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THANGOO STATION Mrs Maria Grey describes herself and her family as being environmentally oriented. That, coupled with the availability of rebates through the Remote Area Power Supply (RAPS) Program, provided the incentive for her to install a solar energy system providing 24 hour per day power to her house and to the house next door where her son and his family live.  Mrs
Grey has lived at Thangoo Station for the last 45 years; she and her husband
took over the 173 000 ha cattle station in 1960 and have raised their
ten children on the property which is 100 km by road from Broome, in the
Kimberley region of WA. Thangoo Station is a family-owned property with
approximately 7 500 head of cattle, and it is run by four of Mrs Grey's
children, who live around the property with their families.Until recently, Mrs Grey and her son's family, in the house next door, relied on two diesel generators to provide their electricity; between them the diesels ran for 14 hours per day. However, in December 2002, their solar energy system was installed, and all of a sudden they had power 24 hours per day. According to Mrs Grey, "The biggest change to our lifestyle is the 24 hour power, which was just not available before".  Mrs
Grey said she was "thrilled to bits" with the new system, and
that the system performance has been better than expected. The installer
does a complete overhaul of the system once every twelve months, and other
than that the only maintenance involved is a quarterly battery and diesel
engine service, which is an improvement on the monthly diesel service
that was required before the solar system was installed.They still run the diesel generator but now it's only for 3-4 hours per day. Mrs Grey estimates that they have more than halved their diesel fuel consumption. "The best things about the new system," she said "are that the self-starting generator runs for 10 hours less per day, there is no noise and less frequent servicing is required." The solar energy system consists of twelve 175W solar panels, a 5kVA inverter, and a 50kWh battery bank. The system provides electricity for six people in two households, running three fridges, two freezers, lights, TVs and office equipment. The Greys use gas for cooking and wood for hot water.  Mrs
Grey says that they haven't needed to manage their load, but that they
are considering getting higher efficiency appliances such as compact fluorescent
lights. Some other changes that were made at the same time as the installation of the solar system included replacing the diesel run pump for the household with a solar pump, supplying the workshop power with a separate portable diesel generator, and substituting an extra fridge in place of a large chiller room. Solar energy systems are also used at the station for powering five water pumps at stock watering points, and to provide power for electric fences. In addition, since installing the original solar power system for the two households, the Greys have added another twelve 185W solar panels to further reduce diesel run times. Technical
This case study was developed by the Research Institute for Sustainable Energy at Murdoch University. Both the Research Institute for Sustainable Energy and the Remote Area Power Supply Program are supported by the Australian Government through the Renewable Remote Power Generation Program. This program is implemented by the Sustainable Energy Development Office in Western Australia. |
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