No sign of fires for the Yack CFA volunteers, but they were greeted with the final piece of their energy system: a 13 kWh LG Chem Resu battery…. Hoorah!
An upgrade of the Yackandandah CFA station has been ongoing for a while; the changes started with the installation of an energy efficient split system air-conditioner and LED lighting. In 2018 the inefficient electric hot water system (HWS) was replaced with a reliable bottled gas instantaneous unit to provide for the infrequent use of hot water. And now they have 18 x 335 W LG solar panels and a 13 kWh battery. The battery inverter effectively allows operations as a standalone facility, though as it is a three-phase system, the site will still draw from the grid on the other two circuits during normal operations.
The additions reduce running costs, make the CFA more resilient in times of emergency and capable of off-grid functionality – a definite plus during a bushfire.
