Climate change
Solar power savings
We just got our first full month’s power bill using a combination of solar and grid power. It is only 42 per cent of the same month’s bill from last year. That’s the sort of result we were hoping for. I know it will take a long time to pay back the solar installation cost, but with the job market the way it is, cash flow is more of an issue for us at the moment, and these savings will contribute to that.
Australia's rooftop solar success
Amid Australia’s chaotic climate politics, the rooftop solar boom is an unlikely triumph.
It’s difficult to overstate how rapidly Australians have embraced solar power – there’s now more rooftop solar than coal-fired power. The key question is what policymakers can learn from its success.
I didn’t know this, and it looks like it might be a good example of how the right incentives at a household level can create the right outcomes. It reminds me of the home insulation subsidies paid in the 1970s. Lots of houses had insulation installed then.
Amid Australia’s chaotic climate politics, the rooftop solar boom is an unlikely triumph
Access to Botanical Gardens lost to many visitors
Solar savings
Now that I have added the power company tarrifs into our solar power web system, I am even more obsessed with tracking how much electricity we are producing and saving / selling back to Contact.
“Oh, look. We’ve sold them $0.52 of our power today.”
The app also tells us the CO2 reduction equivalent for various activities. So far we have saved the equivalent of 1,230 km of driving in the car. I don’t know how that is calculated, but I feel smug about it.
Solar power exchange set up in system
We’ve finally set up our solar power supply with the power company tariffs so we can track how much we are buying from and selling to Contact Energy. The electrician installed the new import/export meter last Monday to track the two-way flow and I confirmed and added the tariffs this afternoon.
So far, we have sold a generous $3.19 in power back to Contact on this beautiful sunny day here in Porirua. It’s not much, but it does feel good to know we are part of an exchange that is helping to reduce the impacts of climate change.
Looking at the ‘Earnings’ tab on the Fronius app, I can see that our savings since the panels' installation also equal 1,162 km of vehicle travel. I don’t know how that is calculated, but given we drive only short distances around town in our Nissan Enote Hybrid, it looks positive.
Community newsletter for Pukerua Bay
If you’re interested in what we’re doing in our little community, check out our two-monthly community newsletter (edited by my clever wife).
The latest issue of Kōrero (kōrero is Māori for news or talking) is online.
Here you can find information about the PKB Hub’s Pop-up Parlor, the Climate Action spring series, and a link to Maringikura Mary Campbell’s Facebook page with her artwork.
Also, lots of informative articles. We hope you enjoy it.
Open letter to the oil industry
Greenpeace has launched an open letter to the oil industry telling them they are not welcome in New Zealand. It’s pretty blunt and leaves them in no doubt that people will not make it easy for them to get what they and the government want.
You are not welcome here.
We pledge to do everything we can to resist the oil and gas industry if the New Zealand government overturns the ban on offshore oil and gas exploration.
You can sign it online here: Open letter to the oil industry
Solar update with operational system - day 1
Solar update with operational system.
Yesterday, we had clear, sunny skies with good solar production for a brief period. That is, until a hail storm arrived. But this screen grab shows what is possible.
At about 3:10pm yesterday, we were producing 3404W from the panels and using 236W for the house. That’s about 7% of our power going towards the house’s running. The rest was ‘wasted’ by going into the grid. Even though we aren’t being paid for it, it is power we don’t have to pay Contact Energy for. We’re obsessively watching the app and will have to learn to balance production under certain conditions and use appliances in the morning. We tend to put an electric heater on for an hour or so to warm the house if it’s been cold overnight. And we do laundry in the morning so we can line dry it. Fortunately, we don’t have to do laundry daily, so we have some flexibility.
Solar power update
Good news. The electrical inspector has just been around, tested the new solar system, turned it on and pronounced it safe to use. We are now running off the solar power produced on the roof panels on a bright sunny day.
We still don’t have the import/export meter installed so we don’t know how much power we are giving away, but we can wait for that, I reckon.
But it will be good to get the smartphone app to monitor the smart meter in the switchboard to get a clear idea of what we are producing and using.
Very exciting!