Home page of Linda Anchell, Burra, Australia

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PRODUCTION OF ELECTRICITY at Burra

(click for larger graph)

Since October 2006 we have been producing electricity from our own photovoltaic (solar) panels. The power generated and power used has been measured and this graph shows that so far we are generating more than we use. In early May 2007 we have had a few days where we used more than we generated. The days are shorter and there have been just a few days when the low pressure cells actually came across southern Australia and we had clouds, if not much rain.

The system is an 1860 Watt grid connect system. With a government rebate of $4,000 it cost about as much as a trip to Europe, or a small car. We all make choices! (and now the rebate has doubled! and been means tested…)
There are twelve 155W Polycrystalline BP Solar panels which were also discounted by BP's Envirocash rebate.
It is not cheap, and with the present "feed in tariff" which is currently 15.3 cents per kWh, we won't be making a lot from it. (But we don't make anything from our refrigerator either.) Electricity used to cost us perhaps $180 a quarter. That amount won't be needed now. We have cut down a lot on our use. (Anyone can do this without having solar panels!) In Germany feed in tariffs are four times the cost of electricity to consumers. This would make having the system almost a sensible commercial decision and probably pay off the cost within five or ten years instead of the nearly twenty that it might take now. (Feed in tariffs are coming to the ACT.)

Our system was installed by Solartec. See their web site at http://www.solartec.com.au/
We strongly recommend them!

Our daily electricity use had plummeted and generation is still good in autumn, but some days we don't export. A daily record is kept, and available here as an Excel file. (right click and "save as")

Our daily electricity use may be small, we vacuum rarely! the stove is gas, washing up is done by hand, and we dry our clothes on the verandah.

Admittedly, under the verandah might be OK in such places, but we also have a good clothesline up the top by the shed. Not only in the open, but by the roadside as well!

http://itsgettinghotinhere.org/2008/04/17/kila-whos-its-and-mega-whats-its-a-primer-on-energy-power-and-capacity/#more-4615 a discussion of power and energy and how they are measured.

I added my comments onto the GetUp! site that was collecting ideas for the 2020 summit.
They should be available to see amongst many others at:
http://www.getup.org.au/2020/idea.php?ideaID=346

"Thank you Richard. Having read the sustainability paper, it still seems we cannot get to grips with the need for drastic change. I am reminded of TS Eliot's "Hollow Men" poem which finishes with:
"This is the way the world ends
This is the way the world ends
This is the way the world ends
Not with a bang but a whimper."

Australians may very well work out adaptations to whatever will happen, but this is a global issue that we need to see as clearly as possible and be willing to take action. A war would see us "mobilised"; the slow death of the planet will not?"

yes, I was clumsy in the way I phrased it, but then the next morning there was a letter to the editor who thought that global warming will simply make New South Wales to have the weather that Queensland has at the moment. I am shocked! We simply don't get it! The IPCC was not talking about slightly higher maximum daily temperatures. We need to be aware of the consequences for The Barrier Reef; for Bangladeshis; for dolphins, whales and clown fish; magpies, skinks and snow gums. In Australia, we will survive for numerous generations, even if it is with some change in lifestyle. Ignoring the issue will make the potential of disaster just that much closer.

While the comment I wrote summarised my thoughts of the last few years, I also thought a bit more about how the country might react and respond if we were fighting an invader. Testosterone would flow! All the young men would be so invigorated and macho! Finally they would have something to live (or die) for!

So I ask myself, how can we get the testosterone to flow to tackle global warming? And I simply do not know the answer.

On New Years Eve in 2006 we were driving into the valley, coming home and saw this storm cloud developing. Much as we wanted rain, we didn't want this particular storm to come our way! Fortunately for us it didn't, but it dropped nearly two feet of hail onto the southern suburbs of Tuggeranong! Driving on the Monaro Highway a couple of days later, we saw some of the dirt and debris that had closed it that day too.

This PC User Group site is a mixture of bits and pieces from Linda Anchell.
Welcome!


Web pages which I manage for my own parish, the group of Women in Black who stand in vigil every Friday and the Canberra Refugee Action Committee:
http://www.stphilipsoconnor.org.au/
http://www.refugeeaction.org/index.html

http://www.womeninblackcanberra.org.au

That site is forwarded from this present site, so the index page for Women in Black comes from http://members.tip.net.au/~lindafrd/WinB/WinB.html unlike this personal site, these three are changed regularly.
and the ANU Chaplaincy http://www.anu.edu.au/chaplaincy/index.html

The Raven is called "The Bird of Paradox" in North western North America. The white raven is definitely an ambiguous, paradoxical bird. It seems to fit me, especially in my work.

The picture of the White Raven came from Michael in Canada. There is the albino gene in the raven flock in Urila Valley and during 1998 I saw one reasonably often. I last saw it flying erratically and probably growing old and feeble. I have not seen another one since then. To me it is a symbol of ambiguity and paradox. A black crow that is white! To see it meant looking again. I did a real double take. A white cockatoo with a crow's beak??? It took a few sightings to be sure of what I was seeing. ("The eyes only see what the mind is prepared to comprehend"! Bruce D Trapp Annals of Neurology, 55:4 2004)

now, my work: Easter diaconal resources:

After Easter in 2006, I cleaned up The Exultet; manuscript. This is a plainsong chant that I sing on Easter morning at the Lighting of the Fire sunrise service at St Philip's.

Paschal Candle decoration and the Exultet. (with reflections and links.)

collection of sermons that I have preached over the years.

Christmas poem/song from Adelong.
Anzac Day reflection
Words from Nelson Mandela and others (Freedom and Power)
Annie Dillard
Elie Wiesel

Multiple Sclerosis pages Mostly written during the late 1990's, and with an interest in the influence of neurotransmitters in MS. This is especially those neurotransmitters of the sympathetic system. I heard talk at an MS conference in 2006 about neuro psycho immunology. This is an area now being heard about more that I was finding bits about in those early years. So what I am writing isn't "ten years out of date". (I don't claim to be ahead of my time! Just interested then in a quirky area which is now developing.)


Where Angels Fear to Tread: A monthly (1996) column on neurology items. (based on multiple sclerosis.)


Here is a pdf file to download Short_Booklet.pdf about Multiple Sclerosis and its complexity. (or to view it on the web go to Table of Contents)

My old Ozemail site is now here. Still with a lot of the coding from the days I used Netscape to compose pages. This site was mainly about Multiple Sclerosis.

please let me know of any queries or frustrations.
email at lindafrd@pcug.org.au

Other bits and pieces:

Where I live: "homestead advertising" page. It's set up for visiting cousins, but the photos of the skinks and the house are worth sharing with a wider audience.

Kimberley photos and (tongue in cheek) comments at kimberley.html

The index page to old Ozemail site, with my "web log" on it is at old_site