A significant addition to the rooftop PV market in Australia has been made with the installation of a 284kWp plant on the roof of an office building in Sydney.

The Australian subsidiary of Dutch PV solutions company Photon Energy connected the plant, which will be the main source of power to the building during daylight hours. It will reduce energy costs further by exporting surplus electricity. Photon Energy began offering secured financing options to Australian commercial rooftop plants in December.

The Sydney project, located in the city’s central business district, will reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 352 tonnes a year and produce 371,000 kWh of energy annually, the company claims. The plant is expected to contribute to the building’s National Australian Built Environment Rating System (NABERS) and Green Star Rating scores. NABERS measures environmental performance of homes, buildings and rented property, while the Green Star system assess sustainability of construction projects from concept through to completion.

Photon Energy Australia was created as the parent company sought to diversify away from its focus on European markets including Italy and the Czech Republic. Company chief executive officer Georg Hotar told PV Tech that the company “made the decision back in 2011 to diversify from the European market…looking for a country where the market was really near or had reached grid parity and had a lot of sun”.

Photon Energy Autralia's managing director, Michael Gartner, who is also Hotar’s Photon Energy co-founder, grew up in Australia, making it a good fit, Hotar said.

Speaking while the plant was still under construction, Hotar said that the 284kWp system was small in European terms but significant nonetheless as it is one of the biggest in Australia to date. Photon Energy hit solar industry headlines in February when it announced the launch of European Solar Holdings, a variation on the so-called 'yield co' investment model for small to medium-sized investors..