A station homestead powers the main house, staff and contractor quarters, a cold room and freezers for meat killed on the station, a workshop for vehicle and bore repairs, a school room for distance education, and the satellite internet and radio that keep the station connected. Most stations far from the grid run diesel generators around the clock or in shifts, with fuel trucked in over long distances and sometimes cut off by the wet. Fuel deliveries and generator servicing are a constant cost and logistical headache.
Without a grid connection, hydrogen is made from a wind turbine, or micro-hydro on the rare station with flowing water. The electrolyser runs whenever there is wind, storing hydrogen at 30 bar or less for weeks. The fuel cell and 30 to 40 kWh battery then supply the homestead through calm spells. A UPS-mode inverter keeps the satellite internet and school room computers running through any switch-over.
How it works →
One unit gives 15 kW continuous, enough for a homestead house with headroom. Add staff quarters, a cold room, workshop welders and air conditioning in the build-up, and the peak can exceed that. Many stations would need a larger or multi-unit setup sized in the pilot. Round-trip efficiency is 30% or less, so wind resource matters a lot. A station with weak wind may still lean on diesel for some of its energy.
Some air conditioning fits within 15 kW, but a whole homestead and quarters in the build-up can exceed it. The pilot would log summer loads, and a larger or multi-unit setup may be needed.
That depends on wind resource and loads. On a windy site with modest loads, it may cover most needs. Where wind is weak or loads are heavy, diesel may still play a role, and we would say so.
Equipment would be housed and ventilated for the site, the same as any outback plant room. Dust filtering and heat management are part of the pilot site plan, along with how water for the electrolyser is filtered from a station bore or rainwater tank.
Pilot installs go to people on this list first. Rural homes, farms and remote sites especially. No spam, no payment.