Customer Spotlight: Wilpoorinna Station Life with Ellen Litchfield.

Ellen Litchfield and her partner run Wilpoorinna Station, an outback property in remote South Australia, where MyEnergy delivered an off-grid power system to support their day-to-day station life.

Alongside managing Wilpoorina Station, Ellen is a qualified veterinarian and a passionate advocate through Farmers for Climate Action. In this Q&A, Ellen shares what life is like at Wilpoorina, how reliable power makes it possible and why sustainable farming matters for Australia’s future:

What are some of the unique challenges you face living and working in such a remote part of Australia?

You have to have a wide knowledge of lots of different things, I am a veterinarian which is really helpful since there are no vet clinics nearby. I also kill our own sheep for meat and have to know the basics of mechanics. Mostly I think off grid remote living is a huge privilege but the hardest part is education for our children. It is really hard to work out what is best for them, is it home school, boarding school or a long drive to the local small school.

How would you describe a typical day on the station and how does reliable access to power support that?

No day is typical on the station, they are always different. At the moment since it is dry the one constant is feeding bulls, rams and horses. We are busy mustering and selling a lot of sheep and cattle this year so MyEnergy has meant we don’t have to worry about power issues with a lot of extra contractors staying here.

Have there been any changes to the way you manage or approach station work since having the MyEnergy off-grid power system in place?

It has been a huge relief having the MyEnergy system in place, the summer we had before we had it installed was so hard. We had an unreliable solar set up and the batteries didn’t work well. I remember lying in bed with my 1 year old and new baby when my husband was away at work and power went off so it was pitch black and in summer it gets hot almost instantly and my 1 year old hated having his night light off. It was so stressful. I love having the reliability of MyEnergy and the app is helpful too, although when our power goes out we have no internet/phone service.

What are some of the small comforts or conveniences that make a big difference when you're this far from town?

Reliable air conditioning in Summer, it is so hot here and even at night it doesn't cool down so air conditioning is really needed. We also love having our own cool room for storing food and meat so I really love that and as you can imagine uses a lot of power. We don't get to the grocery store very often so this means we can have a lot more variety.

Has having a reliable power system influenced how you plan for the future of the property?

It means we can know that we can support our families and workers who help us out here. We hope they can feel comfortable and have some creature comforts after hard days in the yards.

What are some things people often misunderstand about life on a remote station like Wilpoorinna?

That it is lonely or you mustn't see many people. We get so many people visiting in the cool months, nearly everyday someone drops in for a cuppa or wants to stay in our shearers quarters, lucky we mostly have enough power for them! Summers are long and hot but we have very nice winters.

If someone running a similar remote property asked for your thoughts on setting up an off-grid solar & battery power system, what would you say?

Get in touch with MyEnergy now, to make use of the federal battery subsidy before the funds are exhausted.

Containerised Off Grid Power System at Wilpoorinna Station

You’re involved in Farmers for Climate Action and will be attending the national summit in September this year. What led you to get involved and what are your hopes for the future of farming in Australia?

I hope that we see benefits for family farms in the energy transition as we have had a long time of declining terms of trade, so I think for family farms to survive and prosper we will need support from renewables. The consumer wants to buy from a family farm that is passionate about their food so I hope that we can keep the traditions alive into the future through a changing climate...

Thank you to Ellen for taking the time to let us know more about station life at Wilpoorinna - MyEnergy Team.

To find out more about Farmers For Climate Action, visit their website here.

If you would like to learn more about the remote off grid power system at Wilpoorinna Station, you can find out more here.

Want to chat about what might work for your own outback station, feel free to get in touch with the team at MyEnergy!