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How Sustainable House Day Promotes Green Living in Australia

This is because the annual Sustainable House Day is observed on this day. What started out as a visionary initiative in 2001 has gained so much momentum through the years that it is now considered one of the major triumphs in behalf of environmental protection.

What is Sustainable House Day?

The Australian Solar Energy Society (AuSES), a leading solar energy and green electricity proponent in Australia, established the Sustainable House Day in 2001, with the goal of transforming ordinary homes into sustainable households promoting energy efficiency and green living practices.

Build your Own Green Electricity

These sustainable households use green electricity as their primary source of energy supply, with green electricity sourced mostly from alternative energy-generation methods like solar panel installations.

Through the years the event has opened sustainable households for general viewing, educating Australians and giving them a great opportunity to adopt sustainable practices into their own homes.

Characteristics of Sustainable Households

Australians are gradually embracing sustainability and green living. It is nowhere more evident than in the transformation of residential homes into sustainable households.

Here are some of the primary qualities that make a household sustainable:

1. Use of green electricity to power gadgets and appliances in the conduct of everyday household chores.
2. Reuse and recycle products and materials for monetary savings and to lessen waste.
3. Reduce use and consumption of household items that produce high levels of carbon footprint.
4. Conserve water by storing rain water for cleaning and other use, and reducing unnecessary water usage.
5. Practice household maintenance with environmental protection in mind.

The Eco-Tourism Spirit

Sustainable House Day awakens the environmental consciousness of Australians to the idea that “going green” can actually be a living reality. Model houses that promote sustainability and green electricity use are open for viewing by the general public.
The concept of Sustainable House Day is eco-tourism at the grass-roots level. Everywhere in Australia sustainable households using green electricity and living in harmony with the Earth is showcased to visitors as interesting travel destinations. These households give people a venue to exchange information about green matters, such as renewable energy through green electricity, and other environmental concerns relevant today and in the future.

A particular and important mission of these open houses is to bring home the point that the transformation to a sustainable household is a very easy and affordable move to make. There are immensely practical and common-sense ways to live green, without necessarily straining the household budget.

Going Green One Home at Time

Sustainable House Day is made possible through the efforts of hundreds of Australian households who, through the years, have voluntarily made the move to green electricity and sustainable living.

Every year, the event’s organizers welcome more and more homes to the growing list of sustainable households across Australia. As more and more support comes from all levels of the Australian society — local and national government, private organizations, businesses, and the general public — the future is promising.

Greater investments in green electricity and sustainability efforts are turning homes into energy-efficient living units — protective of the environment today and far into the future.

About the Author

Bill Wight, CEO, Tribal Energies Research – our team is committed in exploring ways to bring green electricity to households in Australia and for the benefit of the environment. Read our blog for updates on cheap and green electricity.

Sun Beginning to Shine on Australia and Solar Energy

In a land as sun-drenched as Australia, solar energy utilization naturally springs to mind. The amount of renewable energy generated by the numerous sunny days found in the nation is considerable, right? Sort of.

The potential is certainly there, but Australia is actually making use of solar energy at a relatively lower clip than other countries. Power produced from solar energy is called photovoltaic (PV) power, and as of last summer, Australia had approximately 115 MW of installed PV power. This contributes only 0.1% to 0.2% of Australia’s total electricity generation. The higher cost of solar panels in relation to other sources of energy accounts for some of the reluctance to embrace solar energy completely.

Learn how to build your own Solar Power and save

This slower pace may soon change, however, due in part to proposed feed-in tariffs. These are essentially premium rates paid to generators of PV power for excess electricity generated. So if a homeowner installed solar panels and generated more electricity than was needed for the home, he or she could then sell the excess energy and feed it into the electricity grid.

Australia has also set renewable energy goals inspired by the Kyoto Protocol. In 2001, the Australian government created the Mandatory Renewable Energy Target. This calls for production of 9,500 GWh of electricity generated by means of renewable energy. The plan is to continue the strategy until at least 2020, which is the target year of several goals in other countries adopting the Kyoto Protocol.

