A military museum in the Northern Territory has made a “life saving” switch to solar, after the installation of a 100kW rooftop PV system that is expected to reduce its electricity bill by $270,000 and pay for itself in the next four years.

The Darwin Military Museum, which showcases the military history of northern Australia and operations involving Australians in the Asia Pacific region, switched on the solar system last week.

The PV project was backed by $100,000 in funding from the Northern Territory government’s one-off Tourism Infrastructure Development Fund, and also received $11,000 from the federal government.

“The Darwin Military Museum has had its share of financial challenges in recent years and this solar
system is a real life-saver”, said Vikki McLeod, a board member of the Darwin Military Museum, who is also an electrical engineer.

McLeod said solar power was found to be a perfect match for the Museum, which had a heavy day time air-conditioning load due to its location in Australia’s tropical north.

“This means we will be on a better financial footing and we can get back to what we do best and
showcase Darwin’s military heritage to our 60,000 visitors a year,” she said.

Jeremy Hunt, whose company Country Solar installed the 100kW system, said it was an usually big job for his team, although commercial solar installations were becoming increasingly popular among local businesses.

“Just six months ago, I would have said a solar system this size was unusual but we are getting more and more enquiries from commercial customers as they begin to understand that solar
is a good business investment,” Hunt said.