News & Events
News & Events
OPENING DAY A CELEBRATION!
Melina Morrison, Andrew Bray and David Mehan cutting the ribbon at the opening of the solar farm. (image: N. Fraser).
March 2026
What a great day to celebrate the opening of the solar farm. Guest speakers included Melina Morrison, VEO of the Business Council of Cooperatives and Mutuals, David Mehan MP, NSW Parliamentary Secretary to the Treasurer, Chair Andrew Bray, and Andrew Percival, Director of Trina Storage Australia (the supplier of the panels and battery).
And the gods were looking on us with favour – it was a sunny day but an hour after the celebration was over it bucketed down with hail thunder and lightning!
All images below: N. Fraser unless stated.
MC Mhairi Fraser welcoming Goulburn Mayor Nina Dillon.
Grandchild of one of our members, a little curious. Image: C.Lian
Shuttle bus and registration.
We did it!
And the band played….
Coffee and registration
A happy board, L to R: Laurence Street, Ed Suttle, Andrew Bray, Roger Lucas, Peter Fraser, Alex Auhl, Virginia King, Marilyn Biel.
THE NEXT STEPS:
There are no next steps! The project is complete apart from some minor testing by Essential Energy and sign off by Council.
Media Releases
AGM guest speaker Dr Rebecca Colvin talks about community attitudes to renewables. More HERE
How we did it!
Our story
“Can we build a community solar farm in our region?”
That’s the question we are most often asked! The answer depends on many variables not just technical feasibility. Here are further questions to consider.
- Has your group delivered good quality community projects in your region? We were able to leverage off ten years of community projects so trust and credibility were already established with government and community.
- Do you have a solid data base? We had built a data base of over 1500 names and email addresses of regional people who had expressed some kind of interest in renewables.
- Do you have a large enough community to pull it off? We think a minimum of 20,000 locals is needed to raise funding and provide the social and intellectual capital you will need.
- Do you have a dedicated committee who can stay the course for the long term – possibly 10 years? Several of the founders of our project worked on the project for 12+ years.
- Are you dependent on a government grant? Explore all options including loans. Government grants of a significant size involve arduous reporting and the capacity to deal with things like public servant turnover and systems that are highly risk averse.
- Do you have the ability and credibility to co-opt valuable, skilled and well-connected people to serve on a board for the medium to long term?
And on a technical level:
- Do you have access to a large enough piece of land – at least 3 – 4 hectares and preferably square north facing with a direct connection to the grid?
- Are you prepared to add a battery? Otherwise you will need a very large solar farm to be profitable.
Sharing the Knowledge
If you can answer these questions positively, then read how we did it – warts and all!
Get in Touch
Make an enquiry or ask us any questions you might have.