Further demonstrating their hope to shed Australia’s reputation as behind the curve when it comes to solar energy, the Australian Government announced last year plans to construct the world’s largest solar power station. It will produce 1,000 MW of electricity and be a $1.4 billion investment. Currently, the biggest solar energy power plant is located in California and Australia hopes to triple the output of this station with the prospective plant to be built there. Not only would this plant help Australia leap to the forefront of solar energy utilization, it would create a multitude of jobs and boost the economy. After this plant is established, the intent is to create a network of solar energy plants nationwide. Locations would be chosen based on access to ample sunshine and proximity to the existing electricity grid.

Though Australia has lagged a bit in the solar energy industry, these plans in the works will drive them toward the front in the coming years.

Australia Uses Wind For Renewable Energy Source

Renewable Energy has been part of everyday life as far back in history as we can remember. Probably the most well known is the energy harnessed from the wind. Large windmill structures were erected and used to pump water and to drive milling stones to crush harvested grains like wheat into flour. Holland was probably one of the first to harness this energy in any real scale and used windmills to pump to control water levels and remove water from the inside of there levee banks or dikes.

Learn how to make your own Wind Power

The generation of power by the wind is becoming very popular. There are several large scale facilities around the world Known as Wind Farms. These wind farms have a series of very large wind generators constructed up to several megawatts each which harness the Renewable Energy from the wind, with all of them feeding into the main power grid. Major electrical service providers construct these wind farms in location were there is very good supply of strong and constant wind.

In fact there is one such installation not far from where I live in Far North Queensland at a place called Ravenshoe, which is up on the Atherton Tablelands. This installation was built and commissioned in 2000 by the Stanwell Corporation and is proudly known as the Windy Hill Wind Farm and has an output capacity of 12 Megawatts generated from its 20 wind turbines. This wind farm has been so successful in harnessing the renewable energy in this area the Stanwell Corporation is conducting a feasibility study into installing a stage 2 with the same output capacity of 12 megawatts. Other than the Wind Hill Wind Farm Australia have 32 other wind farms in operation around the country and are looking at new locations all the time. At the end of 2009 wind generation had the capacity to generate 1877 Megawatts, which equates to 1.3% of Australia’s national demand, very impressive I think.

I too have taken advantage of this endless source of energy and installed a Stand Alone Hybrid System, which combines both wind and solar energy. This system generates enough power to run my entire household. I have a 1 Kilowatt wind generator and 15 175w mono-crystalline solar panel and the whole system is rated to 6 Kilowatts. It is fantastic no more power bills, the main reason why I did this was it was to far away to connect mains power and with the generous government subsidies it was a much better option.

The good thing about using wind generators is that they work as long as the wind is blowing even at night when there is no sun as long as wind is strong enough the wind generator will do its job and supply a Renewable Energy source to your battery bank or the grid if you have a grid connection system.

Even though the efficiency on wind generators are reasonably low used in conjunction with other forms of Renewable Energy and the fact that they use no fuels at all and have a very minimal impact on the environment they are only going to grow in numbers and with advancements in Technology they are bound to become more efficient.

Solar Power for Home Australia

The cost of electricity is one of the biggest challenges facing the inhabitants, and as most people know from experience, the prices are a growing part of the problem. The electricity is cut off when we don’t pay the bill. Have you ever ranted and raved for it? Adversity leads to prosperity. All that can change soon. New thing is making it easy for you to save money and protect environment. This new thing is solar panel, which convert sunlight into electricity with virtually no pollution. Solar power is becoming more affordable.

Build Your Own Solar Power and save. Click here

The problem is the technology is still fairly expensive and no one wants to be the first to try it out. You will pay $2000 if you ask for professional advice to install solar panels. We can use solar energy in a more cost-effective way. If you use Power for Home, you can save a large sum of money. There are many people install solar panels by themselves. For some families, this kind of situation is already a reality.

The Power for Home will provide a video and a detailed account for you. You can learn how to fix the solar panel from the video. When you watch the video, you will find that the instructions are easy to follow. You can rest easy now—the instructions are really easy as pie. If you fix it by yourself instead of asking for professional advice, you can save $1800.

