Trentham Golf Club has received grants totaling $20,429 for the installation at the clubhouse of two Tesla Powerwall batteries with a total storage capacity of 28kWh.
The purpose of the batteries is to further reduce the club’s carbon footprint, and complement the 12kW solar system by offsetting night time grid usage of electricity by the clubhouse refrigeration and the irrigation bore. Our fleet of six lithium-ion electric hire golf carts will be fully “solar powered”.
At present the club’s solar system output is below its potential as it is constrained to only produce what the clubhouse uses plus a 5kW feed in. The batteries will store power in precedence to grid feed-in and enable it to be used at night, maximising the solar output. Night time grid power usage is also charged at a higher rate than current feed-in tariffs, giving excellent cost offsets.
Sustainability Victoria is generously providing a 50% grant of $15,429 under their Community Climate Change and Energy Action Program. Hepburn Wind is providing a community grant of $3000 and the Hepburn Solar Bulk Buy program $2000. The club is contributing $10,429. The grants mean the club will achieve an excellent pay-back period.
Thanks to Colin Wilson and Taryn Lane of Hepburn Wind for their work on the successful grant application. The contractor will be Cola Solar of Bendigo, who will be doing initial site inspections shortly.
In the future the club will look at further expanding the solar system, with the aim of installing one or two electric car charging points as the demand for electric vehicles increases. Electric lithium-ion golf course mowers are already available and a future possibility.
