Alice Springs Solar Facts

Alice Springs has around 300 days of sunshine every year³.
During a typical sunny day in Alice Springs, one square metre exposed to the sun at noon will receive approximately 1000 Watts (1kW) of energy from the sun.
Over half of Alice Springs houses are harnessing the suns energy with solar hot water
An unshaded single pane window in full sun transfers 100% of the solar heat into your house⁵.

Alice Springs is at Latitude -23° 42' and Longitude 133° 52'. At this latitude the summer solstice the sun is almost directly overhead at midday, while at the winter solstice it sits around 43 degrees above the horizon at midday.
Visit Geoscience Australia to determine where in the sky the sun can be found at different times of the year.

Alice Springs electricity is generated by a combination of gas powered turbines and dual-fuel gas and diesel reciprocating engine generators. The natural gas currently comes from the Mereenie Gas field west of Alice Springs.
38% of Alice Springs electricity is used by households (based on 2005-6 PWC figures).
Our electricity is measured in units called Kilowatt hours (kWh) – which equals the energy delivered by 1,000 Watts(kW) for one hour(h).
The average Alice Springs household uses around 8,500 kWh/yr of electricity¹. How much does your household use? Hint: have a look on the back of your power bill to find out.
A kWh of electricity in Alice Springs results in 0.69Kg of Carbon Dioxide being released². This means the average residence in town generates 5,800Kg of CO² every year.
The water you use in your house creates greenhouse gas? Our water is pumped out of the ground at the Roe Creek borefield and into town which requires quite a bit of energy – around 1100kWh per Mega Litre. As the average house uses around 740KL each year, that adds 810kWh or 560kg of CO² to the household greenhouse gas emissions.

¹ PWC data 2007
² PWC data 2007
³ Bureau of Meteorology data, www.bom.gov.au
⁴ Australian Greenhouse Office, 1999
⁵ ”Your Home” Manual, 2003

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