Like many residents on the Bouddi Peninsula, David Legge always faced a major hurdle to going solar: a lack of direct sunlight. He had long desired to go solar and all electric, but multiple solar installers had walked away from his heavily shaded property, shaking their heads.
Then, a bit of unexpected chaos occurred: a fallen tree and a dead petrol car changed everything.
“In the middle of last year, we had a big bangalay gum fall down on our sheds at the front of our two-acre block,” David recalls. The insurance payout gave him the funds to rebuild, but it also sparked an idea. While most of his block was rainforest and shaded, there was a single patch of land near the front that received at least four hours of uninterrupted daily sun.
On a recommendation from Electrify Bouddi, David brought in installer Joe Harvey from SEA Solutions. Together, they designed a brand-new, purpose-built shed tailored to the exact dimensions needed to install 21 solar panels to capture that sunlight. David now affectionately calls it his “solar farm”.
Because the shed sits 70 metres from the house, connecting the system could have been cost-prohibitive. Fortunately, a separate tree incident 15 years prior had prompted David to move his power lines underground. Thanks to that existing conduit, the connection was seamless and not expensive. Today, the setup features a 7kW solar system, a stack of three Sigenergy batteries with a total of 24 kWh capacity, a standalone inverter, and an integrated Sigenergy EV charger.
Shortly after the shed was planned, David’s petrol car finally died on the Mooney Mooney Bridge hill. He immediately bought a BYD Atto 3, fully integrating his home energy and transport.
The total package (excluding the shed) of solar system, batteries, charger, new circuit board, lengthy cabling and the BYD Atto 3, came to about $73,000. For David, who recently retired, the timing was right for a long-term investment.
The financial return has been immediate. He uses Amber Electric to manage his power trading and vehicle charging. By plugging in the BYD on sunny mornings when grid prices are low and solar generation peaks, he can fully charge his car by lunchtime for less than $10.
His monthly household electricity bill has fallen to just $125—a figure that includes his vehicle charging. “I talk to other people with no solar who are paying $400 to $500 a month,” David says. “I’m saving an extra $100 a week. Then, there is the additional saving from not having to buy petrol. On the whole, I’m very happy.”
While David loves the instantaneous torque and driving experience of his EV around urban areas, a recent long-distance trip to Melbourne provided a steep learning curve. He discovered that highway driving drains the battery much faster than the stop-start traffic of city driving, where regenerative braking boosts efficiency. On the open road, his real-world range dropped to about 300 kilometres—roughly 100 kilometres less than the dash screen’s promise. The trip home proved stressful. Facing a lack of chargers on certain highway stretches, he watched his battery drop to zero percent just as he rolled into Jugiong. The highway charging experience added about three hours of travel time each way. “We won’t take the EV to Melbourne at Christmas – the holiday queues at the highway servos would be absolute madness,” David reflects.
Despite the highway hurdles, David views his electrification journey as an absolute pleasure. By turning a storm-damaged shed into a personal power station, he has successfully unlocked a clean, cost-effective future.
| Equipment | Description | Supplied by |
|---|---|---|
| Solar Panels, Storage Battery, Inverter and EV Charger | 21 Jinco solar panels providing 7kW, Stack of 3 Sigenergy batteries totalling 24kWh, 10kW Sigenergy inverter, Sigenergy EV charger | SEA Solutions |
| Electric vehicle | BYD Atto 3 | BYD Gosford |