The effects of this cyclone have definitely focussed the minds of those who have lost the previously underappreciated 'necessities' of life such as electricity, running water and communication.
We are in the process of upgrading our PV in order to reduce outgoings on our rural property. 2 hours of power outage on Tuesday for us and more especially the harrowing accounts of those facing days of power outages on the East Coast has caused us to review the extent of our plans. Being rural we lose water supply when the power goes down as no pump. Also we have 2x 700L chest freezers loaded with meat and home produce that would amount to a substantial value if lost. The idea of having battery storage for our PV has gained a lot of appeal in terms of substantially increasing our resilience and saving on electricity in everyday living.
Quite an investment but as news stories promoting the benefits of 'micro grids' in terms of community resilience air it seems I'm not alone in looking to
'unlock' ourselves from the restrictions (and expense) of life totally reliant on the national grid as conversations I'm seeing on other forums would also indicate.
In the vein our power provider Ecotricity has taken the opportunity to promote EVs with 'vehicle to load' capability to some of their effected customers. While being able to run an appliance or two would be great in such situations but the idea of completely sidestepping the grid in supplying your entire household would be so much better.
We are in the process of upgrading our PV in order to reduce outgoings on our rural property. 2 hours of power outage on Tuesday for us and more especially the harrowing accounts of those facing days of power outages on the East Coast has caused us to review the extent of our plans. Being rural we lose water supply when the power goes down as no pump. Also we have 2x 700L chest freezers loaded with meat and home produce that would amount to a substantial value if lost. The idea of having battery storage for our PV has gained a lot of appeal in terms of substantially increasing our resilience and saving on electricity in everyday living.
Quite an investment but as news stories promoting the benefits of 'micro grids' in terms of community resilience air it seems I'm not alone in looking to
'unlock' ourselves from the restrictions (and expense) of life totally reliant on the national grid as conversations I'm seeing on other forums would also indicate.
In the vein our power provider Ecotricity has taken the opportunity to promote EVs with 'vehicle to load' capability to some of their effected customers. While being able to run an appliance or two would be great in such situations but the idea of completely sidestepping the grid in supplying your entire household would be so much better.