Blackout parties: how solar and storage made WA farmers the most popular in town

Once considered an eco-warrior's pipe dream, renewable energy is rapidly gaining ground in the traditional mining state of Western Australia

Along the remote southern coastline of Western Australia, the locals have cottoned on to a new, surefire way to keep their beer cold.

The energy grid around Esperance and Ravensthorpe is unreliable at the best of times, but after a bushfire took out the poles and wires around these far-flung outback towns last year, the power company asked residents if they might be interested in trying out a more economically and environmentally sustainable way to keep the lights on and the bar fridge humming.