Richmond Valley Radio, 88.9 FM, is a community radio station serving the Northern Rivers area and offers exciting news.
In incredible community success, they are one of the first radio stations in Australia to broadcast completely off-grid.
The station built and commissioned a 15kVA 48-panel off-grid solar system at its broadcast transmission site on Mount Moonimba, which is powered 100% by the sun.
The solar panel 10 kilometers southwest of the Woodburn studio was unveiled at a recent open house where stakeholders had the chance to see the project up close.
In a collaborative endeavor, the owners of the land, Noel and Kerry Newman, the Community Broadcasting Foundation (CBF), the NSW Community Building Partnership Program (CBPP) and the members and sponsors of 88.9FM, saw their dreams come true when the transmission installation disconnected from the network on December 10 of last year.
Station volunteer Roger Wood says the panels produce enough power to run our transmitter, computers, air conditioners and fully charge the batteries for overnight use.
“We have enough battery storage unless it gets really hot overnight. Then the system switches to the back-up generator if this is the case. Since December 10, this scenario has occurred two days in a row.
The cost of the project was $ 81,000, with almost half of the CBF funding with $ 40,000; NSW CBPP Donates $ 9,000; and the 88.9FM community donated $ 14,000 in cash and $ 18,000 in kind.
Roger says off-grid broadcasting is fantastic. “We want to help save the planet from fossil fuel fools. “
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