A Melbourne couple who last year installed battery storage at their home in the Dandenongs to maximise solar self-consumption was kept in power last week when savage winds swept the eastern part of the state, causing outages to tens of thousands of homes.
According to Selectronic, who made and supplied the Selby system’s SP PRO battery inverter, the system can power their home from the energy stored in the battery bank when the electricity grid goes down – a capability that not all battery systems have.
The couple, which has a 12 week-old baby, not only experienced this benefit of solar and storage first hand last week, but shared it with others in need.
Via a commnunity Facebook page, the mother, Iresha Klinbail offered the services of her still-running fridge and freezer to safely store the frozen breast milk of any other young mums in the Dandenongs region who were without power.
“We figured we had the ability to help so it didn’t make sense to not offer. We’ve got a 12 week old and I’d be devastated if I lost expressed milk.”At least one local mum took up her offer and Iresha was able to pick up the milk and store it for her.
Rod Scott, the CEO of Selectronic who lives nearby in Victoria, said the company was “thrilled” its SP PRO helped keep Iresha’s power running.
“Luckily we didn’t lose power at my home in Ferntree Gully this time, but there have been many occasions over the years when we’ve been the only home with lights on in our street,” he said.
“It’s also great to see local families supporting local manufacturers. There are hundreds of SP PROs installed throughout Melbourne and we know that at least they weren’t amongst the 22,000 without power over the past couple of days.”
© 2016 Solar Choice Pty Ltd
