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News from Australia’s Solar Cities

In this issue:
• Welcome • Alice Springs goes mad for solar!
Issue 4 • Solar City fast facts • Moreland Solar City helps local
• Perth Solar City Launch businesses
February 2010
• Launch of Central Victoria Solar City • 2009 Solar Cities Forum
• Magnetic Island defies energy trend • In-home displays for Adelaide trial
participants
• PV installation at Coca Cola Amatil
• Spotlight

Welcome What is Perth Solar City?


Residents within Perth’s eastern region have the
Welcome to the fourth edition of Solarise - the
opportunity to join this exciting initiative.
newsletter for Australia’s Solar Cities. This edition
contains stories about some of the achievements in The project has been designed to help
each of the Solar Cities, such as the significant energy households better manage their energy use,
savings on Magnetic Island and the ‘100 Days of Solar’ make cleaner, greener choices and save money.
campaign in Alice Springs, as well as events such The project is trialling different energy supply
as the launch of the Perth and Central Victoria Solar options and collecting valuable data about these
Cities. measures. Residents will have access to free
home eco-consultations and heavily discounted
photovoltaic (PV) systems.

Solar City fast facts


Selected program highlights include:
• Completion of over 6,000 energy audits
• Installation of over 1,900 kilowatts of
photovoltaics
• Installation of 8,800 smart meters
• Wide community involvement in behaviour
change campaigns.

Above: Minister Garrett at the launch with Year 7


students from Eden Hill Primary School.

Perth Solar City launch Discounted solar hot water systems will also be
available to the community via the ‘Sustainable
Perth’s eastern region is approaching a new Communities’ competition to be launched in early
era of sustainable energy use with the Perth 2010.
Solar City program. In late 2009, over 200
Showcasing Solar Energy
representatives from government, industry
and the community joined the Minister for the Perth Solar City will build five solar energy
Environment, Heritage and the Arts, the Hon. installations at landmark locations around Perth
Peter Garrett to launch the program at the Old to showcase the economic and environmental
Power House, within the old Midland Railway benefits of wiser energy choices.
Workshops. These solar installations will be showcased at
Guests heard from Minister Garrett, Hon. Peter Perth Zoo, Perth Arena, Midland Foundry, the
Collier, Western Australian Minister for Energy Central Institute of Technology and Kings Park.
and Mr Doug Aberle, Managing Director of In addition, 13 smaller solar installations will be
Western Power as they showed their support for built in Perth’s eastern region.
Perth Solar City and talked about the future of These installations will generate 860,000 kilowatt
energy in Western Australia. hours of clean energy per year - enough to power
140 homes for 30 years!
Launch of Central Victoria
Solar City
Almost 900 people attended the official openings
of the Bendigo and Ballarat solar parks in late
November 2009 which marked the launch of the
Central Victoria Solar City project.
Following official proceedings on site, members
of the community took guided tours of the parks
to view the groups of solar panels and attended Above: Tours of the PV panels at the Bendigo park.
the ‘Plug Into Solar’ community open day where
they were able to pick up information on energy
efficiency, auditing and retrofitting their home,
Magnetic Island defies
selecting solar hot water and photovoltaic (PV) energy trend
panels and understanding how Australia’s energy
grid works. The Ergon Energy led Townsville: Queensland Solar
City project is breaking new ground and delivering
The two solar parks are a unique element of the
results on Magnetic Island at its ‘Solar Suburb’.
Central Victoria Solar City project and are two
of Australia’s largest ground mounted, flat plate, Only 18 months into the project, almost two thirds of
grid‑connected PV systems that are providing the island’s population – more than 1,000 residents
locally generated green electricity to the region. and businesses – have joined the push to change
The community also got their first look at the way they use electricity, and the results speak for
the seven local energy solutions packages themselves.
- energy audit, retrofit, smart rates, solar hot
water, household solar electric, solar park and
full suite - and learnt how they could sign up
to participate in this unique trial now on offer
to 2,500 Central Victorian households. See
www.centralvictoriasolarcity.com.au for more
information about the project offers.
Number one solar park supporters Keith Reynard
and Suzanne Nunn were presented with
certificates before taking a short tour through new
educational signage with local students.
Above: Minister Garrett with Ergon Energy CEO
Ian McLeod at the project’s first year anniversary event

