Strawbale House

We just got the most current ReNew magazine issued by the Alternative Technology Association which contained a number of interesting articles. One that I found most interesting was about “Solar Guerrillas“.

Solar Guerrillas are people that install small grid connected solar systems without approval by the utilities or respective government or council. The Solar Guerrillas reason that every little bit helps and that the monopolisation on the production and distribution of energy threatens the health of our environment and the very life of our planet.

I personally wouldn’t go quite that far but certainly agree that the monopolisation of energy production and distribution is not the best way it could be done. When we initially looked into getting electricity connected to our shed on our country block of land, the prices quoted by the local electricity provider did seem like highway robbery.

I am tempted to try my own solar grid connected system where we are now, but doing it legally is just to expensive at this time. On the other hand I don’t really feel like breaking the law which I think these solar guerrillas end up doing.

The one admirable thing about these solar Guerrillas is that they are quite happy to share the energy they feed into the grid with their neighbours without regard for financial compensation.

What do you think? Are these Solar Guerrillas doing something worthwhile or are they just some uncontrolled freaks?

Rosalba and I are spending the weekend in the shed on our land where we are going to build the straw bale house. On the picture you can see me editing this article using 100% renewable energy from our small solar power installation on the shed.

On the shed we have one solar panel installed and 200 Ah of battery storage. This system is ample for the little use it gets in the shed and manges to run the fan in of the composting toilet 24×7 plus all our lighting needs.

This system was installed in 2006 by Heinz of Ausolar for a modest investment of about $1,500. We have been very happy with the system as it has not missed a beat ever and even manages to charge the batteries in slightly overcast weather.

Having seen how well this solar system works has convinced Rosalba and me that our new strawbale house should make use of solar panels and maybe a windmill for most, if not all, it’s energy use. Of course the solar power system for our hose will be a lot more expensive than thise one for the shed and we are currently budgeting about $50,000 just for the solar power system.

To finish of this article I have included another picture as a treat. This time the picture is of the back of our property has seen from the back of the shed. It is impossible to fully capture the tranquillity the back half of our land provides.

I have found some information about a weekend course where participants are tought “Living with Solar“. This course is provided by the Rainbow Power Company in Nimbin which isn’t too much of a drive from Brisbane where we currently live.

I am thinking that this course may be helpful to properly sized the solar system that we want to install in our house. Some friends of ours, Col and Lindel, are currently thinking about installing a solar system as well in the near future and may be interested in attending this course as well. That would certainly make for a fun weekend.

Unfortunately we have missed the sign-up dead line for the course this weekend but I’ll let you know when I have been to the course and how it was.

The new budget introduced a damper for the solar industry by now applying a means test to the eligibility of up to $8,000 government rebates for the installation of a residential solar power installation. The means test to be introduced shortly means that any household having a combined annual income of over $100,000 per year will not be eligible for the government rebate any longer.

The introdcution of this means test, at the level proposed, is disappointing and confusing as other measures proposed in the new budget, especially around family tax benefits, are means tested at $150,000 per household. Why introduce means testing at two different levels for different benefits?

As reported in The Age the solar industry is already suffering, with 50-70% of orders were being ditched as a result of the means test, leaving companies with millions of dollars of lost business. In fact some businesses already needed to cut jobs due to the surge in cancelled orders and more jobs are expected to go.

This probably makes the solar system my wife and I want to install on our new home less affordable as most likely we won’t pass the means test and won’t be able to claim a government rebate.

If the government rebate is not sustainable, maybe the government should instead ensure that the feed-in tariffs for grid connected solar installations is more attractive as highlighted by Hans Josef Fell, the German Greens’ energy spokesman in this article in The Age.

I have found an interesting website from a group of people interested in sustainable power generation which is local and community owned called Local Power. The most interesting part on that website I found was their first project of a Buying Group for PV (photo voltaic) panels to achieve some savings in the purchase and installation of solar panel installations.

If you are thinking about installing solar panels on your roof and want to get an idea of cost have a look that the Buying Group page. But always keep in mind that the prices quoted in the tables on that page are discounted prices due to the involvement of the Buying Group but indicative non-discounted prices are shown in a few paragraphs above the pricing tables.

A recent news item on the Alternative Technology Association website (www.ata.org.au) highlights some improvements that should be made to the feed-in tariff in power across Australia. A feed-in tariff is the mandated price a home owner is paid for any electricity fed back into the electricity grid from their solar panel installation or other sustainable energy production.

Judging form the article on the ATA website it seems like the government is again siding with the big corporations and only paying lip service to home owners with sustainable electricity production systems.

At this point, both my wife and I, are seriously wondering if we should even bother connecting our new house to the grid or just be completely self sufficient. We reckon the money saved by not connecting to the grid can be better spent on increasing the number of batteries or solar panels for the solar system we want to install anyway.

Any feedback is welcome in the comments section of this post.

I am keen to use alternative energy generation with our new house as much as possible. Currently we are planning the main energy source to be solar panels installed on the roof of the shed and house.

I have recently look at what is available and have found what looks like quite a good deal on Jaycar Electronics’ website where you can find a wind turbine and generator producing up to 200 Watts at a very reasonable price of currently $499.

Granted this is a kit that needs to be assembled but considering it produces up to 200 Watts at half the cost of a solar panel that produces about 100 Watts, it is something I believe is worthwhile trying.

I can’t wait until our house is advanced enough that we can look into setting up one of these wind turbines.