Zero Emissions Noosa Inc, with the support of a Noosa Council Climate Change Response Grant, has installed solar systems on 10 low-income owner-occupied homes in Noosa Shire at no cost.
The Noosa Low Income Solar Project was open to expressions of interest from eligible homeowners receiving a government low-income pension. Those recipients would benefit from access to clean energy and reduced power bills, who would otherwise not be able to afford solar.
Zero Emissions Noosa project leader, Colin Lambie said low-income homes do not have access to high upfront costs of solar.
“This project provided small solar systems at no cost to the eligible households,” Mr Lambie said.
“Solar on roofs is the cheapest electricity available for use at a site. The more of the electricity generated on the roof used at the site, the greater the reduction in electricity bills.
“The households that have had a solar system installed were delighted to learn how to reduce their electricity cost straight away,” he said.
Irene Mews in Tewantin was one of the homeowners to receive no-cost solar and says she’s already seeing the benefits.
“I am thrilled to have solar at last. It was an unaffordable dream until ZEN. It is and will be a huge benefit to me with my budget and the ongoing cost of living,” Ms Mews said.
One of the project aims was to educate recipients on monitoring the operation and performance of their new solar system and changing energy use behaviour to optimal times of the day for the cheapest energy costs.
“There are various ways to monitor the operation of your solar and battery system,” Mr Lambie said.
Most retailers allow monitoring of daily usage via the electricity retailer’s website or app, or through monitoring performance of the system through the solar inverter’s app.
“One of the benefits of monitoring how much electricity is being generated and used is learning to change your electricity usage to the times of day when solar is providing the electricity.
“One example is changing when you use your clothes washing machine or dishwasher. Another is turning on your reverse-cycle air conditioner while the solar is being generated. By doing so, you essentially pre-heat or cool your home using the cheapest electricity, instead of waiting until the sun has gone down,” Mr Lambie said.
Ms Mews said, “I’m currently learning ways to optimise my use of electricity and am already seeing an improvement through making changes to when I use electrical equipment.”
“I’m learning how to read the inverter also which is very useful. I’m very grateful for Colin’s assistance with all of this,” she said.
Mr Lambie said another aspect of the Zero Emissions Noosa project was to educate homeowners on what their electricity bills are saying.
“The days of simple electricity bills are gone. Nowadays, there can be several different usage charge rates and electricity retailers do not always make it obvious what time of day, or what days of the week these different charge rates apply,” he said.
Mayor Frank Wilkie thanked Zero Emissions Noosa for helping 10 low-income households reduce their cost of living through clean energy technology.
“This program gives a very direct economic boost to some of our most vulnerable elders so they can benefit from the cost-savings clean energy solutions deliver,” he said.
Zero Emissions Noosa thanks the two local solar companies that were involved in this project, Home & Energy and Enviro Projects.
To read the full project case study and listen to the homeowner stories visit www.zeroemissionsnoosa.com.au
