into The Solar Light

 

G’day Possums,

Shane with stats....

Some four months have passed since we had our solar panels installed on  burrow's top and last week the first electricity statement since the fitting, arrived.

It made interesting reading and has brought up other interesting thoughts but first: back to the beginning.

It may be of ironic interest to note that I’m writing this by candle-light on a laptop with a dwindling battery charge. There has been no power for the past hour, an all too common occurrence in this locality.

The reason behind going solar as far as we could afford, was to attempt becoming self-sufficient in electricity. It was not about making money (the ex-premier of the Tardis State [where-all-goes-backward] “Big Bird” Baillieu [genus: Silvertail Incompetens] had well and truly stuffed that by dropping the tariff paid for electricity returning to the grid to $0.08 per kilowatt hour. 

Our burrow is “all electric”, energy prices are escalating, so it seemed to make sense that we look after ourselves.

The first hurdles were acquainting ourselves with as much PV knowledge as we could, making the best decision for our circumstances and having the event as smooth as possible.

 Where to start? 

Well, probably like most I started with the advertisements soon discovering that although attractive, they could be misleading.  E.G. “…buy our 1.5 kw system and get a 5kw inverter … upgrade later.” Up-grade to what… the same panels… are they still made…do the generic equivalents have the same capacity and output… will they be compatible with the existing panels?

Then the real  “tech” things not really touched in the ads concerning panel capacity, efficiency, output, micro-crystalline or silicone, longevity, German, Australian, American, Japanese or Chinese,175W, 200W, 350W, roof slope, one or two storey, tree cover and the BIG one …Do-You-Have-a- Smart-Meter?

Well Smart meters were supposed to be installed in all properties by 2013 and are bi-directional… can receive energy and transmit it and can be remotely monitored..  and what about STC’s….Small-scale Technology Certificates?

Below are some sites that I found very useful and informative…although be a bit wary of the quotes with “solarquotes” they tend to be a bit out of date and the reliability of call-back is questionable.. otherwise it’s a very informative site with lots of info.

“Solar Centre” is a beaut! Clear, concise, informative particularly about efficiency etc and by not “selling” anything  and the State and Federal Govt. sites are recommended for the same reasons.

http://www.dpi.vic.gov.au

http://www.cleanenergycouncil.org.au

This site is worth a look NOW as it’s one on the agency’s “Mr Rabbott” in his climate-denial suit has said he will axe if he gains power.

http://www.greentechmedia.com

http://www.greenmarkets.com.au

http://www.dkasolarcentre.com.au/

http://www.solarquotes.com.au/panels/comparison/chart/

Some questions you may well ask your supplier: Why do they say it will take 40 days from installation to “be linked to the grid” when they really mean 40 “working” days?

Why does it take that time when, because of the smart meter, it’s automated and the chap doing the checking (for $281.00) was the same chap who verified the installer’s work?

Why tell us to turn the system off until it’s been checked as “…you might be charged for the power you supply back to the system”? We didn’t, and they didn’t charge us! When we queried about this odd supposition we couldn’t obtain a clear answer……One can only assume a profit motive.

Another thing to note: this is a privatised system. We as the householders contract with the retailers and suppliers of electricity and pay the agreed price. Why then does the State government set the price at which we can be recompensed with for the Kw H we provide back to the grid?

Propping up foreign profits?

Who knows.

Inverter reading 1:00pm winter's day..

Net results …on the figures so far into this winter we seem to be using about a 1/3 of what we did by modifying our electricity usage patterns plus the stuff we generate and the system on the roof is placing another 1/3 back into the grid… it seems to balance at about ½ of our normal total.

As we will produce more consistently during Spring, Summer and Autumn I think we could well achieve a self sufficient result in another nine months.

I have to admit that six trees were sacrificed for more Winter light.

Winter light Greendale.

Wombat Droppings is going to become a separate posting on Shane’s blog postings for the election period.….and for the Ballarat International Foto Biennale.

Cheers,

Shane.

The Australian Index

...on a big rant

G'day... here we are at Oscars (in Ballarat) having a drink and a bit of a feed with some compatriots from the Ballarat Foto Biennale...

....Mrs Wombat left, Lucy, a new committee member, Elizabeth, Kieran, Aldona and Dave....apart from the meetings to discuss businees for the 2013 Biennale we or rather Elizabeth, has instigated these social gatherings to discuss business for the 2013 Biennale. Which is good fun. There is going to be an interim show in September/October this year and some other activities, details of which have to be finalised so more of that at a later date.  
On a personal note, I'm having a show as well in September October. And I shouldn't forget Kathleen (Mr & Mrs Wombat's youngest), her exhibition at Queensland Centre for Photography kicks off June 9th - July 5th... so if you happen to be in Brissie... pop in.

