Category: Energy

Is the coast clear? Ebiking from Otaki to Paraparaumu Beach for work

As part of my preparation for travelling to work each day, I hired a mountain bike to test out the voyage from Paraparaumu (where my new office is) to Otaki and back again. This was stage one in committing to an ebike to travel into work – I needed to check that the coast was clear and that there were no major obstacles on the route. I also wanted to get a sense of what it would be like to go there and back if my bike battery ran out, so I would know how it would be under the worst circumstances. And this is what I learnt…

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What’s the ROI for an ebike?

I got in the habit of riding my bike to work every day while visiting my mum up in the Coromandel and I’m finding it a rather hard habit to shake. The problem is, now my work is 25 km away instead of 5 km away. Could an ebike help with this situation?

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Excuse me, but why does anybody need solar power batteries?

Today I intend to lay out a system that works well in harnessing the power of the sun, without the need for any costly solar power batteries.
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Geographical features that make Otaki Motel a good location for solar panels

Our solar power installation is now set up and in recent articles I’ve addressed how our solar installation is currently generating more than 50% more power than was initially forecasted based on NIWA data. The savings we’ve achieved have also been on the high side, cutting our bill down by around $93 during our first month and by around $150 during our second month. In fact, our monthly daytime consumption for last month, at 170 kWh, was the lowest number we have ever consumed during any month in recent memory.

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Solar Panels on an Overcast Day vs Solar Panels on a Sunny Day

It’s a miserable, shitty, overcast day here in Otaki, and what better way to use it than to generate some fodder for my blog. And I had hoped to put my washing out today – oh well. At least one silver lining in this is I get to get some forward intel to help me plan ahead for the winter months, to see how our energy use will be affected.

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My brother, the secret electricity hog

One of the unexpected side advantages of solar power is it gives you the opportunity to keep a careful watch on your whole family’s energy consumption. At least insofar as it makes their energy consumption habits a bit more conspicuous.

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Ammeters: The First Step In Going Solar

For guys my age, solar power systems are the equivalent of a model train set. We know we’re too old for this shit, but we can kind of get away with it, because it helps the household save money and it’s also in the interests of the environment. Here’s why ammeters are a critical piece of the puzzle.

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So Far, So Good – One Month In and Solar Is Outperforming Expectations

It’s a bit early to do a case study on solar power for the Otaki Motel, because quite frankly, we haven’t received enough data yet to assess how much of an impact our 1.5 kWh solar power system has had on out energy use across all weather patterns and seasons. What we have had is our first electricity bill come in.

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Why Solar Power and Slow Cookers Go So Well Together

The motel solar power system has now been successfully installed. I’m able to log in to my inverter system (through Enphase Enlighten) and get a near-real-time reading of the energy consumption versus production through the solar panels. This reading quickly threw up an unintended side effect, which is that the motel solar system is producing way more power at present than the original estimate.

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Solar Power Economics: Calculating the Value of a 1.5 kWh Solar Power System After 10 Years Have Passed (Using the Discounted Cash Flow Method!)

In last week’s article I made the on-the-surface ludicrous claim that the value of a solar power system at the end of ten years may be greater than the value of that same system at the date of purchase and installation, even when accounting for the loss in energy efficiency of said solar system over 10 years. Today I will explain how I reached that conclusion.

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