Much of the initial push towards renewables over the past forty years has been led by the community - individuals and community organisations - rather than by governments, industry or dare I say, electricity utilities. In more recent years some governments (Federal, State and Local) have on occasions shown leadership and some parts of the commercial sector have followed suit. A few iconic brand names have invested substantially in solar power for their premises as they see both a financial benefit and a marketing advantage.
The electrical utilities however, on the whole, have been slow to embrace solar onto their (our?) grid and slow to bring the grid up to standard so it best utilises solar power even though solar panels have been available for almost four decades. The phrase for this lost opportunity is call ‘heroic failure’. On one hand some utilities will try to sell you solar panels while on the other do anything they can to stymie the ‘rats and mice’ as I once heard some utility engineers describe their ‘mums and dads’ customers. Dropping the feed-in tariff down to 6 cents, restricting access to the grid, constantly losing paperwork are some of the many tools available to these monoliths.
But customers love solar and they love their solar systems (be they for electricity or hot water). And they are not fond of the utilities to the point that again the community is showing leadership, particularly as they start to embrace ‘hybrid solar’ (where your PV panels are connected to the grid but where there is also battery storage providing energy independence). Some people are then taking the next step and choosing to disconnect from the grid altogether.
Earlier this week Going Solar organised a hybrid solar and off-grid seminar. I expected around 20-30 to attend. But with minimal adverting we immediately started to received RSVPs and soon the seminar was booked out. In the end over 100 attended showing that customers are keen to go solar and invest in energy independence.
For more information on hybrid solar or off-grid solar systems call Going Solar on 03 9348 1000. Check out the information by clicking on the links.
Stephen Ingrouille, Principal
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