Renewable Energy Project: Solar Panels
Moss Vale Community Garden (NSW) is a place where the community can gather to grow and share healthy food whilst developing supportive friendships. The community garden aims include being a demonstration site for sustainable technologies relating to building materials, energy & water capture and use as well as diverse, permaculture & organic food production strategies.
Website: https://www.facebook.com/MossValeCommunityGarden
Project story…
This was CORENA’s first off-grid solar installation. The community garden had no electricity on site, so this installation enabled them to expand their activities and to function as a demonstration site for cost-effective off-grid power using gel batteries.
Regional partner CANWin instigated and assisted with this project.
Manuel Cilia of Cilectric carefully designed an off-grid system to suit the needs of the community garden and donated his time to install it.
Huge thank you to Embark for matching contributions from new donors (from Oct 15).
This project has been fully funded – Thank you!
Status: Funded project – loan repayment in progress
Loan amount: $6,000
Loan repayments: $300/quarter
Work details
– 12 x Suntech STP250/20/WD-SPC 250w polypanel panels (3kw)
– Clenergy Solar railing and earthing system to suit
– Solar conduit and dc cabling
– 1 x SMA 3000TL-21
– 1 x SMA sunny island 4.4kw inverter/charger
– 8 x hoppecke 6v 250amp/h gel batteries
– Cabinets to house batteries
Cost: $8,498.20 ($6,000 loan from CORENA, with the remainder paid by the community garden)
Expected savings: 4,380kWh/yr. Since there was no power at the site previously and therefore no savings on electricity bills, loan repayments were set to enable the 5-year payback time that is typical of other projects.
Honour roll
Thank you to the following people for donating to this project.
| 15/2/2022 | Anon | $15000 |
| 23/6/2024 | Gozdzick Silberbach Fund | $10000 |
| 25/6/2024 | Ian Marett | $112.65 |
| 25/6/2024 | Adrian Pyle | $350.59 |
| 26/6/2024 | Anon | $4914.69 |
| 26/6/2024 | Lydia B | $5000 |
| 26/6/2024 | David Hamilton | $500 |
| 27/6/2024 | tim price | $1000 |
| 27/6/2024 | Michael Benson | $10 |
| 27/6/2024 | Tassia, Rick, Karu, Xanda | $20 |
| 27/6/2024 | Anon | $110.48 |
| 28/6/2024 | Pete61 | $5 |
| 28/6/2024 | Shannon McAllister | $490.8 |
| 28/6/2024 | In memory of Iain Walker | $303.44 |