Over the past 12 months, a number of topics have emerged that require in-depth investigation to produce guidance or information for our community. Examples of these projects include:
We rely on teams of volunteers with a range of skills to research, collate available information and present materials in a way that speaks to our community. Joining one of these project teams is a great way to find out more about a topic that interests you – don’t worry if you have no background in energy or technology.
Our current projects are summarised below. To get involved, submit the form at the bottom of the page and let us know which projects interest you.
An individual home battery provides the ability to store excess solar power when it is plentiful and cheap, and then access this electricity when it is needed. As a result, we can use this ‘greener’ electricity in the evenings and early mornings instead of electricity currently generated from fossil fuels. This reduces energy costs as well as greenhouse gas emissions. In some cases, batteries can power homes during power cuts.
As batteries are emerging as an important tool in cutting emissions, particularly with the growth in electric vehicles, new technologies are in the pipeline.
This project aims to bring together the current knowledge on home batteries to provide clear guidance to our community. It will include gathering case studies from locals that already have experience with batteries and help to answer some of these key questions:
Co-ordinator: Graham Jones
A community battery is similar to a home battery except that it is far larger and is able to service multiple households.
Installing a community battery is a complex process involving many millions of dollars, regulatory approvals, and contractual arrangements with the network and customers – all of which typically takes 3-5 years to put in place.
However, we can learn from the increasing number of community battery ‘trials’, and their different funding and ownership models.
Our project is aimed at examining whether a community battery is a feasible option in Bouddi and trying to answer some of the key questions, such as:
Read more about the role of community batteries (link).
Co-ordinator: Jon Charles
Cars are the largest single users of fossil fuels in Bouddi and contribute around 40% of our greenhouse gas emissions. Switching to greater use of electric vehicles is therefore an important step if we are going to tackle our contribution to climate change.
We are seeing more and more electric vehicles on our roads but the lack of public charging facilities on the Central Coast is still a major disincentive for residents and holiday makers. While individual home chargers are increasing slowly, we believe that our priority should be to establish fast chargers locally.
This will not be simple as a fast charger that can service two or more cars at a time is expensive and requires dedicated parking spaces and considerable electricity supply infrastructure.
This project will entail approaching some of the potential owners of suitable sites, together with other potential stakeholders, to explore the options. These include United Petroleum, Empire Bay Tavern, NRMA and Ausgrid amongst others.
Co-ordinator: Graham Jones
Our Hot Water strategy is already in place, with a dedicated page on the website and a set of partner installers able to quote and supply heat pumps and controls.
This project aims to support our existing work by adding to the list of local installers, and ensuring all our partners adhere to our code of conduct.
We will also monitor the number of new installations and collate the real-life experiences of homeowners that have installed new heat pumps and controls.
Co-ordinator: Mal McCall
Approximately 50% of residences in Bouddi are either holiday homes or weekenders. They make a significant contribution to greenhouse emissions in our area.
Through our work so far, it appears that this group are currently less likely to invest in rooftop solar, heat pumps and energy saving compared to permanent residents.
It is therefore important that we understand the barriers faced by this sector and the factors that are most likely to influence the owners of these properties. For example, does installing rooftop solar or a 22kV charger enable them to market themselves as a green property and thereby increase bookings?
Our project will work mainly with the property managers in the area that have direct contact with owners of holiday homes. Through this, we will develop the key arguments and supporting materials to demonstrate why owners should take action. This will include examples of local owners that have positive experiences as a result of installing rooftop solar, new water heating technologies or EV chargers.
Co-ordinator: Mark Ellis
Moving as much electricity consumption to daytime where solar electricity is both cheap and abundant is a crucial strategy for households that wish to reduce greenhouse emissions and costs. This applies not only to those with rooftop solar but to all households, since this is when grid electricity has its lowest greenhouse impact.
Moving away from off-peak water heating will have the largest impact, but there are many other areas of consumption that can also be shifted to daytime. These include clothes washing and drying, dishwashing and even some cooking. It may also be possible to pre-heat or cool the house during the day.
This project will develop a simple online tool to enable individual households to see what proportion of their electricity is consumed during the day. By providing this regular feedback, households will be able to see changes and be encouraged to create/maintain effective ‘green’ habits.
Coordinator: Mark Ellis
Electrify Bouddi was set up to make a difference, so we need to show the impact that we are having on greenhouse emissions. This will not only tell us whether we are on the right track, but it will help us to gain further support from the local community and potential funders.
Measuring impacts is never easy because many external things alter our energy consumption, including the weather. However, there are proven techniques that we can use on this project, based on key indicators such as the number of new solar & heat pump installations within our community since we began.
Since it is also important to keep our members informed of progress, we also need to develop ways to report our achievements, such as via a dashboard on the website and/or public signage.
Co-ordinator: Mark Ellis
Over the past six months, we have been conducting a pilot amongst a small group of local residents into the potential benefits of powersharing. This has focussed on the purchase of excess power produced by solar rooftops by those in Bouddi with shaded roofs.
As prices paid for solar generated power fall, we are also exploring whether this mechanism can help create a more viable local market for solar power. This might help encourage owners of holiday homes and weekenders to invest in rooftop solar.
Powersharing is a vital component of what is known as a ‘virtual power plant’, in which all renewable energy and batteries resources are shared throughout the community. Our pilot helps to understand how this might work in practice and the financial implications.
Based on our experience, we have produced a set of findings that we plan to share with key national agencies in order to encourage new powersharing opportunities.
Co-ordinator: Mark Ellis
Electricity costs are important for all of us, and so it can be frustratingly difficult to compare the offers from competing electricity retailers, especially as their tariffs are usually structured differently.
How a retailer splits the bill between fixed, variable and demand charges, and what they pay to purchase solar electricity, can have a significant impact on household expenditure and the cost-effectiveness of energy efficiency.
Recently we have seen many electricity retailers change their offerings, and this is likely to continue as the industry adjusts to the energy transition.
Our project aims to monitor these changes and identify new offerings that encourage investment in rooftop solar and energy efficiency.
Co-ordinator: Jon Charles
If you wish to be actively involved in a project please complete the form below and one of our friendly team will contact you shortly!
