Here at Homespun Field HQ we are trying to do our little bit to help stop climate change and the biggest thing we have done so far is install solar panels. We went for a system that we calculated would cover our average daily use, I was quite insistent that if we were going to outlay an awfully large amount of money then I didn't want to install a system that would only cover part of our usage and therefore still get power bills. At the same time we started looking at ways to reduce our usage because obviously the weather isn't the same every day and we wanted to make sure we made enough to cover our usage even on those cold, wet, winter days when we were producing very little.
We were more successful than we expected and as a result we use far less power than we produce! This was further helped by our later decision to then install solar hot water too (they are the smaller panels on the right).
Just a little over a year later we are so incredibly glad we started down this path, and a little bit proud each time we look up at the panels. We may not have the smallest carbon footprint around (and probably never will have, look at the roof tiles, they're black!!!), but we are doing a bit to help. Our bills have reduced by a heap and the NSW solar bonus scheme means we even get a bit back each quarter, which goes to paying back the large outlay we had to make to get the solar panels installed.
So if you have not installed solar panels, or are thinking about doing so, we highly recommend it!
