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.
Only 24% of Australian battery owners have joined a Virtual Power Plant (VPP). That’s from the ACCC’s latest electricity market report, and the reaction has been fairly uniform: this is a problem, and the fix is to make VPPs more appealing. Better consumer protections. Simpler products. Minimum technical standards. Probably more VPP rebates.
But there’s another way to read a number like that.
Continuing the 2026 Installer’s Choice Awards, we asked Australia’s solar installers a simple question:
“Which home battery would you choose for your own home?”
These are the people designing, installing and servicing battery systems every day, so they have a front-row seat to what works well in the real world. And Australian Consumer Law holds the installer liable for the units’ warranty and performance for 10 years plus. So I reckon their opinion is what counts.
Last week the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) published a 114 page report on the electricity market which uncovered the following insights:
We recently kicked off the SolarQuotes Installer’s Choice Awards with the solar panel brands installers would choose for their own homes. This week, we’re turning our attention to the inverter — the box on the wall that converts DC solar power into the 230 volts AC your home uses.
My son asked me the other day how he should get to the airport for a 5am flight.
Easy, I said. Book a proper taxi with a longstanding local firm. Whatever you do, don’t pre-book an Uber.
He looked at me like I’d suggested he send a fax.
Up until last week, the angriest Australians I’d ever experienced were the parents at under-10s soccer. [Read more…]
Every year, we survey SolarQuotes installers about their favourite solar panel. For the 2026 edition of the Installer’s Choice Awards, we asked them:
“If you were putting solar panels on your own roof today, which brand would you choose? Not the house of a customer. Not a display home. Not a hypothetical stranger you’ll never see again. Your own roof, your own money and a system you’ll be living with for decades.”
Last week I went to Intersolar Europe in Munich, and the first thing to tell you is the scale (watch my video above to get a real feel for the exhibition).
Free power windows arrive for most Australians on July 1. If you own a battery, you probably want to configure it to take advantage, and fill it for free, from the grid.
But your battery will not do this on its own. Out of the box, it has no clue your free window exists. Somebody has to open the app and tell it, and that somebody is you.
Last week someone asked on Facebook whether he should proceed with a particular installer.
“Has anyone dealt with this company? I can’t find out much about them.”
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