Batteries and Solar Bring Resilience During Storms

Sharee McCammon

Did you have power to your house, business and school on Monday?

If you did, you are one of the lucky ones.

Like too many Tasmanian communities last weekend (01.092024), my rural area lost power twice, as extreme wind and rain brought down trees and power lines. Food in fridges was ruined, our phones ran flat and our vulnerability became clear. Those who need machines to breathe while they sleep, or kidney dialysis were especially at risk.

The hardworking Tasmanians at TasNetworks who gave their all to repair hundreds of lines to 37,000 homes were overwhelmed. It was an impossible situation, but one that could have been eased with community batteries and solar panels.

Australia’s climate and weather experts at the CSIRO have shown that extreme storms have increased by up to 10 per cent since 2000. As we get “more extreme weather, more often” we should prepare for more power interruptions and the havoc they create in our lives. To be more resilient, my community needs more rooftop solar and community batteries and maybe yours does too.

At my place we are lucky to have a battery and solar set-up. As our community pulled together to clear fallen trees, we were able to offer our neighbours the option to keep phones charged and keep their loved ones in the loop. It was great for neighbours to assist one another, and it got me wondering whether community batteries could have kept the lights on across the state.

A community battery is bigger than a normal home battery system. It could be big enough to power the townhall and an emergency shelter, or big enough to energise part of the local grid when a tree falls across the power lines.

When not being used as emergency backups, batteries soak up cheap solar during the day and put it back into the grid at night.

Local electricity generation and storage means that the lights can stay on in storms, floods and bushfires. Rooftop solar on homes, businesses and government buildings can keep generating electricity, even when power lines are down. This will make our communities more resilient.

Local electricity storage in community and home batteries keeps that electricity where people need it. Not all our electricity needs to travel halfway across the state, some of it can be made where it is used - on the roof above the powerpoint.

Tasmania has a huge opportunity to expand rooftop solar for more than community resilience. Solar power is the cheapest form of electricity in the state. A recent report by Carbon Zero Initiative found that rooftop solar reduces household electricity bills by at least 50%, potentially saving Tasmanians $250 million annually.

New, more efficient solar panels are well suited to Tasmania, but we have the lowest rate of rooftop solar in the country, with only one in five homes taking advantage of this cheap electricity source.

As a cost of living relief measure, rooftop solar is hard to beat - especially for low income households. A recent report by Deloitte and The Australian Council of Social Services has found that combined with home efficiency upgrades, rooftop solar on low income homes can save hundreds on energy bills alone.

Decentralised electricity generation makes sense. It will keep our communities safer when unnatural disasters like the recent storms strike. It can also save Tasmanians money, something that is desperately needed in the current cost of living crisis.

Let’s see more government incentives to improve the affordability of rooftop solar for low income households, and funding to keep the lights on with community batteries. This will help Tasmanian communities be stronger and more resilient.

Sharee McCammon lives in the Huon Valley and is a Molecular Analyst, University of Tasmania School of Science and Engineering.