MASTERBLASTERS

PPA CASE STUDY

THE CLIENT

Tim and Liz Hamblin founded Masterblasters in 2006. The company provides high quality blasting and coating services for metal structures and equipment across Southern Queensland.

THE PROBLEM

Masterblasters was consuming significant amounts of electricity, primarily due to operating compressors continuously during the day for blasting and painting.

System Size

Number of Panels

Average Monthly Savings

THE STORY

Paying around $120,000 for a solar installation wasn’t something the owners of Masterblasters wanted to add to their business budget, especially for a property they didn’t own.

Tim and Liz Hamblin already had solar on their own home, and knew renewable energy would save them thousands in electricity bills to run the compressors in their workshop.

After looking at the commercial solar prices, they weren’t sure of the best solution until they found out about a Power Purchase Agreement (PPA).

A PPA gave Masterblasters the benefits of solar savings on their roof, with the security of knowing their system would be fully managed by Proven Energy.

“It’s essentially letting the company use your roof space; you buy back the power at a cheaper rate, while the solar company owns, manages and maintains the solar system,” said Peter Sutrin, Director of Proven Energy.

“It’s a good solution for any business who rents their premises and doesn’t have the funds or risk appetite to invest in a solar system.”

“We focus on our business, Proven Energy takes care of the solar system.”

The installation took place in late 2018, and after the wait for transfers & commissioning by their energy retailer, it was turned on in January 2019.

“We’re glad we got solar. We still make sure we don’t waste resources; we turn off the big compressors when we don’t need them, or use smaller ones,” said Tim.

“Having solar doesn’t mean we don’t run our business efficiently, but it does mean we save.”

In 2019 and 2020, Masterblasters saved $4900, a great overall saving for no upfront solar system purchase cost, and no ongoing asset management expenses.

They tracked the savings for the first 12 months, but since then, they were happy to take a hands off approach and let Proven Energy handle the monitoring and follow ups.

“Sometimes I walk through the shed and hear the inverter making noise; that’s when I know it’s a sunny day. If it’s quiet, I know it’s a cloudy day,” said Liz, “That’s the only time I think about solar, other than when I see my lower power bills.”

“We focus on our business, Proven Energy takes care of the solar system.”

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