One Step Off The Grid
Solar, storage and distributed energy news
The northern NSW town of Tyalgum is considering a proposal to go 100 per cent renewable and to possibly quit the grid altogether, in what would be the first such move by a township in Australia.
WA grid operator Western Power wants to take up to 10 small communities off-grid, to save costs on grid upgrades and extensions. More could follow.
University of South Australia to co-develop an energy self-sufficient retirement village, with a renewable micro-grid of solar and battery storage, managed with energy demand software.
The 100% renewable energy scenario starts in the home. By 2030, a major new report predicts, all private consumers and small and medium enterprises (SME) will meet most of their electricity needs with solar PV and storage.
Australian consumers want to embrace energy technologies like solar and storage that offer them cheaper electricity and greater energy independence – and power industry incumbents to meet this new wave of demand, or lose their grip on the market.
With the installation of a 10-megawatt battery, the village of Feldheim near Berlin is now truly independent of electricity from outside.
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.
Leigh Adamson recently bought the house next door to create a rare half acre block in suburbia. He now has an alternative retirement income and is readying both homes for the oncoming energy storage revolution with small grid-connect solar systems.
W.A. energy minister Mike Nahan has done an about-face and predicted that solar will dominate the future. But the state owned utilities require solar households to sign contracts promising not to install battery storage or purchase electric vehicles.
ARENA CEO says speed and impact of coming battery storage megashift ‘difficult to overstate’, but could have huge benefits for networks and consumers.
