Thread: ACT goes 100% renewable

Originally Posted by DiscoMick

Lots of people are already doing it. Networks are also being linked. It is happening. The sceptics are being proven wrong.

I think in many cases the sceptics are actually correct.

Anyway,Montague island,off the coast near Narooma has recently gone to full solar.

Twenty years ago they used 200 000litres of diesel annually, to power the place,then they moved to a more fuel efficient diesel gen set,reduced the power of the lighthouse,did other mods,and used 12 000litres of diesel a year.

Now with battery packs,and new solar panels,no gen set at all,and heaps of power during peak season.

And by the way,FWIW,its a cracker of a place to visit.

Well in 2017 Montague Island certainly still had a generator.

http://coastpowerelectrical.com.au/electrician/projects/

Coast Power repaired it to ensure power.
There is usually a fuller story somewhere that enthusiasts ignore.
As they say when the wind don't bow and the sun don't shine .
Similar propaganda for Coral Bay. look it up and last time I checked they had 6 diesels as well as inertia control units to ensure the correct frequency as well as their wind farm.

Regards Philip A

Originally Posted by PhilipA

Well in 2017 Montague Island certainly still had a generator.

Originally Posted by PhilipA

http://coastpowerelectrical.com.au/electrician/projects/

Coast Power repaired it to ensure power.
There is usually a fuller story somewhere that enthusiasts ignore.
As they say when the wind don't bow and the sun don't shine .
Similar propaganda for Coral Bay. look it up and last time I checked they had 6 diesels as well as inertia control units to ensure the correct frequency as well as their wind farm.

Regards Philip A

Indeed it was there in 2017

The solar plant was installed recently,i think earlier this year.

The gen set is now not used at all.

Did you look a t the website?
Solar power has been there since the 80s and there is a lovely picture of the panel array.

If they recently added batteries , then maybe, but I bet the generator is still there.
Regards Philip A
Can you provide us with some evidence that the generator is now not there?

And thats where we are with today. I think any move towards the reduction of use of fossil fuels is a great move even if it isn't totally reliant. Birdville were going to increase their geothermal from 20% to 70% supply, but have now opted for solar plus battery also. They expect that will save 118,000 litres of diesel each year from the 500,000 litres that is currently being used. With domestic or commercial operations, there is a huge amount of value in these greener systems even if they aren't 100% because of the reduction in fossil fuels that are being used... when its windy, or sunny, the rivers are runnings, the tides are moving, the sub terrain is hot, the environment is heating or whatever it happens to be at least its picking up a whole lot of load that doesnt need to come from coal and oil.

Originally Posted by PhilipA

Did you look a t the website?
Solar power has been there since the 80s and there is a lovely picture of the panel array.

If they recently added batteries , then maybe, but I bet the generator is still there.
Regards Philip A

Don't really care what the website says,i was there two weeks ago.

As i have said,the gen set is not used at all,they use a new set of solar panels and batteries.

So the gen set is still there? So perhaps it is there in case there are a number of days without sunshine?

This sounds to me like a bloke I know who is a solar installer who said to me that his house was "off Grid".
I said "so you have disconnected from the grid then"
He said "er no I need to have backup, but that is the generally accepted term in the industry."
Regards Philip A

AS someone who buys 6,500,000 liters of diesel every year, i am monitoring the relative costs closely, and would love to increase my solar/battery combination in conjunction with existing Diesel, Hydro , & Biomass, and Solar in a few stand alone locations. One particular challenge is when you need 500 kva of power to kick start a Mill NOW, in particular getting all the boiler blowers up to speed. Thats one hell of a battery array that would be idle mostly.
Last week we had a consultant visit, looks like we can capture 2MW of hydro power fro ma single fast running stream, now for the costing !

I think there is a lot of hype over carbon because there is a lot of money being made from associated activities and a lot of vested interests,
IMHO what is really causing earth grief, to name just a few:

• Population explosion, but baby bonus, child care and other incentives are sacred cows
• Deforestation, esp in tropical areas for cattle, everyone wants cheap food
• Mono crops/ excess chemicals devastating inspects and amphibians
• CFC's and similar, no money to see here
• Plastic waste, and esp micro plastics
• somewhere around here carbon and maybe more so airborne particles, pollutants
• Did i mention population growth