But this post is more about the dire state of politics in the land of Aus and specifically the return of Victioria to a truly "Victorian" approach to government. 

At the recent Ballan Autumn Arts Festival these brave souls were protesting that this......Bacchus Marsh Maddingly Brown Coal

was about to be extended into this.........

with the subsequent possible loss of this and other of the very best fruit and vegetable soils in Victoria that are reasonably close to Melbourne.

The Baillieu (Liarbril) Government has recently indicated that exploration and development for the highly polluting brown coal is to get fast tracking. (Hazelwood Power Station in the Latrobe Valley by itself alone, contributes a full 15% to Victoria's pollution and greenhouse gases with its brown coal.) This, allied with their draconian restrictions on the siting of wind farms which are so severe that there is almost no place in Victoria with suitable wind where they can be approved for siting indicates where their policy is at.
At the Ballan festival I quipped to a fellow with a petition against the coal mine "Is this the place where you sign to get a coal mine?" He laughed and as he handed over the form for signing a young man, early - middle 20's standing near-by said, "I'd certainly sign to get a coal mine!" Noting he was wearing a "Tee" with some logo which said Global Warming is a Myth or some such.. he proceeded to tell us that solar was no good, nuclear was better: wind generators had killed more people than nuclear accidents (apparentley people fall off them) and were more polluting than brown coal generated electricity... (it seems they have gas turbine engines which have to be switched on if they can't generate their quota of power) and trotted out some figures (completely wrong) on the German Solar and re-newable targets and job creation from new technologies.
He had all the dead-pan fervour and certainty of a fundamentalist religious zealot.. and it seemed, during the following week that he had set a worrying tone in this re-newable energy area.
Bailleau's Liarbrils announced the cutting of 350 State jobs in the climate change and conservation/ environment areas. The Minister, one Ryan Smith interviewed by Josie Taylor on ABC's Stateline program http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-03-31/environment-jobs-slashed/3924840  was all at sea. I'm not sure whether he was nervous by being talked to by a attractive woman (possibly a rare thing) but his frightened eyes rolled about like two raisins in a pudding bowl and when asked what IS the govt. doing for the environment he said that they were changing the light globes in traffic lights!
I'll repeat that  ".... we're changing the globes in traffic lights".
It would be funny in a film.
This government has gone on the nose very quickly.... The Deputy Premier Peter Ryan had a "minder" who was up to his neck in the demise (resignation) of the reformist Police Commissioner, Simon Overland.  Ryan's line of "I know Nuffin' Mister..." beggars belief particularly as the police then get huge pay rises easily whilst the nurses get protracted 12 month of fighting, threats, bullying; and from Bailleau's Uncle... plain bad manners.
Ambo's are going through same, as are Teachers.
But Bailleau still commits to $40 - $50 million subsidy to the Grand Prix so petrol heads can watch cars going in fast circles... and let's not talk about the nanny-state insanity of his upping the fines for sayng "G.. F.....d!"
Although it was Brumby who brought that one in
Planning Minster Matthew Guy was looking like being sued by a woman he apparently mislead about land re-zoning... don't know what happened there ...all gone quiet.
Lorraine Wreford, Liarbril member for Mordiallic waited a week to (formally) tell  police that the gunshots that hit her home were due to her eldest son owing a drug dealer $5000.... nice.
Defendents all plead guilty so the Wrefords don't have to appear in court. Really nice.
When Kennett became Premier he said the State was broke ... proceeded to rip up the foundations for the new museum so his mates could have a casino there..$8,000,000... closed down the SEC's research into re-newables before selling it all off .... don't ask what's happened to maintenance and consistency of equipment across the privatised power suppliers  ... sacked all the language teachers in primary schools and put sattelite dishes in their place so that 100 children could learn on-line all together....never did see the figures on that system which lasted all of 3 months before quietly disappearing....
There's a myth that they (Liarbrils) are good economic managers... they're not: they show no imagination or innovation and instead rely on the fear of change in a ill educated and basically selfish population: they're not conservative, they're dead.... and we'll end up paying for their lack of imagination. I rather suspect Kennett is the primary advisor now.... I hope it doesn't take the state 10 more years to wake to this next con.

Sorry Petals...  that all got a bit serious but Aus has some decisions it has to wake up to... and quickly
and below is the person who will not be able to.

Far

  And let's forget about promoting all those stories about suffering maladies from the turbines... I want to hear from those who get paid from them and seem to suffer no malady... please note the sheep in the photo suffering migraines .. cows look suitably distressed under them, too.  (Wind Turbines, Waubra, Victoria)

Cheers,
Shane.