Renewable Energy Display

The Renewable Energy Display is a demonstration site located at the RISE Outdoor Test Area on the South Street campus of Murdoch University in Perth, Western Australia.

While the focus of the display is on stand-alone renewable energy systems, or RAPS (Remote Area Power Systems), the facility includes a grid-connected photovoltaic system and wind turbine demonstration systems. The aim of the facility is to provide independent technical information to the public about renewable energy systems and to help make renewable energy better understood in the community.

For people without access to state electricity grids, greater use of renewable energy is seen to be a way of providing improved standards of living by producing 24-hour grid quality power. The stand-alone power systems demonstrate some of the renewable energy technologies that are currently available and the systems include a range of design options. Where possible the systems incorporate Australian made products purchased from local WA suppliers.

The display also has a range of brochures providing information on renewable energy rebate schemes, system sizing procedures and general energy efficiency information.

Display details

The main RE Display building at the RISE Outdoor Test Area (pictured above) consists of two rooms powered completely by the sun and wind. The building houses three stand-alone power systems that could be installed in locations that are remote from any electricity grid, and the performance of two of the systems can be observed remotely via the system links below.

Stand-alone

System 1 - Small Stand-alone Power System- A system appropriate for the energy needs of a small country home, using bottled gas for heating and cooking and also with a solar water heater. The design load is approximately 2.8kWh/day. The system is powered by a PV array and a small back-up diesel generator, and has a battery bank for storing energy. Some loads powered by this system include a television and DVD, lighting, a toaster and low wattage heater.
System 2 - Hybrid PV and Wind Stand-alone Power System - A large pastoralist homestead with higher energy demand and load, again with the assumption that gas and a solar hot water heater are available for heating and cooking. The system has been designed to provide energy for a summer load of 9.6kWh/day and a load in winter of 6.3kWh/day. The system is powered by a PV array, a wind turbine and has a small back-up diesel generator. The system also has a battery bank designed to give 3 days of autonomy. The system loads include: a fridge, evaporative airconditioner, computer, lighting, water pump and the monitoring system for both system 1 and system 2.
System 3 -Recreational Stand-alone Power System - A smaller scale caravan or solar home system with a basic requirement for lighting. This system has two solar panels mounted on the building roof, and one 12V battery, providing power to the 12V DC loads. The loads connected to the system are two 12V lights and a small fan.

The design of the display systems follow the required Australian Standard for design of these systems. The building also has been designed and oriented for maximum solar efficiency.

Grid-connected

System 4 - Grid-connected PV System - A system appropriate for an on-grid resident wishing to offset their energy use with a grid-connected renewable energy source. This system consists of a roof mounted PV array and a grid-connected inverter which allows excess energy to be exported to the electricity grid. A meter shows how much energy has been exported in the life of the system.

Other systems also demonstrated at this site are:

Wind Turbine Systems
Tracking PV arrays

The Physical Display

The original display was opened on the 20th May 1994 and since then over 7000 visitors have visited it and been provided with information about the use of renewable energy. The display systems have had several renovations in that time, the most recent being the updating of system 2 and a complete renovation of the display rooms in 2006.

Information Portal

At the beginning of 1998 the Alternative Energy Development Board funded a project to enable an internet version of the physical site to be constructed. This internet version enabled a visit to the RE display without having to physically go there. This was known as WebRAPS. In 2006 this RE display site has been extensively renovated and updated along with the RISE web site. You can visit the RE Display on-line via the RISE Information Portal. The information portal contains information on renewable resources, technologies, applications and renewable energy systems and includes a series of case studies. As well as this static information both historical data and real time data is being collected using automated monitoring systems integrated with both System 1 and System 2 in the RE Display.

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