Peak demand on the island fell by seven per cent from


the previous year over the busy summer holiday period
of Christmas and New Year’s Eve.
With a predicted peak demand increase of 15 per cent
in 2009 in the absence of the Solar City project, the
seven per cent fall from 2008 equates to an overall
Above: Representing the Minister for the Environment,
peak demand improvement of 22 per cent.
Heritage and the Arts, the Federal Member for Ballarat,
Catherine King (centre) throws the switch to launch the By December 2009 overall electricity consumption
Ballarat solar park accompanied by Geoff Howard (left), had also dropped by eight per cent, driven by
Victorian Member for Ballarat East representing the energy saving incentives aimed at changing resident
Victorian Minister for Climate Change and Environment behaviour and encouraging photovoltaic (PV) panel
and Michael McCartney (right), Central Victoria Solar City installation.
Project Director.
2
The dual reductions in both peak demand and energy
use indicate that the project is on track to meet two Alice Springs goes mad
of its most important objectives - reducing energy
infrastructure requirements to meet the peaks and for solar!
reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
More and more Alice Springs residents are
The establishment of a solar park on the island is also making use of one of their most abundant natural
progressing well with strong support from the working resources, direct sunshine virtually every day.
group comprising local community and Solar City
Two hundred residents committed to install a
representatives. The community is particularly keen
rooftop solar system in the first 60 days of the
to see a large solar panelled shade structure over the
Alice Solar City ‘100 Days of Solar’ campaign.
island’s skate park, a suggestion which has met with
approval from island youth. Alice Solar City issued a challenge to the Alice
Springs community at the end of July – for 100
It is planned that the solar park will add another
homes to commit to installing 100 photovoltaic
100 kilowatts to the grid and will continue to remind
(PV) systems between 27 July and 27 November.
residents about the importance of sustainable energy
The target was easily exceeded well within that
generation beyond the end of the project.
timeframe.
The island is now also generating 285 kilowatts of
Brian Elmer, General Manager of Alice Solar City
renewable energy for the electricity grid through PV
said his team was overwhelmed by the interest in
systems that local residents and businesses host on
the program from the community.
their property roofs.
“I think it is evidence of the keenness of Alice
Also, over 270 kilowatts of incandescent lighting has
Springs residents to be more energy efficient.
been replaced with compact fluorescents in island
Having access to financial incentives through
homes and businesses which has the same effect as
Alice Solar City makes it all the more attractive.”
taking around 30 homes off the grid.
The number of PV systems installed on Alice
Springs rooftops will go from just two before the
program started to over 300 when the project is
PV installation at Coca completed.
Cola Amatil “This is a fantastic achievement, with residents
and businesses spending over $3.5 million on
Coca Cola Amatil have installed a 110 kilowatt installations already,” said Brian.
photovoltaic system at their operations in Alice Solar City is now looking to facilitate a bulk
Blacktown, with assistance from Blacktown purchase scheme to assist almost 500 extra
Solar City. The installation will provide more than residents who have expressed their interest in
15 per cent of the distribution centre’s energy going solar.
needs generating 148 megawatt hours of clean
renewable energy every year, which translates
into a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions of
148 tonnes annually.
The project exemplifies how vacant roof space
can be turned into an environmentally responsible
investment.

Above: A PV installation on an Alice Springs home.

Above: The Coca Cola Amatil installation.

3
Prior to the ESE assessment Moreland Energy
Moreland Solar City helps Foundation (MEFL) calculates the business’ carbon
local businesses footprint. Jason said “If we do the calculation for
businesses it makes it easier for them and ensures we
Zero Carbon Moreland is a Moreland Solar City get the data. When we recalculate the footprint to show
program which is helping local residents and carbon reduction we also highlight the dollar savings to
organisations reduce their carbon emissions. The the business.”
business element of this project is working with
The business program also works with larger
businesses that don’t have the time or the energy to
businesses to assist with their reduction targets.
improve their environmental performance.
Companies such as Yarra Trams, RMIT University and
Eighty percent of businesses in Moreland are either well-known bridalwear designer Marianna Hardwick
non-employing or employ less than four people, and have jumped on board and are already working on
are often operating for long hours on six or seven days energy reduction programs.
a week. While business owners want to improve their
The business program has taken a decision to focus
environmental performance it often drops to the bottom
on the bottom line and identify cost savings. “While a
of the list because of the need to focus on keeping
business’ commitment to the environment might wax
the business running. The business program shows
and wane their commitment to making a dollar cannot.
business owners that they can adopt environmentally
If we can demonstrate that saving money and reducing
friendly business practices, through demonstrating how
greenhouse gas are intertwined we can guarantee the
simple yet important they can be.
long term viability of the project,” Jason Cox said.

