An anonymous Avenel benefactor has lent 11 fellow residents $10,000 each to install complete solar energy systems at their houses to help build a ‘micro-grid’ for the community.
The offer was organised by Avenel Pilot Program for Renewable Energy — a sub-committee of Avenel Active — and means the households will also be part of one of the first trials in Australia testing if household solar systems can help power the energy grid instead of base load power.
“There were two big issues — one was rising power bills and the other was lack of reliability,” APPRE committee member Jim Billings said.
“We had some serious outages which lasted a few days during the high, mid-40 temperatures.
“People could have died.”
Inspired by a similar project in Euroa, APPRE decided to pursue renewable energy options that would help to support the grid, and assist the transition to clean energy.
It found electricity company Mondo’s Energy Demand and Generation Exchange, a state and federal governments-funded trial targeting 1000 homes in the Hume region.
To participate in the trial, households pay a heavily subsidised $10,000 for the panels, battery and installation, and reap the rewards from there.
Participants also receive $1000 to be part of the trial.
“The interest-free loan is for 10 years, (so people can) pay it off with their energy savings,” APPRE committee member Jeff Moran said.
Just a few weeks ago, 74 people attended a meeting to propose the EDGE program and interest-free loans to the community, and 11 of those committed to going ahead with the plan, Mr Billings said.
Organisers were surprised by the different types of people interested in the project.
“We’re getting people we didn’t think we’d get, but Avenel is a fairly eclectic mixture of people,” Mr Moran said.
A micro-grid, like the one they are hoping to establish in Avenel, is already powering the community of Yackandandah.
Launched in 2016, more than 200 households have solar panels and 50 of those have batteries, along with a community battery.
Mondo energy services product manager Robert Finney said the trial was about learning how to harness Australia’s solar energy assets to help transition to renewable energy.
“Australia has the highest penetration of solar globally,” he said.
According to the Clean Energy Council, almost three million households in Australia have solar panels installed.
“If you add that up, that’s 13GW of power, which is bigger than any other power station,” Mr Finney said.
“The challenge is how to integrate that into the power grid.”
The trial aims to prove a network of houses and businesses with renewable energy storage systems — also known as distributed energy resources — can contribute to and strengthen the edges of the power grid, while also providing those residences and businesses with lower electricity bills.
EDGE currently has 50 households from Yackandanah and Beechworth participating in the trial and more than 110 people across the Hume region.
Mr Finney encouraged homeowners to sign up.
“For the entire trial, we’re looking for up to 1000 houses and businesses,” he said.
“We’re trying to get a price point of less than $10,000.”
Mr Billings said the anonymous benefactor’s $110,000 investment was being directed to 11 households that wouldn’t otherwise have been able to access the benefits of solar.
“We’ve given it to people who struggle the most financially,” he said.
“It’s given them a leg-up.”
More information about the EDGE project, including how to participate, can be found at https://mondo.com.au/edge