Karadoc Solar Farm – 112 MW

Victoria 2018

The Karadoc Solar farm is located in north-western Victoria, developed, owned and operated by BayWa r.e. The solar farm was commissioned in 2018 and began to generating enough power to supply the equivalent of 65,000 Australian homes. The Karadoc Solar Farm installation comprises more than 340,000 solar panels over 664-acres. The system design incorporates single axis solar tracking technology where panels rotate with the sun, maximising every ray of light. Part of the energy generated from Karadoc will be consumed by the Australian brewery Carlton & United Breweries. In the future, the brewer wants to supply all its power from renewable energy sources.

For this project, SMA’s main scope covered equipment supply, technical support to customer’s grid study consultants, equipment commissioning and service support to certain actives in AEMO R2 testing. There are 38 units of Sunny Central 2750-EV PV inverter into 19 units of MV Power Station MVPS5500SC-EV. For a better PV array performance management, 505 units of Sunny Central compatible smart DC combiner boxes, Sunny String Monitor, were implemented. 1 unit of Power Plant Controller was installed in the plant SCADA control room to provide dynamic active and reactive power control and work with the utility network. Karadoc was delivered on time and on budget in under 12 months and made a major contribution to the local economy.

Karadoc will play an important role in helping the state of Victoria to meet its 40 per cent by 2025. Over 300 local employees have been involved in Karadoc’s construction. In partnership with the Sunraysia Institute of TAFE, 25 apprentices have been able to take part in the new Solar Industry Career Pathway program.