Michael goes off grid for power: part 1

The sun has powered electricity in my three bedroom inner Sydney house since March 2105.

It’s been six months since the wires from the poles carrying mains electricity in the street outside my house were disconnected.

Now, with useful data on costs and energy use, it’s possible to pass on the lessons I’ve learnt.  You can use the data to go off grid yourself and avoid my mistakes.  The data enables you to compare my experience with yours, and to compare the fifteen or so other off-grid battery and inverter products on the Australian market, with more coming.

Cooling a city block project: the new ice block

It has been a pleasure working with Street Coolers, and I’m proud of everything we’ve accomplished, the positive changes we’ve made in Newtown, and all the friendships we’ve developed along the way.

There’s still a lot going on, and we’ve begun stage two of the project. If you’re interested in what we’re doing, visit our Facebook page for the latest news and contact me at mariannaverlage@gmail.com or 0406-270-138 to get involved!

Here are a few highlights from our first six months of cooling a Newtown block!

ecoPOPPING cools our cities

Since I arrived in Sydney and began working with Michael Mobbs, counteracting Sydney’s heat and implementing projects to cool the city has been one of my main goals. Now, Michael and I are selling an amazingly unique, self-sustaining garden called an ecoPOP that’s designed to cool public areas and provide an interactive, educational green space that builds community.

Buying group solar

We started out with the goal to obtain a discount on solar systems by buying in bulk. Our aim was to have 30 households sign up with the one supplier to achieve a negotiated 15-20% discount on all components and installation of a solar system. The project began with a meeting at Michaels house that involved a presentation, much discussion, and a few bottles of wine.