Wollumbin’s Mavis’s Kitchen and Cabins has taken the next step in sustainability by becoming energy self-sufficient, just in time for World Environment Day.
The popular restaurant and accommodation provider at the base of Mt Warning has just installed a 20kW solar power system that is estimated to make the business completely self-reliant for its day-time energy requirements.
To give an idea of how much energy they’re generating, that’s about 10 times the size of the standard household solar system.
Business owners Peter Clarke and Charlie Ebell said the $50,000 investment in green energy represents a logical next step for Mavis’s Kitchen, which was founded on the principles of sustainability, local community and care for the environment.
‘Since we opened in 2007, we’ve had a strong focus on sustainability across all aspects of our business, but this switch over to solar is a major opportunity to significantly decrease our carbon footprint,’ Mr Clarke said.
‘During the day the business uses an average of 20kW during peak service times, but outside of these times we’ll be generating excess energy to feed back to the grid.
‘We’ll use the credits we earn for this to purchase power back from a renewable energy supplier to supplement our night-time power needs.’
Syd Welling, director of Sunbeam Solar Systems, who provided the solar set-up, said this was one of the largest commercial solar installations in the region.
‘It should generate about 90kW hours a day and will save about 90-100kg of carbon dioxide emissions per day,’ he said.
Mr Ebell said the new solar power system would complement the other green initiatives already underway at Mavis’s Kitchen.
World Environment Day will be held this year on Friday, June 5.
