Eco Overview
Planet Power is a one-stop shop for products can help you save energy and reduce your carbon footprint in your own home.
For us, that extends to your home away from home (caravan or camper) and also to some of the appliances that, while relatively small ticket items in themselves, can also be a fair proportion of your energy bills and consumption.
The major areas here are Off-Grid Camping, Eco-Tech Products, Lighting, Power Optimisers and Remote Standby.
Off-Grid/Camping
Australians love the outdoors!
At every opportunity we take to our boats or campers and set off to enjoy the magnificence our country has to offer. Many of us go the whole way and adopt a life-style of permanent or semi-permanent travel using the complete range of custom built mobile homes.
And whenever we do this, we also like to have on hand the ease and comfort of normal labour-saving and entertainment devices – and the means to operate them.
The field of mobile solar is vast and varied.
Planet Power has partnered with Solarland Australia to bring you a comprehensive range of mobile solar products.
Follow this link to find out more about the Solarland Australia range of Mobile Solar products, or Contact us online
Eco-Tech Products
Planet Power stores have a wide range of innovative, compact and highly useful solar powered products such as
- Portable Solar Chargers for cameras, phones …
- Flexible Solar panels
- Solar powered torches, radios, lanterns …
- Miners head lamps
- Energy Meters
…… and a whole lot more!
To find out more about our range of Eco Products, follow this link.
LED Lighting
Demand for electricity increase by around 10% each year. In order to meet this demand there is a need to build more power-generating stations. Most of the Australian power generators use brown or low-quality black coal, increasing CO2 emissions daily!
Australia has signed an international agreement to curb CO2 emissions to the level that prevailed in the year 2000 by 2020. We simply cannot achieve this target by building new coal-based power stations to cover the inevitable increase in demand for electricity. So, we are looking at a future with black-outs and brown-outs during high demand hours. Where is the answer?
At least in part, answers lie in the decrease of power consumption with the use of more energy efficient devices in our homes and commercial premises. Lighting alone is responsible for between 10% and 30% of total power consumption; by decreasing the amount of energy required for lighting, we see a direct reduction of overall power consumption.
A few years ago the Australian Government banned the manufacture of incandescent globes. This was due to the inefficiencies in this technology and the arrival of compact fluorescent (CFL) technology.
While more efficient than incandescent globes, CFL lighting does not offer a total solution either because of its generally poor standard of manufacture, short life-span and a mercury component in every globe.
LED lighting technology surpasses every obstacle in application. LED lights have very high reliability, strong light with no decrease in output, a life of 50,000 hours versus 3,000 hours for CFL, fluoro or halogen, much smaller power demand and full recyclability. LED lighting technology allows the full replacement of every possible light, comparable halogen, fluoro, flood, street, high bay, theatre and most other imaginable applications.
Follow this link to find the answers to many frequently asked questions about LED lighting
Follow this link to find out more about Planet Power’s range of LED lighting.
Power Optimisers
A power optimiser is primarily a voltage optimisation device, which is designed in differing configurations for use in domestic situations (homes) or commercial premises including shops, offices and industrial buildings.
In homes and small shops and offices (single phase properties), It can reduce kWh usage and electricity costs by up to 10% and more.
In multi-phase commercial and industrial premises, savings have been shown at between 5% and 15% depending on site conditions and the types of load connected.
Additionally, specific purpose power optimisers are available which, for example, can reduce the cost of running your pool pump by as much as 75%.
Approximately 90% of buildings in Australia receive excess voltage, causing machinery to run inefficiently and energy to be wasted. This small device optimises the voltage to a level that is suitable for each individual business premise, enabling electrical equipment to run more efficiently and creating significant electricity and carbon emission savings.
A power optimiser also works on improving the following key areas of the electricity supply:
- KVA Reduction – reducing the peak demand of amps at any given time. Through the use of the capacitor bank the unit will hold charge from normally wasted energy and release when required, i.e. when a motor starts.
- Harmonics filtering – Loads such as fluorescent lights, computers, UPS units, variable speed drives (VSDs) and electronic equipment can create harmful harmonic distortions. A power optimiser helps reduce these harmonic distortions, improving the quality of electricity throughout your electrical system.
- Power Factor Correction – A power optimiser improves power factor and compensates for reactive power in the system
A power optimiser refines and optimises the raw power quality supplied by the network authority – tailoring usage to a site-specific basis. It is connected, in series, to all, or part, of the electrical load at its source (i.e. your switch room or distribution board), usually between the main switch and the three-phase bus bar system. No other connections are necessary.
Follow this link to find out more about Planet Power’s range of power optimisers
Remote Standby
Standby power is the energy consumed by an appliance while it is not performing its primary function. Just like a leaky tap, standby power continually wastes energy. The main contributors to standby power use include computers and their peripherals and home entertainment equipment, such as large-screen televisions.
Home entertainment equipment accounts for almost 50% of standby power usage, according to “Standby Power – Current Status” report #2006/10, prepared by Energy Efficient Strategies.
Standby power consumption contributes significantly to Australia” greenhouse gas emissions and is now one of the largest electrical end-users in our homes. It is estimated standby power in a typical home accounts for more than 10% of Australia’s household electricity usage and costing consumers more than $950 million per year. This is roughly equivalent to the energy consumption of refrigerators and freezers, products that have been regulated for many years.
Products with Standby generally operate in three modes: Off mode, Standby mode, and Active (or On) mode.
- Off mode: the energy using product is connected to a mains power source and is not providing any standby or active mode function. This situation may persist for an indefinite time.
- Standby mode: the energy using product is connected to a power source and offers one or more of the following user orientated or protective functions which may continue for an indefinite period
- Active mode: The energy using product is connected to a mains power source, has been activated and provides one or more main functions. There may also be transition phases that occur pre or post the provision of the main function, when the product is preparing to be used or is completing functions before powering down to Standby mode.
2010 Survey of Standby Power Use and Lighting Attributes in Australian Households
The Australian Government Department of Climate Change and Energy Efficiency has commissioned a study into the standby power use and lighting attributes of Australian households. This research is being conducted through a series of surveys of 150 homes in Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne and regional Victoria.
Field research for this survey has now finished, the results will be released publicly in the near future
Follow this link to find out more about Planet Power’s range of Remote Standby energy saving products.
