Category: Solar

Wind power – the state of play

, , ,

I thought it high time I wrote about wind power generation, given this region’s burgeoning reputation as Queensland’s Green Energy Hub. The Southern Downs already earned this cachet by building a 64 megawatt solar farm near Warwick. As power-generating capacity goes, this was by far upstaged by the MacIntyre Wind Farm, tipped to become the world’s largest onshore wind project. More about Acciona’s 1.025MW wind farm later, but first, a history lesson. Just about any…

Continue reading

Proposed Sun Tax Riles Solar Users

, , ,

If you are one of the prudent people who installed solar panels over the last decade, you may end up being penalised by new energy market rules. The Australian Energy Market Commission (AEMC) has recommended that energy retailers be given the option to charge solar owners a fee to export surplus energy to the grid. Lobby group Solar Citizens wasted no time dubbing the proposal a ‘Sun Tax’ and it’s hard to see it any other…

Continue reading

Renewable energy vs climate sceptics

, , ,

Have you ever noticed, after giving your dog a bath, how it will head straight for the nearest patch of renewable energy? Ours has a favourite sunny spot next to the dining room table where he will happily bask, while our solar-powered camping lamp, calculator and torches are recharging on the window sill. Free sunshine – what’s not to like? As it happens, we have been preparing our little caravan for a weekend music festival…

Continue reading

Solar no easy energy fix

,

Solar energy is great – we’ve got eight panels on the roof, a hot water system and a portable panel in the caravan. Pretty useless on Thursday, though, with ex-cyclone Debbie sending heavy rain our way. It would be great if we’d had a battery bank under the house to store the energy from the sunny weeks we’ve been having. But battery bank technology is yet to become affordable for the 1.6 million Aussies who…

Continue reading