Solar puts Villawood residents in charge

VILLAWOOD Properties are set to create a solar-powered microgrid community in Melbourne’s north, that could see resident’s cut their power bills by up to 50%.

The Solstice Precinct in Villawood’s Rathdowne Community at Wollert, which will be delivered in partnership with EnergyAustralia and TownLiving by Metricon, will be comprised of 36 townhomes that will share solar power, generated from their rooftops.

“Our latest Solstice Precinct microgrid project at Wollert embodies these values as well as delivering real energy savings to families, easing their financial burden whilst contributing positively to the health of the planet,” said Rory Costelloe, executive director at Villawood.

The development has been endorsed by the state government’s department of environment, land, water and planning.

“The microgrid combining individual solar PV systems and a centralised battery together with smart home capabilities is a game-changer that will help residents use energy much more efficiently and lower their bills by up to 50 percent,” said Costelloe.

32 of the townhouses will include 4kW solar systems, four with 3kW solar systems and a 70kW solar system at the residents’ club, Club Rathdowne. All of these will also be  supported by the 100kW/270kWh battery system.

As well as its own solar panel system, each house will include a smart home solution to enable awareness and control of energy consumption and power generation.

“The technology helps residents become self-sufficient, gives them control over their energy use, reduces their bills as well as their carbon emissions. We believe what we’re doing in Wollert is the start of more community energy solutions being rolled out across Australia,” said Mark Brownfield, chief customer officer at Energy Australia.

Power that is not consumed by an individual household will be stored the centralised battery and controlled by an intelligent microgrid platform that manages the energy across the Solstice Precinct and from the national grid.

Energy generated in the microgrid that is not consumed by the precinct will go back into the national grid.

“As Australia’s leading home builder, we are very proud to be working with Villawood Properties and Energy Australia to bring a new generation, solar-powered, lower-cost, sustainable energy-based future of housing, to the market,” said Steven Jennings, Victorian general manager of TownLiving by Metricon.

Local Planning Energy Holdings’ recently launched the  first installations of its Shared Solar infrastructure,  which manages solar energy generation from a single large scale rooftop system, in a shift towards solar energy access for strata communities.