Episode 11 – Innovative solar, storage and sharing

Solutions for apartments There’s a problem for people living in medium and high density apartments as they lift ambition for climate action: Apartment blocks have limited roof space per apartment for solar PV and limited options for sharing stored energy … Continued

Episode 10 – Time-shifting energy usage

Out of the blue, our electricity retailer replaced our electricity meter with a smart digital meter, enabling billing based on time-of-day usage. So would our Tesla Powerwalls enable us to optimise, to benefit both our billing and the grid?

Episode 9 – Battery storage – adding a second Tesla PowerWall

2021 – Battery options modelling In September 2020 we installed our first battery at Sturt Apartments, Christie Walk. You can read the story of our modelling, battery choices and lessons learned in Episode 7 – Battery storage – Tesla PowerWall 2 … Continued

Episode 8 – We need to talk about shower heads

How sustainable is your daily shower? Most shower heads at Christie Walk are WELS 3 standard, running at about 9L/minute. They were the best that were readily available when construction of our eco-village was completed in 2006. Older shower heads … Continued

Episode 7 – Battery storage – Tesla Powerwall 2

2020 – Battery options modelling In the middle of all that work on evacuated tubes, we learned that change was imminent in the SA Government Home Battery Scheme. To qualify for the maximum $6k subsidy, applications had to be lodged … Continued

Episode 6 – More evacuated tube solar hot water boosters

Adventures with an environment-conscious inner-urban community 2020 This was the crisis year for so many people – bushfires, COVID, job losses – and it also happened to be the year of our most adventurous emissions-reduction planning, carrying out 2 major … Continued

Episode 5 – Finalist – Carbon Neutral Adelaide Awards

Adventures with an environment-conscious inner-urban community 2016 to 2019 – Carbon Neutral Adelaide Since 2016 we’d had regular contact with the Carbon Neutral Adelaide team, culminating in our carbon emission inventory for the 2017 year. I’d also attended the Carbon … Continued

Episode 4 – Major PV upgrade

2019 For years we’d been tossing around options for increasing our solar performance without losing our high feed-in tariff (56c/kWh) for the 4.8kW PVs that were installed when the Christie Walk community built the Sturt Apartments in 2006.  But by … Continued