 kW solar PV system at a sports facility to reduce electricity costs from peak capacity charges. However, peak demand did not align with solar output, so a battery was added. SwitchDin software integrated the separate solar, battery, and control systems to optimize performance and allow the Council to monitor and control the system. The hybrid system is expected to reduce costs while meeting renewable energy goals.

1. SWITCHDIN.COM
Case Study
Council facility saves through solar and shifting
loads
THE PROJECT
Newcastle City Council (NCC) installed a 20 kW solar
photovoltaic (PV) system at the No.2 Sportsground,
Newcastle West. The system generates around 30,000
kWh of power per year. This is used to offset grid-
generated electricity used by the building and during
sporting events.
The 64-panel system was installed after it was identified as
a priority site to reduce peak capacity charges. The system
is anticipated to save council over $16,000 annually in
electricity and peak capacity charges. However after a
while it was evident that the peak demand was not
occurring during daylight hours so the anticipated savings
were not being realised. Battery storage was consequently
retrofitted to minimise export and help reduce early
evening loads.
The hybrid solar and battery system will reduce council’s
exposure to rising electricity prices while helping to meet
its goal of having 30% of council’s electricity generated
from low-carbon sources by 2020.
However making the existing solar work with the
retrofitted battery (all from different vendors) was a
challenge and the council wanted the best system design
and avoid single vendor lock-in. Local company Solar
Australia turned to DropletTM to connect the solar and
batteries to StormCloudTM. NCC and Solar Australia have
access to the operating system to monitor, analyse the
system performance and smart control to respond to peaks
in demand and reduce the site costs.
Solar PV on No.2 Sportsground
Location of the sportsground in Newcastle,
NSW
SwitchDin enables local battery technology to integrate with established inverter brands
June 2016 1
HIGHLIGHTS
Devices integrated into the
system include:
 Batrium BMS
 Victron Inverter /
Charger (MTCP)
 SMA Tripower Grid
Inverter
 Site Aggregates
 Grid Power Meter
Enables NCC to support
local technology developers
mixed with other industry
leading devices
Empowers NCC staff with
user friendly monitoring,
analytics and control
Engages the local NCC
community with a
demonstrated success story
NEXT STEPS
On the back of the project success, NCC
is looking to expand the deployment of
SwitchDin for additional sites in the NCC
portfolio.
NCC is undertaking feasibility studies on
constructing a 5MW solar farm at the
local waste management facility which
could be virtually connected to the
council portfolio through local energy
trading facilitated by SwitchDin
technology.

2. SWITCHDIN.COM
Case Study
June 2016 2
LOCAL GOVERNMENT AND RENEWABLES
There are more than 560 local councils in
Australia.
Councils face increasing cost pressures,
but to date there has been a substantial
underinvestment by local councils in
renewable and low carbon technology.
Operational savings can be achieved
through retrofitting buildings with energy
efficient technologies and the installation
of solar PV and batteries.
Demonstrating the value of installing solar
PV and battery systems allows local
governments to respond to the
sustainability aspirations of their
constituents and be role models for other
institutions.
Local councils are well positioned to
deploy additional services from their
energy systems such as demand
management, local energy trading and
virtual net metering.
SWITCHDIN AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT
The SwitchDin solution empowers local
councils with system monitoring tools
coupled with advanced optimisation and
control functionality.
Councils can avoid single-supplier lock in
and have access to their data. Being
battery ready they can become prepared
for future data enabled virtualised and
aggregation services.
Through monitoring the individual
components of a council managed energy
system, staff can make appropriate
changes and resolve issues. Optimal
system performance is achieved through
device level control.
The SwitchDin suite provides essential
tools that give councils visibility and
control to extract the maximum value from
their renewable energy assets.
ABOUT SWITCHDIN
SwitchDin enables communities of solar and batteries
through system integration including cross platform
data communication and cloud computing. Beyond-the-
meter data is linked with the wider network to provide a
complete solution for aggregation and control.
SwitchDin empowers microgrid operators, retailers, solar
integrators and networks with monitoring, optimisation
and control functionality at their fingertips.
The SwitchDin team works hard everyday to create the
integration solutions to engage end users and ignite the
smart grid.
More information is available on our website
www.switchdin.com
ABN: 29 154 893 857
e info@switchdin.com
t +61 2 4786 0426
@SwitchDin
SMART BUILDINGS SMART WORKFORCE
This installation is part of
Newcastle Council’s Smart
Buildings Smart Workforce
project involving a range of
energy efficiency upgrades
and retrofits at high-use social,
cultural and recreational
facilities and key Council
operational buildings and
facilities.
It is estimated that the project
will reduce Council’s electricity
consumption by about 1.45
million kilowatt-hours a year,
with associating annual
savings of 1500 tonnes of
carbon pollution and $240,000
in electricity costs.
The project will provide high demonstration value and
have the ability to be replicated by local councils,
businesses, educational institutes and community
organisations throughout Australia.
Inverters and battery with
control and BMS