An Assessment on the Beam Solar Platform combines electricity data, local weather-station feeds and satellite imagery to calculate the optimum solar and battery combination for your site.
Below are the different parameters we consider when conducting a Beam Assessment.
How much solar could we fit at your site?
One of the first questions we need to answer is how many solar panels we can physically fit on your site and how they could be mounted. It often makes the most economical and environmental sense to build rooftop solar in Australia. However there are many sites without a usable or large enough roof space so the panels will need to be mounted on purpose-built racking. We might also want to maximise your output by tracking the sun or even build carpark or floating solar.
While it sometimes makes financial sense to build the largest solar and battery system possible, often we want to match power generation with power consumption. We collect half-hourly electricity data from your energy retailer (shown in blue) combined with our solar generation estimates (shown in orange), giving us a complete picture of electricity inputs and outputs to your site.
How much will your project cost?
The Beam Solar Platform is not only used for assessing the viability of renewable energy systems but it is also a marketplace and procurement system. The best suppliers in the industry, rigorously vetted by us, submit offers through our platform, giving us a unique window into price movements in the industry. With this combination of public and private pricing data, we are able to make an accurate price estimation for each potential solar system.
How much power will the panels generate?
A key part of determining the optimum size and mounting of your solar arrays is an estimation of their power generation over the course of a year. We use hourly solar irradiance data from nearby weather stations to predict the generation of each panel configuration, taking into account factors such as the size of the panels, the panel type and their orientation to the sun.
How much does your electricity cost from the grid?
Electricity costs vary significantly from place to place in Australia, depending on the source of power, distance it needs to travel, economies of scale and many other factors. We use the most recent bill from your site's energy retailer combined with estimates of future rates to build an electricity cost profile like the one below:
Putting it all together
We combine all of the available information for your site, as well as our predictions, estimations and calculations, into an assessment report. You can also explore the data from the Beam Solar Platform and even drill down to see what any of our suggested systems will do on any hour of the year.
