Posts By SolarQuotes Founder Finn Peacock

Why connecting your solar system to the grid is harder in NSW

December 23, 2014 2017-04-20T10:31:27 by 11 Comments
grid connect solar

What are the rules for connecting to the grid in NSW?

Australians love their rooftop solar and believe it or not, despite our relatively small population we have collectively installed more household solar systems than almost any other country in the world.

For consumers, it’s a no brainer but the electricity companies seem to be making things more difficult as time goes by. Is this justified and are their technical issues we need to understand as solar owners, or are they just profiteering?

The grid is a complex beast and the electricity industry is even more complicated, so the answer is ‘a bit of both’. In fairness to the utilities, and because I’ve had a heap of emails from frustrated NSW folks, I thought I would highlight the New South Wales Service Rules as one example of how technical issues need to be considered. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Solar Installation Tagged With: ,

Solarmax Inverter Bankruptcy: What it means for Solarmax owners.

December 17, 2014 2017-04-20T10:33:07 by 18 Comments
solarmax logo

Solarmax have gone bust.

Bad news for fans of Solarmax inverters as its parent company, Sputnik Engineering, has just filed for insolvency.

Solarmax are a 20 year old Swiss inverter manufacturer who made fantastic quality inverters at a great price. It seems, with hindsight, that the price was a little too great!

If you were considering buying a Solarmax, then you should probably change brands so that your warranty is with a solvent manufacturer. Go for a big brand like SMA, Fronius, Sungrow, ABB, Zeversolar, Delta, Enphase or Solarbridge (feel free to leave any big brands I’ve missed out in the comments!)

If you already have a Solarmax on your home, then don’t panic! [Read more…]

Filed Under: Solar Inverters Tagged With: , ,

Does Sunpower + Solarbridge Microinverters = World’s Best Performing Solar System?

December 3, 2014 2017-04-20T10:34:47 by 24 Comments
sunpower and solarbridge logos

Sunpower & Solarbridge sitting in a tree K-I-S-S-I-N-G

A lot of Aussie solar installers really dislike microinverters. In fact many refuse to install them.

The main reason is a fear of inverter failure. The reasoning goes something like this: [Read more…]

Filed Under: Solar Panels Tagged With: , , , ,

Genius Or Bonkers? US solar company glueing solar to roofs to reduce installation costs.

November 28, 2014 2024-07-03T11:45:32 by 14 Comments

Innovation in solar never ceases to amaze me. But I can’t decide if this particular innovation is genius or totally nuts.

US solar panel manufacturer Lumeta Solar have announced a new 175W solar panel design that is super thin, with no frame, a junction box on top instead of underneath, and get this: double sided sticky tape on the back.  The idea is that you simply peel the backing off the tape and stick the panel to the roof.

lumeta solar panels

Lumeta Solar Panels stick on to the roof with adhesive. (Pic: Lumeta Solar)

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Solar Panels Tagged With: , ,

Coal vs Solar – Which is more space efficient?

November 19, 2014 2024-08-18T20:37:00 by 6 Comments

solar and a coal fired power station

This is a guest post by Greg Bell – which was conceived in the comments section of another post on this blog.

Take it away Greg:

——-

Some things we can say we know for sure about photovoltaics – the fuel is free, it’s quiet, and there are no moving parts. But other benefits are more controversial. Recently a claim was made to me that solar PV is actually more area efficient – that is, it generates more energy per hectare – than coal.

Specifically, the claim was

“The 1,600 megawatt brown coal Hazelwood Power Station and associated mine in Victoria covers 3,554 hectares. In a sunny location in Australia 20% efficient solar panels covering that area would produce more kilowatt-hours than Hazelwood’s average output.”

Let’s see if that’s true. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Big Solar

Are micro inverters & battery backup compatible?

November 5, 2014 2024-06-04T14:56:44 by 57 Comments
3 microinverters and 2 batteries

Can you combine micro inverters with batteries? Yes you can!

Can you use a micro inverter off grid? Or even for grid connect with batteries?

With the growth in the use of micro inverters, I’m starting to get more and more emails asking: can micro inverters be used in off grid (or hybrid) solar power systems? [Read more…]

Filed Under: Battery Storage, Solar Inverters Tagged With: , , , ,

LDK Solar Bankruptcy. Who will be next?

October 23, 2014 2014-10-26T09:06:16 by 25 Comments
LDK solar logo

Can LDK drag itself out of Bankruptcy?

Another large solar panel manufacturer appears to be in serious financial trouble. Bloomberg is reporting that LDK Solar, the world’s largest producer of wafers by capacity, has put it’s US operations into bankruptcy with over a billion dollars of debt. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Solar Panels Tagged With:

The Huge Companies That Rely On Commerical Solar

October 17, 2014 2017-04-20T10:46:54 by 1 Comment

Whilst commercial solar systems in Australia are steadily growing in number despite pushback from many electricity networks, the USA is forging ahead with enormous commercial systems.  America’s biggest companies, like Wal*mart, Costco and Macy’s are relying on solar power to reduce their bills. Here’s a great snapshot from the Sustainable Energy Industry Association which has some seriously impressive numbers on it.

When will Australia’s biggest companies (e.g. the miners) start installing more solar to power their operations?, Perhaps when the government stops subsidising their filthy diesel to the tune of about $8bn per year?

Anyway – all I can say is way to go USA! Here’s those amazing stats:

comercial solar infographic

Source: SEIA

Filed Under: Big Solar Tagged With: , ,

The Solar Council Aren’t Lying. Your Government Is.

August 22, 2014 2019-04-15T14:38:41 by 9 Comments

The government has painted a big bullseye on solar power.

They’ve got it in their sights. They want the renewable energy target (RET) repealed and they’ll do just about anything to make that happen.

Well, anything but come right out and say, “We’re against renewable energy because because we want to protect the fat wallets of our buddies in Big Energy”.

No, they can’t bring themselves to be that honest.

Instead, they’ve engaged in an almost comical game. A game where they attempt to justify their solar enmity with numbers.

The problem, of course, is that numbers don’t lie. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Economics Of Solar Tagged With:

Is Abbott about to axe the Solar Rebate (and push solar prices through the roof) ?

August 18, 2014 2014-12-21T21:36:36 by 84 Comments
tony abbott and renewables

What does Abbott have in store for solar?

Well, I woke up this morning to a beautiful spring day. Only to see an inbox full of emails telling me that, according to the Australian Financial Review, Tony Abbott has already decided to scrap the Renewable Energy Target (RET) no matter what his review panel advises.

Bummer!

Let’s see what the rest of the papers have to say on the matter. Well, the most recent article I can find, published at 9am, is telling me that the government maintains it has absolutely no intention of scrapping the RET.

Hmmmmm. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Solar Policy Tagged With:
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