Pulling together for a solar future

From: ABC Mildura-Swan Hill
Tuesday, February 12, 2008. 3:50pm AEDT

By Prue Bentley

They may say two heads are better than one, but a Mildura co-op is also realising that too many cooks don't always spoil the broth.

Achieving sustainability at a local level in the face of rising energy prices is an issue many communities are currently grappling with. While local councils are largely moving cautiously in this area, individuals and grassroots groups are jumping on board the sustainability wagon.

Paul Geering is a plumbing teacher at the Sunraysia Institute of TAFE. He speaks passionately about the capacity for whole suburbs to be almost entirely energy self-sufficient for only a relatively small outlay.

He's part of a group of Mildura residents who have formed a co-op to buy solar panels for their homes, keeping the costs down by buying in bulk. Paul is also involved in the installation of the first lot of panels which have recently come through.

From the roof of a home in Mildura, Paul explains the solar system he is currently installing consists of ten panels on a tiled roof. A piece of equipment called the inverter will be added to the system and this converts the sun's energy charge (DC) into an AC current, which is compatible with the electricity sources used in the home.

"The panels should face as near as possible to north," he says although he adds they don't have to be due north if your roof doesn't accommodate it. He insists that by facing a little to the west or east it will only result in a loss of 2-3 per cent efficiency.

Leigh Bush is in the first group to receive their solar panels through the buyers group. While her property is already very energy efficient, she says the main reason she was keen to add this system was the cost savings. The initial setup should halve her quarterly energy bills with the costs being recouped in under four years. "I'd love to get it to the point where I am only paying my service fee," she says.

The system, says Paul, will deliver around 17 kilowatts to the house per day, which he says is ample considering the average home uses 12 to 15 kilowatts daily already. The excess unused energy then goes back into the grid which, depending on the retailer, means the home owner can negotiate a credit system to pull energy back from the grid at no cost when needed. Paul sees this as a much cheaper and neater alternative to the need for backup generators.

So far the symbiotic relationship between solar homes and energy retailers and distributors is far from smooth, but Paul believes this is merely because "we're in the infancy of the solar panel industry." While he says he's met with some resistance from the energy retailers in the region, where the communication between retailers and distributors has been flawed, he's confident that given time and with more and more homes switching to solar, the current problems will be ironed out.

Peter Taylor is the Head Trainer at Zen Technologies, a company specialising in energy efficient home systems, including solar panelling. Last year, he says, Australians installed 2 megawatts worth of solar panels across the country. This is in stark contrast to Germany who installed close to 600 megawatts of solar panels in 2007. Though the concept is growing he says and Peter predicts 2008 to be a busy year for businesses like his as more and more people become environmentally aware.

Mildura is no exception and Paul Geering sees the buyers group as a very successful start to this shift in attitude. The initial meeting saw twelve people interested, but as word got around the number eventually quadrupled, with a core group of around fifty still serious about buying into solar energy. Most of these are to be installed on existing homes with only four being fitted to new houses in the Mildura region.

The first group are receiving their solar systems over the next six weeks, with twenty four soon to be installed.
A second group of around thirty buyers is to receive their sets within six months.

For more information or to enquire about the buyers group, contact Paul Geering at the Sunraysia Institute of TAFE on (03) 5022 3603.