Greenaway_D_&_S--- a great solar power set-up

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How to grow your own electricity

            Darren and wife Susan added to the Island’s large Greenaway clan by moving here from Sarsfield just over two years ago. They bought a property in Centre Road knowing they faced many challenges. They decided to tackle one issue at a time, from obtaining power, to building a sewerage system, to guaranteeing a water supply, revegetating the land and finally building an extension to their home.
            One of the matters to be addressed urgently was “electricity “. They didn’t have any.
            The cost of mains power to the property would be about $ 50.000. (give or take a bit)

                                            It seemed that the other option was to go “solar“

The total cost to be solar self-sufficient was going to be $84.000 BUT the Government allowed a rebate of $ 37.000. (Note : that’s down to about $4000 now)
            As Darren said “It was a no-brainer. We could have solar electricity to the house for about the same price as mains. It would not require the cutting down of trees or damage to the bush, would not require our neighbours’ permission and importantly we would do our bit for the environment. In the end the environment was the motivating factor.“
            They educated themselves much as possible by surfing the net and accessing solar power retailers’ advisory services, made their decisions and Gippsland Energy Alternative from Newlands Arm installed it.
            Obviously we are not qualified to give technical advice here, but Darren and Susan are happy to talk to anyone about their experience.

                                                          We will give an overview.

            There are 18 panels at 172 watts each to generate a 3100 watts system. 24 batteries collect the power. A $10,000 inverter and a $15,000 generator complete the system.
            The average household uses about 14 to 18 kw a day and the system is designed to supply an average of 14 watts a day over a 12 month period.

                                         The generator will automatically kick in as required.

Some of the lessons the two have taken on board:

            On hot sunny days they could use air-conditioning for cooling but not for warming in winter.

            Top star rating appliances are the only ones on the shopping list.

            They want to put in a swimming pool and are thinking to add to the 18 panels.

            After several days of overcast weather they may have rely on the generator for supplementary power if necessary
            In case of a fire on the island, which may result in a power black-out, their system will provide water pressure to run their fire-hose.
            To sum up, both Susan and Darren explain that installing the system is never going to be financially rewarding, but they need power and this is one way of installing it for roughly the same price as mains. Darren points out that their production of power leaves no carbon foot print, but the manufacturing of the panels did. Also, as Susan says, there will never ever be an electricity bill.

As both pointed out, now that the Government rebate has dropped from about 50% to about 10% there will not be too many people willing to do their bit for the environment.
            This last paragraph is not a misprint

This is their POWER STATION.
Normally it is always looked for safety reasons.

Click on photos

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