Renewable energy for your home

At present there are two technologies that are technically possible for home scale renewable energy production – solar panels for water heating and electricity production and small wind turbines for electricity production.

Things you need to know

Solar panels for heating water are specified for all detached homes at The New Rouse Hill. We recommend that three panels are installed for 3-4 person households and that continuous flow gas boost is specified (guard against systems that provide gas heating to the entire tank) to minimise unnecessary energy use. These steps, together with using a 4 minute shower timer, will help you maximise the use of solar power to heat your water.

Photo voltaic (PV) solar panel systems have also been a popular renewable energy choice to produce electrical energy from sunlight on your rooftop.

A 1.5 kW capacity system (5-8 panels depending on panel efficiency) will generate around 5-6 kWh of energy per day – this is currently about 25-30% of energy consumed by a moderate sized household at The New Rouse Hill – or 50% of energy consumed by a household following our energy saving recommendations.

All is not lost if you cannot face your panels directly to the north – about 83% efficiency is still achieved with panels facing due east or west. The publicly available PV Watts website is a useful tool to provide a rough estimate on system performance in the Sydney region.

There are dozens of suppliers of these systems – we recommend picking a supplier that has a strong reputation for follow up service and that has access to modern panels with high efficiency levels (less panels to produce the same energy output) and improved aesthetic design (including black frames rather than silver frames).

Cost including government rebates and tariffs

The Federal Government is currently offering a Solar Credits scheme to help reduce the capital cost of solar panel systems. On the 1st of July each year the size of the Federal Government subsidy will reduce – please refer to the Australian Government website for details. The typical current costs (after the Solar Credits scheme subsidy) for installed 1.5 kW systems range from $2,500 to $5,500 but the price for your home (including any additional upfront cost for a gross feed in or net feed in meter) will need a detailed quote.

The NSW State Government had been offering generous ‘feed in tariffs’ for the gross amount of energy you feed back into the electricity grid from your solar panel system. The price you received for your energy was initially 60c per kWh later falling to 20c per kWh. You should be aware that this scheme has now closed so the value you receive for energy produced from your system is uncertain.

The current NSW Government is reviewing the available options to purchase either the gross amount of energy produced, or net amount of renewable energy produced, from home based solar panel systems. We strongly recommend that you wait for the details of the new program before signing up to a new system – particularly in respect to whether a net feed in meter or gross feed in meter will be required.

We will update this website when the details of the new NSW Government arrangements are released and identify the most beneficial approach for The New Rouse Hill residents.

You can contact The New Rouse Hill ESD Manager, Troy Daly, to discuss the pros and cons further.

Things you need to know

Consistently high wind speed (greater than 18 km/h) is important to ensure efficient production of electricity from wind turbines and generate a reasonable payback period for the investment. Historically the average wind speed at Rouse Hill is less than 15 km/h which is not well suited for wind turbines. Furthermore the urban environment being created – with many buildings and tall trees – will act to interrupt consistent wind patterns further detracting from the potential for wind turbines.

For these reasons we do not currently recommend domestic installation of wind turbines – the available technology is not suited to the Rouse Hill urban environment.

Renewable energy (most often marketed as ‘green energy’) is available as part or all of your electricity supply. Costs vary depending on the percentage of green energy you wish to buy. To purchase 100% certified green energy the additional cost per kWh is approximately 5-6c at current rates – this charge is on top of standard charges of around 23c per kWh (as of July 2011).

Please go to the combined government Greenpower website to identify the best offer currently available to meet your needs.