As seen on the recent series of The Block, the Linked Powerhouse “portable solar generator” is a combination of a RedEarth battery system, solar panels, and a diesel backup system, all mounted on skids so it can be delivered on a tilt tray and towed around a building site. It is codenamed “the EcoG3N™” and built by Linked Group Services.
Linked, based in Mackay on the central Queensland coast, runs completely off the grid. It has been supplying portable power solutions to the mining industry throughout Australia for the past 10 years. Design and construction is completed locally, and all utilising off-grid power. The EcoG3N is their baby.
During the filming of The Block, the EcoG3N powered parts of the site for over 5 months. During that time, the diesel was only required for a few hours a day. Without the solar panels and battery, the diesel generator would have run 24 hours a day. The EcoG3N costs $90 a day to hire (rent) and very little to run. A diesel generator by comparison costs $135 a day to hire and would cost around $170 a day to run in fuel alone. Add servicing costs every 10 days and you can see the value in an EcoG3N.
EcoG3N can be transported on a tilt tray truck. A trailer version is also available.
Linked is also heavily involved with the manufacture and installation of solar carports, the EcoPort. At the time of delivery to the client, the largest cyclone-rated solar carport installation in Australia was situated at Willows Shopping Centre in Thuringowa Townsville with a value: of $2,350,000 AUS.
Cyclone-proof solar carport. Photo courtesy of Linked Group Services.
Another good example is the custom EcoPort solution at Mullumbimby NSW. “To suit the clients’ available space, we designed a solar carport consisting of our gull wing design framework. We then sent our construction team to site to erect the framework and install the solar modules,” Jason Sharam, Managing Director of Linked Group Services, tells me. “We can attach EV chargers to the columns, but they are usually ground mounted underneath.”
Gull-wing solar carport, New South Wales. Photo courtesy of Linked Group Services.
As the rEVolution gathers pace, we will see more synergies develop between electric vehicles and solar power. Forward thinking enterprises will save money and attract customers.
Featured image: EC0G3N4 for portable power. Photo courtesy Linked Group Services.
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