Farm Online

Want to bring down your production costs? Look up!

Want to bring down your production costs? Look up!
Want to bring down your production costs? Look up!

This article is sponsored by Solar Link Australia

Australia has always been a sunburnt country. A land of rainbow gold. A place where graziers and farmers break their backs in the hot sun to feed folks half a world away, all the while trying to make enough money to get them through the next season. 

But with skyrocketing electricity prices driving up the cost of production, many primary producers are  looking to the heavens for a solution. And – thanks to the latest innovations in the field of solar technology – they’re finding it!

With the right system it is possible to achieve both energy independence and save tens of thousands of dollars a year.

“There’s really no reason not to do it,” Solar Link Australia director Adam Dolkin explained.

“We’ve got among the highest electricity prices in the world yet we’ve also got an abundance of the greatest natural resources known to man – sunshine – and it’s free. We should be taking advantage of that.”

“If you have a solar installation it just means your electricity bill is going to be smaller. And if it’s sized correctly, it will be non-existent.”

- Solar Link Australia director Adam Dolkin

Solar is a long term investment that starts paying dividends within a couple of a years, he explained. 

As the head of a market leading renewables retailer, Mr Dolkin has helped his clients cut their electricity bills to zero and says with the right solar system, anybody can do it too.

“If you have a solar installation it just means your electricity bill is going to be smaller. And if it’s sized correctly, it’ll be non-existent,” he said.  

Solar Link Australia specialise in photovoltaic technology and can provide systems for any sized operation, ranging from light commercial through to large scale production.

Mr Dolkin said solar systems pay for themselves in no time flat. Most within three years.

“What a lot of farmers do is install a system for nothing – so we arrange finance for them – and then they just pay a monthly repayment fee for three, four or five years,” he explained. 

“The amount of money they’re paying each month in repayments is typically less than what they would be paying in electricity bills anyway so, it’s cash flow positive. After the final repayment has been paid the system belongs to them and the savings are ongoing for the next 25 to 30 years.”

The installation repayments won’t throw out the balance sheet either. Like the electricity bill, the repayments just become part of the day-to-day operating costs and they can be claimed as a tax deduction. Plus, every kilowatt the system generates is a kilowatt that otherwise would’ve been purchased from the grid. 

Farmers and business owners aren’t the only ones that can benefit from solar power, Mr Dolkin explained, Solar Link Australia can provide systems for the household market too, saving families up to $2000 a year once a five kilowatt system is paid off.

HARSH CONDITIONS: Climate change will continue to pose challenges for industry throughout the coming century.
HARSH CONDITIONS: Climate change will continue to pose challenges for industry throughout the coming century.

Solar power is also important in the fight against climate change. 

The CSIRO and Bureau of Meteorology have warned if greenhouse gas emissions continue to increase the resulting rise in land, air and sea temperature will pose distinct challenges to industry.

Using models based upon comprehensive data and the established laws of physics, they are confident regions across the country will have to confront: longer periods of drought, reductions in rainfall, increasing potential evapotranspiration, reductions in soil moisture, increases in the number of hot days each year, increased risk of bush fires, less frequent but more intense cyclones and increased intensity of extreme weather events, like storms and floods.   

One of the leading causes of climate change is carbon emissions associated with burning coal for electricity generation. Going solar significantly reduces your individual carbon footprint.

“For every kilowatt you install your solar system will reduce your carbon emissions on average by between 1.5 to 2 tonnes per anum,” Mr Dolkin said.

“So if you were in somewhere like Queensland (where the sun is always shining), you’d reduce your carbon emissions by about 10 tonnes per anum.”  

SAVE MONEY: Solar power can help reduce household electricity bills by as much as $2000 a year.
SAVE MONEY: Solar power can help reduce household electricity bills by as much as $2000 a year.

Mr Dolkin says solar is no longer the “the technology of the future”, pointing out that millions of households and businesses across the country were already reaping the benefits. And, that number increases each year.

Solar Link can provide both stand alone battery and grid connected solar systems as well as hybrid models that use the grid as a backstop. 

The systems are also backed by long term warranties. The Samsung and LG batteries Solar Link sell are guaranteed for 10 years, whilst the panels are backed for 25 years.

“It really is a win, win,” he said.

“There are financial benefits. There are environmental benefits. There’s really no reason not to do it.”

For more information visit www.solarlinkaustralia.com.au or give them a call on 1800 155 597.

This article is sponsored by Solar Link Australia