The original system comprised of 2 x 12v batteries and a small 600w Modified Sine Wave inverter which we soon realised was hopelessly inadequate! One advantage of such a meagre supply of power was that we really had to consider every aspect of our energy usage and developed habits that have allowed us to become very frugal. This has translated into extremely low power bills at our grid connected house in Melbourne where we use an average of around 3kWh per day (the average is 18kWh!)
Back in 2008, it was very hard to get any information on setting up a Stand Alone power system and even after scouring YouTube and the Internet, I was still a little bit baffled as how to go about it. These days there are any number of companies supplying all manner of SAPS systems to suit every requirement and budget.
Our system has gone from the tiny 3 x 120 watt panels to an array of 6 panels with a total capacity of 780 watts. The addition of the wind turbine adds potentially another 300 watts in really good wind which brings the total capacity to just over 1kW, still much less than the average rooftop array on houses in Melbourne.
How this affects our day to day lifestyle up here is very minimal. The only things we can't really run off the system are the toaster, microwave oven, vacuum cleaner or the air compressor. These loads are usually run off the Genset if we need them. The electric oven was traded in for an LPG unit and we use the griller to cook the toast. We also installed a gas fridge and boiling water and cooking etc is done on the gas cooktop.
What about when the sun doesn't shine and the wind don't blow you ask? Well, this does happen from time to time but with the 660Ah battery bank and careful usage, we can usually survive 2-3 days before we need to start the generator.
The best part about all this is that we never need to worry about power black outs and we'll never receive a power bill...ever!
Any questions, email me at: threedamsestate@gmail.com
