About Finn PeacockI'm a Chartered Electrical Engineer, Solar and Energy Efficiency nut, dad, and the founder of SolarQuotes.com.au. I started SolarQuotes in 2009 and the SolarQuotes blog in 2013 with the belief that it’s more important to be truthful and objective than popular. My last "real job" was working for the CSIRO in their renewable energy division. Since 2009, I’ve helped over 800,000 Aussies get quotes for solar from installers I trust. Read my full bio.
A battery covered in stickers.
Last month, the Government hosted a Productivity Summit. Tristan Edis summed it up in one brutal line:
“If introducing a road user charge for electric vehicles is the best we can do out of the Productivity Summit, then God help this country.”
I was on a panel at Electrify Adelaide last week, sat next to Saul Griffith, who was promoting his brilliant new book Plug In. During audience questions, someone asked how important Vehicle-to-Grid (V2G) would be in the years ahead.
Last week, my Powerwall 2 turned seven.
To celebrate, I stumped up $10 for a 1-month subscription to the excellent, third-party, NetZero Powerwall monitoring app and ran some diagnostics.
A couple of years ago, Ronald (SolarQuotes’ Fact Checker) asked me for advice on buying a commuter push bike. I told him:
“Whatever you do, don’t buy a bike from K-Mart!”.
Back in my engineering days, I designed control systems for everything from nuclear power plants to optical semiconductor fabs. High-stakes stuff, where things not working properly was frowned upon. One thing that became clear early on: the hardware install was just the beginning. The real work started when you powered things up and tried to make them behave.
Which brings me to today’s Phase Shift.
A fancy burger joint near the SolarQuotes office opened six months ago. It was small and stylish. And just closed down. I wasn’t surprised.
Right now, we’re riding high. A big battery rebate just dropped, and quote requests are flying in.
But I’ve been in solar long enough to know what this feels like. We’re at the top of the solar coaster.
Since the early days of rooftop solar, many Australian academics & commentators have warned of a grid death spiral.
There’s a new myth floating around: if your energy retailer gives you a free 3-hour energy window in the middle of the day, you don’t need solar panels. Just get a big battery, charge it for free during the magic window, and run your house on battery power 21 hours per day.
SigEnergy reckons they’ve grabbed 30% of Australia’s home battery market. From basically nothing just over a year ago, that’s pretty bloody impressive.
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