Frugal Energy Renewable power and aquaponics, built frugally

👋 About Steve

Hi, I'm Steve Dalton

Engineer, maker and tinkerer on the Gold Coast in Queensland. Originally from Wolverhampton in the UK, I've called Australia home for a long time now. Some people know me as "spidie" or "Dalts", but Steve does the job.

Steve Dalton smiling in the garden beside aquaponics beds, sticky traps, and leafy vegetables
Me in the garden: aquaponics, veg beds, and the usual sticky traps keeping an eye on things.

What I do

By day I'm a software and hardware engineer. I run Refactor, where I've spent years building systems for other people, and Refactor Red, our R&D arm where we research, explore and build technology aligned with the UN Sustainable Development Goals. The work spans environmental monitoring, smart infrastructure, IoT and access control. The common thread is technology that does something genuinely useful in the real world.

Gold Coast tech community

I've spent years in the local maker and tech scene. I founded the Gold Coast TechSpace makerspace, spent plenty of time tinkering with Arduino-compatible hardware, and got stuck into IoT and sensor projects. I like building things, and I like teaching other people how to build things.

My ethos

A few things run through everything I do: reuse over waste, frugality over expense, and sustainability over the throwaway way of doing things. I'm not interested in gear for its own sake, or advice that only works if you buy the premium kit. I'd rather show what actually runs at home, built from salvaged parts, secondhand finds, and the few things worth buying new.

Frugal Energy is where that ethos meets practice. One part is renewable power from reused batteries, solar panels and salvaged electronics. The other is aquaponics: fish and veg from the back corner of the garden, mostly reclaimed IBC totes and Marketplace finds, running on my own solar and battery setup. Same instinct, two interests, one site.

Where to find me

On this site

Poke around the renewable energy and aquaponics sections for what I run at home and how I source it on a budget. If you want to talk aquaponics in more depth, I recorded a podcast with Al Barnett. Questions or corrections? Get in touch.