Bills a BREAZE for groups on solar

FIVE additional community groups are being powered by solar, following panel and battery installations funded by the State’s Solar on Public Buildings Program.

The Ballarat Table Tennis Association has received a 24-kilowatt solar system worth approximately $22,000, with the aim of saving the group thousands of dollars a year on energy bills.

Ballarat Regional Industries’ Neerim Crescent office has a 42-kilowatt system, Ballarat Squash and Racquetball Club’s Dowling Street stadium has a 33-kilowatt system, Child and Family Services has received a 22-kilowatt system, and the Ballarat General Cemetery now as a 27.6-kilowatt hour battery powered by a 99-kilowatt solar system.

Ballarat Renewable Energy and Zero Emissions board member Peter Reid has coordinated the project, and visited the Ballarat Table Tennis Association earlier in the week.

“To play table tennis properly, you’ve got to have good light, so this is ideal, benefiting school and seniors’ groups, and tournaments,” he said.

“We don’t oversize the systems, so they still generate power during winter, and they don’t generate too much excess power during summer.”

Stadium manager Adam Pegg said the committee has had a goal to solar-power their 27 courts for years.

“We jumped on board the funding opportunity because the savings for an organisation like us are going to be amazing,” he said.

“We can invest back into the stadium, culture, and provide a better service for our members.”

Throughout the Grampians region, $1.1 million-worth of solar and battery technology has been allocated to community groups identified by BREAZE.

Solar installations have begun at Uniting Care properties and at the Charles Anderson Grove Retirement Village. McCallum Disability Services’ systems were completed in November.

Member for Wendouree Juliana Addison said the technology will “reduce the overheads” of community sporting venues and not-for-profits.

“That means that the thousands of dollars that Ballarat Table Tennis Association saves, for example, goes back into their clubs and investing into infrastructure to make the sport even more appealing than it is today,” she said.

“This is a really intelligent investment, reducing our reliance on fossil fuels, using the environment, and getting our organisations into a stronger financial position.”