The Victorian town of Yackandandah got one step closer to reaching its 100 per cent renewable energy target, with 10 public buildings flicking the switch to solar in an event held at their public hall last week.
This effort is being led by community energy group, Totally Renewable Yackandandah (TRY), which is committed to powering the town with 100 per cent renewable energy by 2022. Indigo Shire officially opened these new installations at the Yackandandah Public Hall on September 25, attended by surrounding community representatives, CFA, Selectronic Australia, Indigo Shire, Indigo Power and more.
Totally Renewable Yack chair Matthew Charles-Jones
Totally Renewable Yack chair Matthew Charles-Jones
The hall has installed 11 kW of solar panels, 13 kWh of battery storage and a Mondo Ubi smart energy controller. The battery allows daytime energy to be used in the evening and can support continued operation during mains power outages.
The public buildings project has added an additional 74 kW of solar to the town and is expected to generate 102 MWh annually, the equivalent volume of power needed to supply 18 homes.
TRY chairperson Matthew Charles-Jones said Yackandandah is pioneering the future of energy.
“Yackandandah is proud to be leading on what the future of energy will look like. Not only will the public benefit from cheaper energy costs for public buildings, but with smart technology all these buildings will be linked up to the Yackandandah mini-grid,” he said.
“Community energy hubs combine local renewable energy generation, storage and energy sharing, giving our communities control over their energy future. TRY has projects underway to add community-scale generation and storage to create a genuine, reliable, resilient and affordable local energy market.”
The Yackandandah mini-grid will be connected through local community energy company, Indigo Power and Mondo’s Ubi smart controller.
