In one of the biggest commercial uses of solar power in Australia, St Vincent's is installing solar technology across 16 of its hospital and aged care facilities in NSW, VIC and QLD.

Todae Solar will install the systems, which St Vincent’s expect to generate around 40 Gigawatts of electricity a year, reducing their usage by around 35 to 40% and cutting greenhouse emissions by 40,000 tonnes per year.

Health and aged care are one of the biggest users of energy, making it a serious challenge for providers.

“To put it in context, SVHA consumes the equivalent domestic consumption of a town of 50,000 people annually,” Matt Power, St Vincent Health’s Group Manager for Energy and Environment, said.

Under their National Energy Action Plan (NEAP), due to be completed by June 2018, St Vincent’s are also replacing 43,000 conventional lights with LED fittings and introducing initiatives to reduce air-conditioning consumption, but say they expect to recoup the costs of the project within three years.

Image credit: Todae Solar.