The Solar Power Behind Our Business and Tips to Creating An Energy-Neutral Home

If you’ve had the chance to drive around your own neighbourhood and looked up, you might have noticed solar panels popping up on every second rooftop. And if you ever visited us in Lismore… you would know that solar power has been THE renewable energy running Sun & Earth from day one. 

So nothing made everyone happier to hear that the Australian Climate Council announced: 

“For the first time on August 22nd since the national electricity market was established, Solar energy provided more power than coal”

AKA on that day, Australia provided more solar-powered electricity to our homes than coal-based electricity. 

At Sun & Earth, solar energy powers our website and allows us to take orders, print labels, and move packages up and down our stairs. It also powers the machines that create the unique blend of the tinted zinc cream. Finally, it recharges our electric bikes - which we use to make shipping drops at the post office. 

We do our best to run an energy-neutral home - for both our business and our day to day life. An energy-neutral home is a home that produces as much energy as it consumes. However, our homes are often set on auto-pilot and generate more than we actually need.

So how can you take action and adapt your home?

If you’re interested in implementing more solar power into your home and creating an energy-neutral environment that is good for your wallet and the planet, here’s our best tip. 

• Review your house design. Insulation can play a big role in how much heating and cooling your home uses. From the walls, windows, and doors, reviewing and potentially upgrading your insulation system can significantly reduce the amount of energy used in the home. 

• Green your energy source. If you own a house, it is worth looking at upgrading your current energy source and installing solar panels - especially in Australia. While this will minimise your home’s carbon footprint, it will also decrease your electricity bill—a win-win.

• Install energy-sufficient lighting. Swapping your light bulbs with LED light is a low-cost upgrade that can accommodate any home - whether you own one or not - and is a great way to reduce your energy consumption. 

• Upgrade electricity-dependant appliance. Your stove and cooktop, your AC system, and your day to day appliance have been increasingly upgraded on the market over the years to run more efficiently on less energy. By changing your 10-year-old vacuum and gas cooktop, you can reduce your electricity consumption in the long run. 

We know switching to solar power is a lengthy process that takes time… but we’re starting to see the positive impact it can indeed have on our finance, our home, and the planet. So don’t shy away from solar energy, and embrace it in any way you can.