In a significant moment for Eurobodalla council and not for profit organisation Repurposing for Resilience (RfR), their community solar panel reuse centre has been officially launched in its new home.
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The first of its kind in Australia, the centre was opened on April 13 at Moruya transfer station.
It was a proud moment for founding member of RfR Lisa Cornthwaite.
"There is nothing else like this operating anywhere [in Australia] and it was a real coup for Repurposing for Resilience but also for the Eurobodalla council.
"At the beginning of this year, the council came on board and actually stopped panels going to landfill.
"That is a huge change... it was a momentous occasion and a real grass-roots response to, I guess, inaction.
"It would be great if other councils would come onboard and do the same," Lisa said.
With over 90 people in attendance, including representatives from Eurobodalla council, volunteers, supporters from the community and Dr Michael Holland MP, the turnout exceeded expectations.
With seed funding from WWF Australia, the founders have worked hard with Eurobodalla council to broaden the initiative and give it a home in the shire. No longer will solar panels go to landfill, but instead they will be diverted to the centre.
Those in good working order will be reused in homes across the shire, or repurposed if no longer fit for use.
Lisa said that the organisation had saved more than 1000 panels from landfill. They were extremely proud to have provided nine homes, that were directly impacted by the Black Summer fires, with solar.
"Its been a really, really long process to get to this point, and Saturday was about celebrating I guess the opening of the actual centre to the public, and also the partnership with the Eurobodalla council," she said.
Eurobodalla deputy mayor Alison Worthington has been an early advocate of the scheme.
"There are some issues in the solar installation market that encourage people to dispose of panels that have still got a lot of life left in them.
"Thankfully Repurposing for Resilience saw that and they are ...truly committed to circularity of resources and finding the value in waste," Councillor Worthington assured.
RfR is volunteer-run and reliant on funding. Lisa believes with more funding they could provide up to five full time paid positions at the centre.
To access the resources of the centre, including advice and purchase of an array, RfR offers a $5 lifelong membership. The panels for repurchase are tested, heavily discounted and come with a limited warranty.
The centre is staffed Fridays and Saturdays, but panels can be dropped off to the transfer station during the station's opening hours.
