Generating your own green electricity, decentralising power generation and removing reliance on power stations is another piece in the energy puzzle. You can now get hold of a green loan and generous government rebates to install photovoltaic panels using the abundant sunshine we enjoy in Australia. But what happens when the sun is not shining? There are a few options including generating electricity in your home from gas with new BlueGen fuel cells which are going to be available in Australia in the next few months. We have done the research for you.
Of course increasing energy efficiency and reducing energy demands in the home through solar hot water and insulation and investing in energy efficient appliances are the first steps to take, but here’s what you can do to generate power:
Photovoltaics
There are several different types of panel available and photovoltaic panels can either be grid connected or off-grid. Most connect into the grid as you get credited for any excess electricity produced, and when not producing electricity, for example, at night, the electricity is supplied by the usual mains power grid.
As there are no moving parts the solar panel modules can be expected to last several decades. As well as the solar panel, other components of a household solar power system include an inverter, which converts the direct current from the cells to alternating current used in homes. Also a two way electricity meter is required to allow surplus power from the solar cells to be directed to the electricity grid. Solar panels should face north in Australia to take full advantage of the sun. The systems come in various sizes. We found the Energy Matters site extremely useful. It suggests a 4kW system will cover 100% of the energy consumption of a medium energy use household. A 1kW system is currently the ‘entry point’ for grid connect and attracts the most rebate per watt, and will cover up to 25% of the energy consumption of a medium household.
The time it takes to pay back the costs of the PV system depends on the size of system installed. Many countries have a feed-in tariff (premium rate paid for electricity fed back into the electricity grid from designated renewable electricity generation source). Unfortunately Australia currently has no nationalised feed in tariff and the rates paid vary from state to state (click here for more info).
Wind
To find out if installing a wind turbine is going to be worthwhile you need to know whether your average wind speed is above 5m/s. Ideal places are in the country, on farms or on the coast and away from built up areas. So this is not as suitable for urban areas as solar. If you want to find out more, again Energy Matters has some great information on their site to help work out if windpower is suitable for you.
Natural gas
Australia homeowners will shortly be able to product their own electricity on site from natural gas. BlueGen is a gas to electric generation unit about the size of a small dishwasher, which contains a stack of ceramic fuel cells. It is currently being trialled at a sustainable home in the Melbourne suburb of Epping. According to the literature producing electricity on site through this means can reduce a home’s carbon footprint by five times as much as is possible from a solar PV system. In the home the BlueGen unit connects to the existing gas inlet and the hot water system. Air and gas is fed into the unit and a chemical reaction takes place, producing both electricity and heat, which can produce 200 litres of hot water each day. Over the course of a year each BlueGen unit can produce about 17,000 kilowatt hours of electricity, more than twice the power needed for an average Australian home. Surplus electricity can be sold back to the power grid. It is claimed electricity created through BlueGen can save more than $1,000 off the annual energy bill of the average Australian home. Through the combined production of electricity and heat gives an efficiency of 85% making it the most efficient power generation system of its kind in the world. In contrast electricity derived from brown coal is about 25% efficient, with 75% of the energy produced is lost as heat at the power station or in the transmission and distribution of electricity.
BlueGen units will be available to Australian consumers in the next few months, via green retailer Neco.
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