Category: Technology

Getting top value from rooftop solar

A social media post from Ergon, our (only) local electricity retailer, caught my eye a couple of days ago:

Ergon: Sun’s out? Turn it on! That’s what we call ‘solar soaking’. Dishwashers, washing machines and clothes dryers can have built in timers that let you control when they come on. Set them to run when the sun is out to get the most value from your solar system. To find out more go to www.ergon.com.au/solarsoak.

It attracted a few comments and I joined in.

Ann: If you were lucky enough to get the 44c you are supposed to use it all at night after 8pm to get the most benefit back from input into the grid or so we were told.

Malcolm: True – but only if you’re still on the 44c feed-in tariff. Not many people are, these days.

To expand on that:
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Time capsules: Energy in the 1970s

Every book is a time capsule, preserving knowledge and attitudes current at the time of writing, as I said in my previous post.

The NQCC garage sale donations which provided these time capsules were particularly strong on the nuclear debate. It was an urgent issue in the 1970s, with Peak Oil on the horizon and the dangers of nuclear technologies very much in the public mind from Hiroshima (1945) and the Cuban Missile Crisis (1962).

Renewable energy was so paltry that the energy debate was simply nuclear vs fossils. CO2 emissions did not figure in the energy debate at all, either. Why not?

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Decluttering

We have been caught up in several simultaneous but unrelated decluttering exercises in the last few weeks – an office clear-out, a garage sale for a local environmental NGO, cleaning up a home workshop, and more. They have refreshed our hands-on knowledge of responsible disposal of all sorts of stuff. Some of it is tricky.

Lessons (to be) learned

Getting rid of unwanted stuff sooner rather than later improves the chance of finding a good home for it. Many things go out of fashion or become useless through technology change, and most things deteriorate in storage.

Keeping unwanted stuff clutters our own lives while depriving others of things they might need but be unable to afford.

Books

old reference booksNonfiction books: paper dictionaries and encyclopedias have succumbed to digital references, while textbooks and tech manuals always did go out of date quickly. Other nonfiction books are a mixed bag; when they are old enough they may have some historical value, or if they are specialised enough (Flora and Fauna of the Mt Isa Region, perhaps) they haven’t been replaced by any newer, better equivalent.

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Blackouts and batteries

Cyclone Kirrily’s brief visit last Thursday (January 25) left about a third of Townsville without power for a few days, throwing us on whatever off-grid resources we had. Here at Green Path HQ we put Off-grid but not by choice into practice. I’m happy to report that it worked pretty well, but we were very glad to get power (and air-con!) back after only 36 hours.

We shared that blog post on social media in the hope that it would help others and received useful tips in return. Here I want to share and expand upon a comment from Michael Crozier, “Cordless tool companies are just starting to bring out 18V-DC to 240V-AC inverters. Not as powerful as your power station, but great if you already have lithium-ion power tools anyway.”

It was a good thought and prompted me, with his collaboration, to take it further.

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Off-grid but not by choice

Power blackouts can happen any time. When they do, we have to do the best we can with what we’ve got, and this post is mainly about using a camping fridge, power station and PV blanket, as described in my previous post, to keep ourselves safer and more comfortable off-grid.

If we have PV solar and a home battery that we can use off-grid, we’re fine. (They are not common, though.) Or if we have an EV with V2L (vehicle to load) capability (not common either), all we need is an extension lead. If we haven’t, here’s a plan.

But first, some useful basic emergency information

Power outages that are long enough to be problematic are usually due to cyclones and floods, so these key sources of safety information are worth noting. For the Townsville area:

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