Solargain is proud to announce the renewal of its partnership with Carbon Neutral as well as its new Green Partner status.
Carbon Neutral helps businesses nationally and internationally to decrease their environmental footprint by supporting them in the assessment, reduction and compensation of their greenhouse gas emissions. With over 15 years of experience in carbon management and consulting, it is the largest biodiverse reforestation offset developer in Australia.
Each year, Solargain contributes to the “Plant a Tree” program and has, since 2013, helped to establish 720 native trees and shrubs in the Yarra Yarra Biodiversity Corridor. With this new level, we will be able to plant 570 trees per year.
Solargain also contributes in carbon offsets with projects such as the Cockburn ARC, alone attributing to 168 trees per year. The power generated by the 1 MWh system currently being installed will generate enough electricity to power 266 homes a year, equating to removing 416 cars off the road each year.
We are green by nature
Solargain's core business is the sale, supply and installation of products that reduce the carbon footprint of our customers and create a more sustainable community. This is enshrined in our company mission statement which states that "Solargain invests in the lives of others, leading the way towards a sustainable energy future." This statement drives the company and staff to remember that connecting with people and creating positive behavioural change is an essential part of the successful adoption of the technologies we sell.
REDUCE
Our offices minimise the use of fossil fuel grid energy through the adoption of commercial-size solar PV. Our Head Office has been powered by solar panels since 2011, and the 25 kW system currently on our roof participates in reducing our carbon offset.
There is very limited water usage in the sale, administration, delivery and installation of solar PV systems. At our offices, we do what we can by ensuring we have water conserving dual flush toilets and reduced flow shower heads in any bathrooms.
Our carbon footprint from transport comes from several inevitable sources including product delivery, staff movement and system installations. To deal with / offset this issue, we have implemented several strategies:
- Make outbound travel only when necessary (deal with as much as you can at your place of work before getting in the car);
- Company cars provided to staff are of a compact 4-cylinder nature;
- Where possible, use E10 ethanol blend fuel in company cars;
- Because of the size of our operation, we bulk order product in container loads as opposed to small job lots, reducing overall delivery transport requirements;
- Offset travel impact with the Carbon Neutral tree planting program.
As Solargain has both an outbound sales force and its own warranty and service division, we also schedule customer appointments together in areas, which minimises travel and transport requirements.
REUSE
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Hot water
Our hot water division has a re-use program where second-hand hot water systems, removed from customer roofs when the new systems are installed, are not disposed of, but are refurbished and used as temporary units when it is required to get customers hot water on the same day. This is in circumstances were it might take us a couple of days to get their new solar unit installed. This re-use dramatically extends the productive life of the old unit, which would have otherwise gone straight to landfill.
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PV
On the solar photovoltaic side of the business, we have also created a secondary sales market for older panels to be re-used. Many older solar systems with 170 W / 190 W panels are not compatible for upgrade with the current 250 W / 260 W panels. Rather than merely replace them with new ones and discard the older panels, Solargain offers these older panels for re-use to customers who prefer to upgrade with second-hand panels compatible with their existing equipment. Both of these practices are part of our standard procedures for all clients in these positions. In addition to re-purposing panels, we aspire to minimise waste by refurbishing inverters.
RECYCLE
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Cardboard
There is significant cardboard packaging waste from operating a solar panel supply and installation business. Solargain has recycling bins set up at each of its premises. Installers bring back any cardboard waste to base for weekly recycling pickup.
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Metal
Aluminium off-cuts from rails are taken back to Solargain’s depots, aggregated and recycled with local metal scrap recycling organisations every 1-2 months.
As you can see, sustainability is in our DNA, so signing on as a Carbon Neutral Green Partner was a no brainer. If you want to purchase solar from a company that is leading the way towards a renewable energy future, Solargain is the right fit for you. Call us on 1300 73 93 55 or contact us.