Dingleburn Station

Dingleburn Station (home to many generations of the Mead family), is a remote farm on the North Eastern shores of Lake Hawea, running entirely off-grid. 

The property, it’s full time residents and it’s multiple buildings were powered solely by a pre-existing hydro generation plant – delivering approximately 100A during normal flows. 

The owners from Dingleburn approached Infinite Energy to design a solar power and battery solution that would dovetail into the existing hydro to boost energy production during periods where the hydro resource was less consistent. The design brief was to increase energy production, primarily focusing on Summer & Autumn months –  which also allows for more of the hydro resource to be diverted for irrigation purposes.

The design integrated the existing hydro with 72 new 390W solar panels (positioned on a ground mount frame, which is optimized for all day production and summer output), Fronius & Victron inverters and 30kWh of lithium ion battery storage. The batteries were included to provide further resilience during conditions when the hydro isn’t able to run.  Infinite Energy also integrated an existing standby generator, which has the ability to support the system if the hydro is out of action and consumption exceeds the capacity of the battery storage. Full system monitoring is installed and operating, allowing both the owners and Infinite Energy staff real time access to the system despite the location being very remote.

In the event that the hydro goes into fault, staff are notified immediately so that it can be remedied, with solar & batteries taking over, without interrupting the supply to the loads of the station.