Office products supplier COS spends $1 million on solar energy farms to power its offices

Leading office-products supplier COS has invested $1 million in installing over 1,500 solar panels at its facilities as it works towards zero carbon emissions.

The decision to invest in the panels came after an audit showed electricity to be contributing almost 50 per cent to the company’s carbon emissions.

COS’ solar energy farms in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane are expected to produce 80 per cent of power usage at each site. The panels at its Sydney facility alone covers over 6,060 square metres. 

These three sites will produce more than 611 megawatt hours per annum and reduce COS’ carbon emissions by 532 tonnes per year – equivalent to removing 133 cars off the road and growing 3,191 mature trees — according to a media release.

COS managing director Dominique Lyone said the company being privately owned means it has the freedom to make long-term decisions that may not have an immediate return on investment. 

“This move reflects our commitment to embracing new technology to protect natural resources and create sustainable solutions that benefit current and future generations. We hope this inspires other organisations to reduce their carbon footprint,” he added

COS worked with solar energy equipment supplier Sun Connect to install the solar panels at each site.

Sun Connect CEO Mark Tuke said the COS project was one of the largest commercial solar panel installations Sun had undertaken.

The COS website will also feature live data showing the amount of energy generated from its solar energy farms. 

“The solar energy farms actually produce more energy than we need with 25 per cent being fed back into the electricity grid. The next phase of this project will involve further investigation into battery storage solutions to move us closer to our goal of a zero emissions future,” said Lyone.