It’s the little black box that sits on her kitchen counter, and it’s saving Linda hundreds of dollars on her electricity bill each year.

A resident of AnglicareSA Retirement Living at Westbourne Park, Linda is part of the award-winning Solar Program created in partnership with Believe Housing Australia, 369 Labs, and Beat Energy.

Using the 369 Labs device known as Pulse in each home, tenants can see when cheap, 100 per cent green energy is available for them to use, enabling them to shift their energy usage to maximise environmental and financial benefit.

 

“Yesterday there was quite a lot of solar power being generated, and the Pulse was
flashing green, so that was the time to do things like your washing,” Linda said.

“Over the weekend when it was dull, you don’t get the solar power as much.

“I have been living in this home since it was built – it is well insulated and easy to maintain temperatures – and by using the Pulse, so far this year I have saved $274 on my energy costs.”

Linda’s savings are being replicated across the Solar Program, with tenants on average saving 15 to 25 per cent on their energy bills, which equates to $250 to $300 each year.

AnglicareSA Senior Manager, Commercial, John Dagas, said it had been forecast that AnglicareSA’s 190 solar systems would generate approximately 1.3 million kWh of solar power each year.

 

“On average, this is sufficient to power approximately 520 homes, however at present a significant proportion of the power generated is being fed back into the grid,” John said.

Solar Program partner 369 Labs is a leader in the industry for the development and application of a Virtual Power Plant.

The Virtual Power Plant enables excess power generated from the solar panels to be made available to AnglicareSA and Believe Housing customers who do not have suitable roof space for a solar system, enabling them to share in renewable power at significantly reduced rates.

Currently, there are 100 households signed up as part of the Community Solar Program.

“The plan is to continue to sign up new AnglicareSA and Believe Housing tenants, so that more South Australians can share in cheaper power, which will assist in them meeting their ever-increasing living costs,” John said.

“We are also continuing to add more solar systems to the program, with the aim being to generate sufficient power for all AnglicareSA and Believe Housing’s 2,200 properties that we own and or manage.”

A St Peter’s Cathedral fundraiser in June, through which AnglicareSA matched donations dollar-for-dollar, raised $47,500, which will result in another four households having solar panels installed, while a further 17 Community Solar participants will be funded.