2009 Solar Cities Forum


The 2009 Solar Cities public forum was held
on 18 November 2009 in Canberra. The event
attracted more than 100 participants who
listened to presentations from each of the cities
about project achievements and progress. The
forum also provided Solar City staff with the
opportunity to learn from each other, as each city
is at a different stage of project implementation.
Above: Businesses on Sydney Road in Moreland.
See individual Solar City websites for further
information.
The business program has formed partnerships with
the Victorian Employers Chamber of Commerce and
Industry (VECCI) and Eco Smart Electricians (ESE)
to allow the ESE to provide free assessments to
businesses focusing on opportunities for bottom line
savings through energy efficiency measures.
At the end of the assessment the business is provided
with a list of actions by the electrician including no cost
actions, low cost actions and actions that need to be
planned and budgeted for. ESE also provides a quote
for major actions which means the business does not
need to hunt around for someone to do the job. Above: The
Jason Cox, the coordinator of the program said “It’s audience listening
really important to make it as easy as possible for to Blacktown Solar
the business owner. Many programs we looked at City’s presentation.
fell over when audit recommendations were given Left: Alice Solar
to shopkeepers because they didn’t have the time City Manager Brian
required to chase up someone who could do the job at Elmer.
a reasonable price.”

4
In-home displays for
Adelaide trial participants Spotlight
In this column, we introduce
One of the key initiatives under the Adelaide Solar City someone involved with Solar
is the cost reflective pricing trial which targets 2,500 Cities and learn about their role in
households across the catchment area. the program.
This trial aims to test the uptake of two new energy In this issue we meet Ian Lett,
pricing plans, ‘smart time of use’ and ‘dynamic saver’, Solar City Project Manager with
which have been developed exclusively for the trial. Integral Energy for Blacktown
Generally, energy pricing plans offer customers lower Solar City.
rates at certain times of the day and higher rates at
How long have you been working on the
peak times to lessen demand. An exciting development
Blacktown Solar City project?
in the trial is the launch of in‑home displays to 550 of
Origin’s cost reflective pricing trial customers. I’ve worked on Blacktown Solar City since 2008,
having come from managing a residential energy
The in-home display is a colour touch screen device
efficiency project in Wollongong. I commenced
which remotely reads and displays data from a smart
during the implementation phase and I’m now
meter which is installed at the customer’s home to
working on data delivery.
measure their energy use in half hourly intervals.
What issues do you deal with in a typical
The in-home display provides the householder with
working day?
energy related and general information in near real
time which helps inform decisions about how and when My workload is extremely diverse, ranging from
to use energy. writing a newsletter to deciding how to analyse
data, from keeping in touch with consortium
The major innovation associated with the development
members to answering questions from customers.
of the Origin in-home displays is the provision of
There’s also a creative aspect, solving problems
content and features, ranging from weather reports to
and developing new ways to reduce energy
energy information.
consumption.
The content aims to provide the participant with timely
What excites you most about your Solar City?
information to assist them in managing their energy
consumption throughout the year. For example, the We have done extensive market research on
weather forecasts can be used as an early warning attitudes and behaviours of participants in the
of potential peak events. It also encourages them to Blacktown Solar City trials. I’m most excited
continue to refer to their display over time. about how this information can be used by
utilities, governments and business to offer better
Distribution of the in-home displays to selected
products and services. For example, we are
participants commenced in February.
already building on the experience of Blacktown
Solar City to inform a franchisewide education
Visit www.adelaidesolarcity. campaign and to develop new electricity products.
com.au for more information What energy saving measures have you
about the Adelaide Solar City undertaken in your own home?
energy pricing plans.
I have retrofitted my 1950s fibro house to be
as energy efficient as possible. This means
Left: An in-home display.
insulation in the ceiling, walls and under the
floor, plastic film double glazing, heavy drapes, a
combination of slow combustion and gas space
Further information heating, compact fluorescent downlights and
Visit the Solar Cities website: a central switch to turn off all standby power at
www.environment.gov.au/settlements/solarcities night. With the help of a Green Loan I’m getting
a water tank fitted and plumbed to the toilet and
© Commonwealth of Australia, 2010 washing machine and installing a solar electric
Information contained in this publication may be copied or system. I also minimise my consumption of meat
reproduced for study, research, information or educational
purposes, subject to inclusion of an acknowledgment of
and dairy as they can also use lots of energy.
the source.

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