Blog: Member profile, Kim McConchie

Kim McConchie is the TRY secretary, has a degree in Applied Science in chemistry, and used to drive one of the very first electric vehicles in the 1980’s (his employer, Dunlop Batteries, was developing storage batteries for different purposes). With a long career in different industries, he understands the science behind climate change and renewable energy. He’s now retired and lives on 16 acres outside Yack with his wife, two dogs and 7 kW of solar panels that provide most of their needs. Here he gives an insight into his motivations for joining TRY.

Kim McConchie leaning on a gate at his property outside Yackandandah
Kim McConchie at his property outside Yackandandah. Photo: Juliette Milbank

Try. It’s a little word that has big connotations. Try to get motivated to get out of bed in the morning. Try to have a sustaining breakfast for the energy to face another day. Try to face the world without becoming dispirited by the negativity, the confusion, and the absolute rigidity of political thought that our leaders seem to be locked into. Try to face up to a struggle against it all that can be daunting, enraging and frustrating, when it seems that you have no voice. Try to do all this, and that little word can seem an obstacle in itself.

TRY. It’s a little acronym which also has big connotations. It’s an acronym I came across as we prepared to move to Yackandandah late in 2016. Reading up on the town, its community, and the achievements that had been made, raised the feeling of positivity, something that even the thought of packing up and shifting 25 years of stuff and memories couldn’t diminish. And one little line that hooked my interest was the goal to become a 100% renewable energy community. In Melbourne, my wife Chantelle and I had been members of Solar Citizens, joined in events, held banners outside politicians’ offices, and while we did try to be positive, there was a feeling of pushing against a great wall of indifference when it came to achieving tangible outcomes. So the hook was readily taken.

The move was made, the boxes (mostly) unpacked, the neighbours made us feel very welcome. Of course, the discussions quickly turned to why we moved to Yack? We talked about the many positives of the people, the place and the property we had fallen in love with, and I mentioned the push for renewable energy as a factor that had absolutely resonated with me… and with that, our neighbour Neil Padbury said there’s a TRY meeting on next month, I’ll take you to it and you can meet the committee. Which he did, and next month I went again, and haven’t stopped.

It was actually quite daunting looking at the progress that had been made, and the plans to meet the 2022 goal of 100%. And daunting becoming a part of a wholly committed, quite visionary group of volunteers working to meet a renewable ideal to benefit the Yack community in the first instance, but also to ultimately provide inspiration to other communities to be able to set and achieve such lofty goals.

TRY. Try. Two faces of the same coin. Three years on and the TRY progress has been remarkable. The vision is clear and the path to meet the goal well defined. Try and you can succeed is the great story that comes out of this journey, being a part of it has become one of the many positives and a source of motivation that the move to Yack provided. And we always welcome others who also want to try – maybe that’s you?
                                                                                                                                            ––– Kim McConchie

A farm gate with the property name and a yellow yak on it
The TRY golden yak welcomes visitors. Photo: J Milbank
7 kW of solar panels on Kim's shed roof
Kim’s shed hosts 7 kW of solar panels. Photo: J Milbank

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3 thoughts on “Blog: Member profile, Kim McConchie

  1. Hi Kim
    We’ve set a similar goal over here in Castlemaine (see Here) https://staging9.mtalexnetzeroworkinggroup.org/
    Are any of your group using substation data to monitor the uptake of solar in your town?

    If so i’d like to swap notes. We’re getting good data from Powercor but i want to format it for maximum impact and inspiration.

    Warm regards

    Terry

    1. Hi Terry, No that’s not something that we’ve done, although we did get some historic interval data to analyse energy usage. We’ve consulted the UNSW to get estimates of solar uptake in our area. Kind Regards, Juliette

  2. Hi Kim
    We’ve set a similar goal over here in Castlemaine (see Here) https://staging9.mtalexnetzeroworkinggroup.org/
    Are any of your group using substation data to monitor the uptake of solar in your town?

    If so i’d like to swap notes. We’re getting good data from Powercor but i want to format it for maximum impact and inspiration.

    Warm regards

    Terry

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