Renewablesinag

Speakers

Brad Donovan

Ground Source Systems

Brad has had a long interest in alternative and renewable systems.
Brads company started working for BP solar installing remote communication site power supplies in the early 90’s. This led to his involvement in the first grid connect hybrid solar system for Eco design at the Rozell public School, then the AC grid connect for the first true grid connected system for Michael Mobbs in Ultimo. From here he worked with BP Solar in the development of the roof integrated solar systems for the 2000 Olympic village and later the suburb of Newington, a total of over 2700 homes.
Brad and his team was fortunate enough to be asked to asked to install the “glass-glass” solar roofing at the CSIRO research facility in Newcastle suburb of Mayfield, this system has the solar panels as the roofing material. After this Brads team installed the first 100kW system for Cadbury Schweppes at Huntingwood.
In late 2012, Brad became aware of the amount of LPG gas used in the poultry broiler (meat bird) sector and decided to look for a solution. Brad found the ground source heat pump technology and felt that it would be an ideal solution, being a true 24/7 renewable. Partnering with the University of Melbourne Brad was able to secure funding for a trial on the Central Coast on NSW, where in June 2020 it first gas free batch was achieved, then a second trial farm in the Southern Highlands of NSW achieved its first gas free run in March 2022. Research is still ongoing at both locations.