I have sent the following email to all Hepburn Councillors. When I get a response from any of them, I will let you know…
“Councillors,

I understand that there is a proposal before council to approve a grant to install solar panels on the Yandoit Hall. Please take the time to read and carefully consider my submission on this matter.

I oppose the expenditure of ratepayers’ money on a solar installation for the Yandoit Hall as detailed below:

Installing solar panels on the hall would be a waste of money: the reason being that the return on investment would be nil as detailed in the calculations below. The hall has very little use during the day – nearly every day it is locked, barred and bolted with the electricity turned off. I would be surprised if daytime usage of the hall exceeds 10 days per year. Apart from the occasional funeral or family reunion, the hall is mostly used in the late afternoon or evenings, for meetings, school concerts, dances, etc.

The feed-in tariff for solar is currently 6.2c/kWh and will fall to 5c/kWh from 1st January 2016. Because the hall is so little used during the day, nearly all the generated electricity would be sold back to the grid at this price.

Solar installers are currently advising householders to scale their solar installation to maximise their own use of self-generated electricity, and minimise export to the grid. The basic message is, if you use most of your electricity when the sun is shining (that is, you are at home during the day), you are a winner, otherwise, you are just subsidising the electricity generators who buy your electricity for 5c/kWh and retail it for 30c/kWh.

Installing panels on Council offices and other assets that are in constant daytime use makes a lot more sense. The electricity cost savings from this strategy could then be calculated and returned to the Hall. What we need is a protocol that would enable this. Such a protocol could be as simple as a calculation that estimates the savings achieved by the solar installation on the office, and allocates a substantial proportion of those savings as an annual grant to the Yandoit Hall Committee.

Here are some sample figures, based on a 5kW system.

Figures are approximate, but based on recent quotes.

Capital cost of 5kW solar system: $7,500

Annualised cost of 5kW solar system:

The solar inverter has an expected life of 10 years and costs about $2000 for a good one. So the annualised cost is $200.
Solar panels have an expected life of 25 years and cost about $250 each. 20 are required for a 5kW system, cost $5000. Annualised cost is $200.

Total annualised cost is therefore $400.

Electricity generation estimate for a 5kW system in postcode 3461.
(source, LG energy solar output calculator https://www.lgenergy.com.au/calculator/suburb/bullarto-vic/3461, see attachment).

6840 kWh per year

Value of electricity produced
If installed on Hall: value as feed in tariff only (5c/kWh)

6840 x .05 = $342

If installed on an office in constant daily use: value as daytime usage tariff (30c/kWh)

6840 x .30 = $2052

Annualised cost/benefit analysis (annual revenue less annualised capital cost):

Hall installation

$342 – $400  =  -$68

Office installation

$2052 – $400 = $1652

From these calculations it is clear that installation of a solar system on the hall will result in no net benefit, apart from the ‘feel-good’ notion of going solar.  In fact installation on the hall results in a small net cost. By contrast, installation of the same system on an office results in a net benefit to the community of $1652.

Admittedly, these figures are approximate, but they are pretty good. Even allowing for a small amount of daytime hall use, and a small amount of under-use of office power over weekends (though offices still consume at weekends, with servers running, fridges, security, etc.), the difference between the two installations is profound.

So, councillors, what about installing ‘the Hall’s’ 5kW system on an office, giving the Hall Committee an annual grant of $1200, and pocketing the rest as general revenue?

An understanding of the renewable energy market requires a knowledge of arithmetic. Installing panels on the hall sounds like a noble ideal, but as can be seen from these figures, it just does not stack up. Council grants are ratepayers’ money, my money, and I expect councillors to consider well and allocate wisely.

I am all for renewable energy, but feed-in tariffs are a political decision over which we have no control at community level.

There is one more possibility, and that is to integrate the Hall’s electricity with that of the school, (which already has solar). However I suspect that this would be difficult politically because it would require the approval of the Education Department.
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