Renewable energy in the outback of Australia

Many stations and small communities, particularly Aboriginal Communities, have switched from diesel generators to sensible Remote Area Power Supply (RAPS) systems consisting of wind and/or solar input, battery bank, inverter and generator back-up. The introduction of Synergy Power Corporation's low-wind regime turbines that can hover/reef rather than furl has allowed wind powered RAPS to penetrate markets in the desert communities that were previously considered unsuitable for wind systems. The unique reefing system is described and some interesting case studies given. Solar water pumping and solar powered microwave: telecommunications have been common for the past ten years and have proved extremely reliable and have been well accepted.