One Step Off The Grid
Solar, storage and distributed energy news
You’d think having a bunch of people you’ve never met before in your living room would be disconcerting. But when you’re with like-minded people, even strangers become friends very quickly. Emma Sutcliffe describes her experiences opening her sustainable house to the public.
Columnist and cartoonist Jill Redwood had to start over after the Ash Wednesday bush fires in 1983. She explains how she lives off grid with just a very small solar system of 1kW and battery storage.
Alternative off grid energy systems work, are empowering, challenging and highly enjoyable, and the freedom and independence from erratic government policy interference and corporate dominance cannot be overstated.
The Tesla PowerWall announcement stimulated an exciting debate about how low cost batteries could create widespread defection from the electricity grid. Take it from someone who knows … alas, it’s not that simple!
With a few changes, a focus on efficiency and solar panels, the Ballina car wash’s electricity bills are down from $6,700 to $2,300. Water consumption in the Lazer Wash is down by 50 per cent.
Adelaide City Council to offer $5,000 energy storage subsidy, extending Sustainable City scheme to cover batteries, EV chargers.
Despite RET uncertainty, Australian community renewables sector has shown remarkable ability to get on with it.
Japanese construction company Sekisui Heim used Star Wars droids to promote its net zero houses. It worked.
Australian battery technology developer Redflow says it has made the first Australian sale of its commercial large scale energy storage system, albeit to its own company director Simon Hackett, the tech guru who will install it in a renovated office complex in Adelaide as part of longer term plans to take the office off-grid. Redflow […]
