Norrie is a long-time reader who just spent $8,300 on a home battery. The install looked tidy. The installers were pleasant. Then the surprises landed after they were gone. He was told only one circuit could be backed up. Not the fridge and lights together. Not the air conditioner and lights. One. He was also told that in a blackout he must go outside to the switchboard and pull a lever to get power. None of this had been mentioned beforehand. He now feels stitched up and is wondering whether he has any recourse.
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.
Five Tests You Must Do Before Your Battery Installer Leaves
Your EV Will Eat Your Home Battery – If You Let It
Ten per cent of new cars sold in Australia are now plug-in EVs. Home battery sales are going through the roof. That means a growing number of homes now have both. Or soon will.
And yet, hardly anyone thinks about how the two will work together.
Vale Michael Bloch
Michael Bloch, SolarQuotes’ most prolific writer, died last week after a long illness.
Michael joined SolarQuotes in April 2017 and went on to write an extraordinary 3,363 posts over almost nine years. His final article was published on 22 January 2026. That volume alone is remarkable, but it only hints at the impact he had.
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When Did AC Coupling Become A Fashion Crime?
There’s a strange certainty creeping into battery talk lately. The idea that DC coupling is the grown-up option, and AC coupling is something we did back when we didn’t know any better. I keep seeing installers and Facebook pundits claiming the only proper way to attach a battery to a house is with a DC-coupled system. Anything else is framed as inefficient, messy, a historical mistake or just deeply uncool.
I don’t get it.
[Read more…]
Australia Is The World’s Cruellest Battery Test Lab
If you wanted to design the world’s harshest endurance test for home batteries, you wouldn’t build a lab. You’d build a normal Australian suburb. [Read more…]
When Nobody Designs Anything Anymore
This post is about a choice most people do not realise they are making.
Four Battery Backup Myths That Need To Die
Fifteen years ago, one of the hardest parts of selling solar was explaining why your panels shut down in a blackout. No grid meant no power, even on a sunny day.
Today, batteries fix that. Yet I am seeing thousands of homes getting large batteries with either no backup at all or poorly designed backup. That’s because – as batteries go mainstream – a set of myths has taken hold.
Let’s knock them over.
[Read more…]
The Feed-In Tariff Is Dead. Long Live the Feed-In Tariff.
For years, solar owners had it easy. You looked for the highest solar feed-in tariff. You checked the usage rate and the daily charge were not silly. You picked the winning tariff and moved on.
That world is gone.
The Rebate Paid for Battery Brawn, Not Brains
Big batteries are going in fast. Too many are being left dumb, unsupported, and unable to earn their keep.
I was on ABC Adelaide this week to talk about the battery rebate. First question was easy. Has it been popular?
Hell yes.
Roughly 150,000 batteries in six months. That is a staggering number.
How To Integrate Air Conditioning With Solar
If you want to control your air conditioner properly with solar, it helps to understand how the thing actually works. As an ex-control systems engineer, this is right up my alley. Let’s break it down.
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