Solar Saves Highfields Pioneer Village – Literally

Solar power is playing a crucial role in helping put Highfields Pioneer Village near Toowoomba in Queensland back on its feet.

Home of The Big Cow and a bunch of other attractions, the Village has been having a tough time. It relies on donations and gate takings to operate, but had to close from March to July last year due to coronavirus restrictions – and then there were limitations on visitor numbers. Lockdown also saw its largest event that pays for a big chunk of expenses, the Easter Vintage Festival, cancelled.

The closure didn’t stop the bills from coming in and electricity required to power the 70 historical buildings on the property represents one of the Village’s biggest costs – around $5,000 per quarter.

Grant And Generous Solar Companies Save The Day

Things were looking really grim, but a community grant from Heritage Bank Highfields and Crows Nest Community put the Village on the road to recovery. It enabled the installation of a 40kW rooftop solar system on the Queensland Energy Museum building that features 123 REC solar panels (325 watt Twin Peak 2) and a Delta inverter, with system monitoring provided by Solar Analytics.

The system was installed by SQ client Proven Energy, which donated labour and resources during and post-installation. According to Proven, REC, Delta and Solar Analytics provided additional support for the installation.

 “We are privileged to be able to offer our expertise to this project and support such a great community organisation in saving for many years into the future,” said Proven Energy Director Peter Sutrin.

As well as generating clean power, the system is also being used as an educational tool. A display inside the Queensland Energy Museum shows the system’s output and energy use in real-time, and explains the role of the various components and where they sit within the process of transforming sunlight into electricity used by the Village.

It’s fantastic to see Highfields Pioneer Village back from the brink and now powering ahead with the assistance of solar energy – and it’s always great to learn about solar companies doing good in the community.

Solar For Community- Based Non-Profits

Electricity is a major expense for many community based organisations, sapping financial resources that could be put towards important activities.

While there may not always be suitable grants available for non-profits to install solar panels, they can take advantage of Australia’s “solar rebate“, which can knock thousands off the up-front cost of installing a system.

There are also other options for funding a system, such as the Citizens Own Renewable Energy Network Australia (CORENA) Fund. CORENA is a non-profit volunteer-run organisation that provides interest-free loans in cases where the up-front capital cost of going solar is a barrier. The savings from projects will usually repay the loan in 4 to 6 years. To date, CORENA has funded dozens of projects across Australia that have collectively avoided consumption of an estimated 1,822.5 MWh of grid electricity.

The initiative has been so successful that CORENA recently expanded the range of projects it will potentially fund to include replacing gas appliances with efficient electric alternatives, and fossil fuel vehicles with EVs.