Australian billionaire funds off-grid solar/battery systems to bushfire affected areas still without power

Source: RenewEconomy

Australian billionaire, Mike Cannon-Brookes, has teamed up with Tesla and 5B, an Australian solar company, to donate stand-alone solar and battery systems that can provide power to remote communities affected by bushfires and storms. Some remote communities are still without power such as Cobargo in NSW and Goongerah, East Gippsland, Victoria. These two communities have already received a solar battery system each from Cannon-Brookes’ Resilient Energy Collective.

At Cobargo the solar and Tesla battery system provides power to the all-important communications systems of a police radio tower and a RFS (Rural Fire Service), National Parks and Eurobodalla Shire radio tower. The other system installed powers the Goongerah Community Hall, which provides relief services, a local internet connection, refrigeration and community meetings.

The stand-alone systems are easy to transport and quick to install. This includes the 5B solar panels that are readily and rapidly deployable - see image. The systems have a daily capacity ranging from 8kWh to 400kWh and can allow infrastructure, homes and businesses to operate off-grid, 24 hours a day. Cannon Brookes says the Collective has the capacity to roll out systems at another 100 sites “in the next 100 days if required”.

Such systems could provide resilience and independent renewable power for any remote community and reduce the need for the repeated trucking-in of diesel for generators.

Read more: Cannon-Brookes teams with Tesla, 5B to fund solar and batteries for fire victims. RenewEconomy, February 19, 2020.