An electricity-generation project will not only make a profit but has two bonuses: pollution reduction and money for people. First, using traditional energy makes air, water, soil etc dangerously dirty and not suitable for people to use. Solar energy is a power with a difference. The main aim of using solar energy is designed to safeguard the environment. Second, using solar energy will help alleviate peak-period power shortages and you would not be anxious about the electricity bill anymore.

Australia Solar Panel Government Rebates

After getting a multitude of questions, concerning the Australia solar panel government rebates, we discovered the following information on the subject. The following information is a brief synopsis of the details of the plan. The precise details can be read on our resources page. As you continue, you will discover some alternatives, which may be beneficial to those of you who are curious.

Australia Solar Panel Government Rebates are administered, through the Solar Homes and Communities Plan, for the installation of solar energy systems on homes and community use structures. Schools are no longer eligible for rebates under this program.

The Solar Homes and Communities Plan ensures that rebates get to the households that would benefit most through the introduction of specific requirements, with households with an annual gross income of less than $100,000 being eligible for the plan.

Get your guide here

Listed here are the initial eligibility requirements for the Australia Solar Panel Government Rebates:

* These government subsidies are available for the purchase and installation of major equipment items. Equipment must be new not second-hand.
* Rebates are for residential solar power systems that are attached to a main-grid or are in close proximity to a main-grid.
* Systems which are eligible for a rebate under the Renewable Remote Power Generation Program is ineligible for the Solar Homes and Communities Plan; applicants should consider which rebate to apply for with an accredited designer and installer.
* The individual who carries out the construction must be accredited for design and installation of solar power systems.
* Applicant’s household taxable income must be lower than $100,000.

You can immediately see, the requirements are extremely stringent and the monies provided are really minimal. Fortunately, knowing a little about the Aussie do it yourself mentality, there are very good alternatives.

We recommend that you check out the reviews that we have added to our site. The reviews highlight the 3 absolute best diy manuals to home made solar power available today. The manuals have all the information, you should have to be able, to adequately size your system, as well as for the different types of installations, that will depend upon your individual situation. At the very least, you will learn of a quality alternative to the costly ‘contractor built’ systems.

Plus, the cost of these instruction guides are minimal and each are guaranteed for those that are not willing to proceed on their own.

You can join all the people who are building a brighter tomorrow for the children and the entire planet!

Build Solar Power the Cheaper Way

Interested to know on how to build solar power for your house for less than $400? if yes then please read on.

Honestly the only way to achieve this is to build solar power by your own. Don’t worry this is not rocket science and you don’t need an official license or college degree to do this. A basic understanding of electricity would help but it’s not necessary if you have a Good Manual.

Take me for an example, I’m an ordinary accountant from Sydney Australia and know nothing about solar power nor electricity and I managed to build solar power for my home for around $550. Some people claimed that they successfully build their own system for less than $300. I spent a bit more money because I installed more solar panels on my roof and batteries, hence producing a lot more power than what we require. If you have generated more power than you use, you can simply sell it to your power company (please check with your electricity company if you’re not in Australia)

Having a good guide or manual to build solar power is the most crucial part in the process. I reviewed two other manuals before this and I can tell you that it makes a lot of difference. I highly recommend this manual because it is simple, easy to understand and most importantly is the step by step illustrations at every stage of the book and they also offer a money back guarantee. Another thing that I like with this guide is that they also tell you where to obtain all the required parts and tools. This material is worth every cents of the money spent.

There are 3 parts of the Kit Guide:

1. Solar Power Electricity Introduction
2. Building Solar Electric Panels Instruction
3. Extra Resources in Solar Help Package

Paying electricity bill is now a history for me, and what makes it more worthwhile is that I now receive a passive income for the excess power that I don’t use. The end result is a quality powerhouse, which will generate solar power without the harm to the environment. Gotta love that!

Here I list all the advantages to build solar power by yourself:

1. Cheaper without compromising quality
2. Being Green, you are helping the earth by reducing carbon footprints
3. Goodbye to electricity bill
4. Investment/ Income
5. Increase your home value by $5,000-$10,000
6. Very little maintenance

Article: Build Solar Power the Cheaper Way

Solar Panel for Homes