The Sol-ution for environmental and economic woes?

After a summer of devastating bushfires, ensuring economic recovery and reducing environmental impact are both topics of conversation across the shire. Eurobodalla Council’s sustainability coordinator Mark Shorter says setting a solar power target can answer both.

“We estimate more than $80million is spent on electricity in Eurobodalla each, and much of that money leaves the shire,” Mr Shorter said.

“Investing in rooftop solar is an investment in our local economy because the money each household or business saves is money that can stay in the shire and by using local contractors our economy gets another boost.”

Currently, about 20,000kW of solar has been installed in Eurobodalla.

“That’s over 30,000 panels spread across about 5000 facilities,” Mr Shorter said.

“That’s a conservative estimate of about $6million in electricity savings each year.”

Mr Shorter said it had taken 10 years from the installation of Eurobodalla’s first grid-connected solar to see 10,000kW installed.

“It took only two years for the second 10,000kW to come online. Wouldn’t it be great to see the third 10,000kW installed within a single year,” he said.

“This means we’d have 30MW of solar power generating clean energy. That’s a worthy aspiration and means a total of $9million each year that could be spent locally. Households and businesses who install solar can make a significant contribution to this goal.

“To cap the rise in global warming and contribute to the reduction in global emissions consider installing solar.”

The Australian Government’s Clean Energy Regulator publishes a monthly update on the solar power installations in every postcode. In 2020, Council’s sustainability team will track Eurobodalla’s new solar installations and how the shire tracks towards the 30,000kW goal by year’s end.

To see how your postcode stacks up in the solar-power stakes, visit the Australian PV Institute website