Off-grid trial gives WA farming community cheaper, more reliable power

Going off-grid could be the way forward for communities on the fringes of WA's power network after a trial of solar units exceeded the expectations of those involved.

Ros and Bernie Giles are trialling a
standalone power system on their property.

Fed up with frequent outages and voltage spikes, six farming households in Ravensthorpe, 500 kilometres south of Perth, chose to take a leap of faith and try living off the sun and lithium batteries.

"It has been just fantastic, it's far exceeded our expectations, and it's very good, clean power," Ravensthorpe resident Ros Giles said.

WA's energy utility Western Power offered the systems for free in the search for alternatives to the massive cost of replacing ageing poles and wires.

Read the ABC News story - “Off-grid trial gives WA farming community cheaper, more reliable power.”