1 March 2008
An enthusiastic response to Ergon Energy’s Townsville: Queensland Solar City stand at the Smart Home and Lifestyle Sustainability Expo in late February reflected real community interest in reducing electricity use and greenhouse gas emissions. 

Ergon Energy hosted a stall at the Townsville City Council exhibition on February 23-24 to help build greater awareness and understanding of the Solar City project, which is part of the Australian Government’s Solar Cities program. 

"On show were examples of solar photovoltaic panels, one of the new smart meters, and an ‘ecoMeter’ in-house display, which shows at a glance how much electricity is being used,” said Ergon Energy’s Solar City Community Engagement Manager Julie Heath. 

"Our most popular display was the side-by-side mounted incandescent and compact fluorescent lights (CFLs), which effectively demonstrated the efficiency of CFLs through the difference in heat emissions from each globe – with the incandescent bulb emitting significantly more heat,” she said. 

Ergon Energy’s Manager Solar City Ian Cruickshank presented a seminar titled Solar City – overview and energy assessments, which was well attended and received.