A&G PRICE LTD Est 1868
Phone: +64 7 868 6060
E-mail: sales@agprice.co.nz
Address: 208 Beach Rd, Thames 3500
www.agprice.co.nz
The system is all controlled by
the latest smart technology that
can send the power to the plant,
the batteries or the national grid
and is optimised to monitor and
reduce A&G’s peak usage – “this is
how our yearly power charges are
calculated”.
The solar battery array is capable
of reducing power usage by up
to 1/3 at any given time with the
added benefit of being able to
supplement the power requirements
on the Coromandel peninsular with
the huge influx of visitors over the
Christmas holiday period.
Mr Yates says, at current power
rates, “We are aiming to save
$100,000 per year giving a payback
of around 8.5 years. The long term
benefits of this will be seen by
reduced costs to our customers and
employment stability for our staff
against ever increasing competition
from low cost overseas countries.
“As the majority of our steel melting
happens during sun shine hours we
are also looking at more energy
efficient melting furnaces which will
complement the power produced
from the solar array and give us
a more useful melting capacity to
tackle smaller steel pours to support
New Zealand industries.
“As New Zealand’s leading one stop
shop for mechanical engineering,
manufacturing and refurbishment,
the energy from the solar array
doesn’t only benefit our foundry.
Once the batteries are fully charged
the power produced from the
panels can also be feed directly to
our fabrication, fitting and machine
shops. Imagine being able to tell
your customers your components
have been welded together or
machined using electricity produced
from the sun.”
While it’s a huge challenge for
any manufacturer to be carbon
neutral, Mr Yates says the call for
change is gathering momentum
from the younger generations and
governments and industries around
the world will be forced to change.
“Wanting to be ahead of the game
has changed our attitude to thinking
greener, which has allowed us to
make this significant step in the
right direction and of course these
improvements don’t stop here.
The next step will be replacing the
existing energy hungry lights with
energy efficient LED lighting and
we are always looking for new
technologies and ways to improve
our efficiency and capabilities to
meet our customer’s ever changing
requirements.”
Whether it’s a single or mass produced
casting, fabrication, cleverly machined
component or refurbishment of your
favourite piece of machinery, talk with
the team at A&G and let them help
you on your way to becoming carbon
neutral by using its solar power and
recycling systems to manufacture your
next piece of equipment.
Contact sales manager Barry Ingle
on 07 868 6060 or via email sales@
agprice.co.nz.
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