We all know that Brisbane is one of Australia’s most liveable cities but it is also the city that the sun shines very brightly on. A device known as the Cambell-Stokes Recorder has been measuring the daily sunshine of Australian cities for well over 2 decades. The device measures the number of hours of ‘bright’ sunshine, revealing that Brisbane has a consistently high average of daily sunshine all year round. In Melbourne the yearly average daily sunshine hours is just 6.0 hours with the least amount of bright sunshine in June with just 3.6 hours. Darwin, due to its monsoon season records an average of less than 1 full day of sunshine in both January and February. Whilst in Brisbane, May averages the least hours of bright sunshine with a respectable 6.4 hours and the annual average is 7.9 hours per day.
A similar picture is painted when we look at clear and cloudy days as determined by the system employed by the Bureau of Meterology which breaks up the sky into 8 sections called ‘oktas’. A clear day is when cloud is seen in 2 or less oktas and a cloudy day has 6 or more oktas filled with clouds. Melbourne sees clear days only 49.4 times per year and is considered cloudy for 179.1 days whilst Darwin has 103.8 days of sun drenching and is overcast for 133.2 days each year. Brisbane on the other hand is once again blessed with an abundance of sunshine averaging 124.3 days per year and just 109.6 days of grey skies.So it is clear that Brisbane is not the place to go into the umbrella business! However Brisbane residents should be putting some of that energy packed sunshine to work on some of the tasks that have too long been the burden of the polluting power station. With just 5-6 hours of sun a day a Brisbane family can reduce its electricity bill by up to 25% by installing a SolaHart Solar Hot Water system. With Federal Government Rebates and RECs it has never been more economical to go solar and save the environment to the tune of removing a small car off the road every year.
A similar picture is painted when we look at clear and cloudy days as determined by the system employed by the Bureau of Meterology which breaks up the sky into 8 sections called ‘oktas’. A clear day is when cloud is seen in 2 or less oktas and a cloudy day has 6 or more oktas filled with clouds. Melbourne sees clear days only 49.4 times per year and is considered cloudy for 179.1 days whilst Darwin has 103.8 days of sun drenching and is overcast for 133.2 days each year. Brisbane on the other hand is once again blessed with an abundance of sunshine averaging 124.3 days per year and just 109.6 days of grey skies.So it is clear that Brisbane is not the place to go into the umbrella business! However Brisbane residents should be putting some of that energy packed sunshine to work on some of the tasks that have too long been the burden of the polluting power station. With just 5-6 hours of sun a day a Brisbane family can reduce its electricity bill by up to 25% by installing a SolaHart Solar Hot Water system. With Federal Government Rebates and RECs it has never been more economical to go solar and save the environment to the tune of removing a small car off the road every year.
By Tod Parker, Sales Manager at Sustainable Man
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