Commercial Solar NZ: 2 Sites for Andrew Simms Botany

Project Overview

Commercial solar NZ at scale means thinking across a whole business, not just a single rooftop. When Andrew Simms Botany approached Future Energy, the brief was clear: reduce the energy costs of two high consumption commercial sites in East Tamaki and do it with a system built to perform for the long term. Future Energy delivered 213kW of commercial solar power systems across the warehouse at 12 Beale Place and the showroom at 350 Te Irirangi Drive, with 361 panels, two Sungrow inverters, and a combined first year bill saving of $36,158 against an existing annual bill of $71,587.

The Challenge

Andrew Simms Botany operates two large commercial buildings in close proximity in East Tamaki. Both sites carry significant electricity loads and both had roof conditions and orientations well suited to solar generation. The challenge was not whether solar would work but how to design and deliver two separate commercial solar installations as a coordinated programme rather than two disconnected jobs.

With Genesis Energy as the retailer and WEL Utility Network as the distributor on the warehouse site, the system design needed to meet network requirements while maximising the commercial solar power available from each roof. Both sites required smart meter installation and full monitoring from commissioning. The showroom system in particular needed to be sized to offset close to 40% of the building’s consumption from day one, with the remaining grid supply kept as predictable as possible.

Site 1: Warehouse at 12 Beale Place

73.7kW Commercial Solar Installation

The warehouse at 12 Beale Place is a high stud industrial building with a corrugated iron roof in good condition. Future Energy installed panels across the north facing roof at 3 degree tilt, delivering 73.7kW of commercial solar capacity.

Installation required a Hiab lift to get materials to the roof and a large scissor lift for roof access, with a 2m safety perimeter established around the site throughout. Walking boards were used to span skylights across the roof safely. The Sungrow SG50CX-P2 50kW three phase inverter was installed on the mezzanine level inside the warehouse and connected to the existing DB-2 distribution board via cable tray from the inverter to the roof.

Sungrow SG50CX-P2 – 50kW Three Phase Inverter

The Sungrow SG50CX-P2 is a 50kW multi-MPPT three phase string inverter with 4 independent MPPT inputs, each handling 2 strings of panels across the north facing array. With up to 98.5% efficiency, IP66 protection, C5 anti corrosion rating, and built in AFCI 2.0 arc fault detection, the SG50CX-P2 is well suited to the industrial warehouse environment at 12 Beale Place. Dynamic shading optimisation and built in PID recovery function ensure maximum output is maintained across the system lifecycle.

Site 2: Showroom at 350 Te Irirangi Drive

139.6kW Commercial Solar Installation – 227 x Longi 615W Panels

The showroom at 350 Te Irirangi Drive is the larger of the two Andrew Simms Botany sites and carries the higher electricity load. Future Energy installed 227 Longi Hi-MO X6 Max LR7-72HTH-615W panels across the showroom roof, delivering 139.6kW of commercial solar capacity. The Longi Hi-MO X6 Max is Longi’s flagship large format commercial panel with up to 22.8% module efficiency, less than 1% first year degradation, and 0.40% annual degradation from year two, backed by a 15 year product warranty and 25 year linear power output warranty.

Sungrow SG110CX Premium – 110kW Nine MPPT Inverter

The showroom system is built around the Sungrow SG110CX Premium, a 110kW nine MPPT three phase string inverter delivering up to 98.7% efficiency and designed specifically for large commercial solar NZ and commercial scale applications. With nine independent MPPT inputs, the SG110CX can handle complex multi string array layouts across large commercial rooftops while maintaining optimised output from every string.

Combined Outcomes Across Both Sites

• 213.3kW total commercial solar capacity across 2 sites in East Tamaki
• 361 panels installed: 134 x 550W at the warehouse, 227 x 615W at the showroom
• $36,158 estimated first year bill savings at the showroom site alone
• 169,074kWh of clean electricity generated in year 1 at the showroom
• 39.7% of showroom consumption self powered from solar from day one
• 20.8 tonnes of CO2 offset per year at the showroom site
• Equivalent to removing 112.7 fossil fuel cars from the road for one year
• Net cost of solar power across the system lifecycle: $0.04 per kWh

Frequently Asked Questions

Can commercial solar NZ be delivered across multiple sites at once?

Yes and doing so as a coordinated programme rather than separate installations delivers real advantages. A single design and installation partner means consistent specification, coordinated network applications, and a single point of accountability across both sites. For Andrew Simms Botany, Future Energy managed the warehouse and showroom installations together, ensuring both systems were commissioned and producing from the same programme rather than being treated as two unrelated commercial solar jobs. This approach also simplifies ongoing monitoring and maintenance across the portfolio.

How is the return on investment calculated for a large commercial solar system?

The return on investment for a commercial solar installation is calculated by comparing the annual electricity bill before and after solar against the capital investment required. For the Andrew Simms showroom, the first year saving of $36,158 against a capital investment of over $150,000 puts the simple payback period at approximately 4 years. Over the 25 year system life, with electricity tariffs escalating at 3% per annum and panel degradation of 0.40% per year from year two, the cumulative return is modelled to exceed $1.1 million. The net cost of solar power over this period drops to just $0.04 per kWh.

Do I need separate inverters for each commercial site?

Yes. Each site operates as an independent commercial solar NZ system with its own inverter, metering, and network connection. The warehouse at 12 Beale Place uses the Sungrow SG50CX-P2 50kW inverter matched to the 73.7kW array, while the showroom at 350 Te Irirangi Drive uses the Sungrow SG110CX Premium 110kW inverter matched to the 139.6kW array. Sizing the inverter correctly to the array on each site ensures maximum efficiency and avoids clipping losses. Future Energy designed each system independently to match the specific roof, load profile, and network requirements of each location.

Looking at commercial solar NZ across your business premises? Future Energy designs and installs commercial solar power systems across single and multi-site commercial portfolios throughout New Zealand. Talk to us about what a coordinated commercial solar installation looks like for your operation.