Take a tour! Sunshine Court, Warwick

As this is the first post for 2024, we wish all our readers a happy and prosperous New Year.

Despite our best wishes, though, we know that the year is bound to have some challenges. The people in north Queensland and the Gold Coast area were probably looking forward to the new year when the floods and hurricane struck. We saw firsthand some of the destruction caused by the hurricane in the Mt Tamborine and Oxenford areas. The damage caused by the wind and falling trees was enormous. One unanticipated effect of these natural disasters is the loss of electricity to households. Major disruption to the electricity grid caused thousands of homes to be without power for a period of time. For many households, the loss of power lasted for weeks. Generators were in high demand as people tried to keep their fridges going. For many, the contents of fridges and freezers were destroyed and had to be discarded.

While the effects of every natural disaster cannot be totally provided for, one thing that can help in these situations is being independent of the electricity grid. Solar panels alone will not meet household requirements if the grid goes down. However, in conjunction with a battery system, the household can continue to function as normal. Two other options come to mind. First, a small household generator can be used to power essential items (eg fridge, freezer, medical equipment, lights). Secondly, some electric vehicles have the capacity to act like a generator and provide power to the house.