Goodoo Farms (Yanco) is a small family-owned business established in 2019 specialising in the aquaculture of Murray Cod.

Early last century, Murray Cod almost faced extinction and can no longer be commercially fished from the rivers. Modern aquaculture enables Goodoo Farms to ethically and sustainably produce this premium fish for table food, using water sourced from the Murray Cod’s natural environment, the Murrumbidgee River.

THE BUSINESS CHALLENGE AND SOLUTION

Aquaculture requires the cod dams to be aerated 24 hours per day, seven days per week. The biggest risk to the business is a power failure to the aeration system and the biggest challenge is the cost of the power itself. Goodoo Farms wanted to install solar to reduce ongoing power costs, however as a start-up business, cashflow and capital investment was an issue.

The business signed a Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) with Solar Professionals for the installation of a 60kW ground mounted solar system. Under the PPA, Goodoo Farms daytime power is purchased directly from Solar Professionals at 50% less than from their energy retailer, equating to thousands of dollars in savings annually. At the end of the 10 year PPA term, Goodoo Farms will own the the solar system outright.

WHY SOLAR PROFESSIONALS

“Like every small business we have struggled with cashflow and could not afford the capital to buy the solar system outright nor the payment plan for the equipment costs. The Solar Professionals Power Purchase Agreement was the perfect way for us to be able to install solar without the huge overheads and helps us capture the sun, saving us thousands,” Angas Swann, co-owner, Goodoo Farms said.

“Solar Professionals have an amazing reputation in the Riverina and that credibility is very important particularly in the solar industry. The whole process was very smooth, and the economics of the plan was explained very well, it was so quick with the system installed within two weeks of us signing the contract.”

THE BENEFITS

For Goodoo Farms, the biggest benefit of having the solar system installed has been the reduction in daily power prices and the financial security of Solar Professionals maintaining the system at no cost for the term of the PPA. The end to end service provided to Goodoo Farms including the access to the App also allows full transparency of energy usage at the click of a button.

“The solar system was only installed at the end of last month, however I love that I can log into the App on my phone at any time and see how much energy we are using and can see straight away that we are going to save a lot of money. The system that has been installed is perfect for us as we are in a high sun area,” said Angas.