Posts By SolarQuotes Founder Finn Peacock

Are “Munchen Solar Panels” Actually German? And Are They Any Good?

September 18, 2013 2014-01-05T18:11:39 by 8 Comments
A German and Chinese Dude

Are Munchen Panels German or Chinese or Both?

Recently I’ve been getting a lot of emails along the lines of:

Hey Finn, Have you ever heard of Munchen Solar Panels? Are they any good? I really want “German Engineered” Panels and these look better than any of that Chinese engineered rubbish!

Well, the short answer is this: “Munchen Solar? Never heard of them. (and btw there are some great Chinese panels out there..)”

But after the quadzillionth email asking the same thing, I thought I’d do some digging to try and discover why there is a sudden spike in interest for these I’ve-never-heard-of-them-before German sounding solar panels. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Solar Panels Tagged With: ,

Revealed: The Top (and Bottom) Rated Solar Companies across Australia

September 2, 2013 2023-07-05T17:13:50 by 120 Comments
Customer ratings from over 11,000 reviews revealed!

Customer ratings from over 11,000 reviews revealed!

Since I started this humble website back in 2009 (when solar panels cost $1000 each!), over 11,000 solar powered Aussies have kindly left reviews of their solar installation experience online for all to see.

At the time of writing SolarQuotes.com.au has 11,341 reviews of 875 different solar companies online.

So I thought it was about time we had some fun, and do some analysis to discover the top-rated solar companies (as rated by their customers).

 

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Solar Installation Tagged With:

Think solar is expensive? Be glad you’re not American!

July 5, 2013 2017-04-25T10:41:43 by 1 Comment

Our American friends may get dirt cheap Nike runners, Levis jeans and iTunes downloads compared to us Aussies, but at least we can get some comfort from the fact that our solar systems are a helluva lot cheaper than theirs!

This infographic from those nice people at US site lineshapespace.com does a great job of spruiking the benefits of solar power, but also gives an insight into just how cheap Aussie solar is.

A big part of the price discrepancy is that the permit system for solar power is a bureaucratic nightmare in America. If you buy a 3kW solar system in the US you could pay $12,000 for it, of which $3,000 is permit paperwork! Compare that to about $5,000 in Australia of which about $0 is permit paperwork. In most states in Oz your installer simply fills in a 2 minute form online and gets ‘permission to connect’ within a day or so.

Here;’s the lovely infographic in all its glory – just be aware that the prices only apply to the US! [Read more…]

Filed Under: Solar Installation Tagged With: , , ,

South Australia Feed In Tariff Ends In September. What you need to know.

July 3, 2013 2024-01-30T19:59:44 by 59 Comments

If you’ve opened any South Australian newspapers recently you’ve probably seen adverts from solar power installers screaming about the “IMMINENT REDUCTION IN THE SOUTH AUSTRALIA FEED IN TARIFF!!!”.

Regular readers of this blog will know that I’m not one to bombard you with pushy sales spiel, or use impending rebate cuts to pressure anyone into buying solar.

But what I will do is calmly go through the facts about the looming SA Feed In tariff reduction, and crunch a few numbers, so you can decide if you want to get in on the SA solar action before the 30 September 2013 deadline that a lot of solar companies are getting all worked up about.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Solar Installation Tagged With: ,

The Shocking Truth About Commercial Solar

June 5, 2013 2014-01-05T18:17:38 by 175 Comments
solar install

Why don’t more SMEs have solar on their roof?

OK, I admit it –  that was a headline designed to get your attention if you own or operate a small or medium sized business (I’m also a sucker for bad puns).

But it’s just that I feel the need to shout from the rooftops about the insane returns that SMEs can get from commercial solar right now due to the combination of:

  • plummeting solar panel prices,
  • rocketing commercial electricity tariffs
  • and the typical electricity use profile of most SMEs.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Solar Installation Tagged With: ,

The Economics Of Solar Power in Australia [infographic]

May 29, 2013 2017-04-25T10:42:40 by 68 Comments

I put this together to try and get across just how economically compelling solar power is if you look at the cost of electricity over 20 years instead of simply focussing on the up front cost.

If you can get good financing, solar power is an economic no-brainer for most households.

solar infographic

Filed Under: Economics Of Solar Tagged With:

Solar Inverter Sizing: Don’t violate the new CEC guidelines!

May 28, 2013 2019-06-19T10:38:41 by 64 Comments
solar inverter and panels

How many panels can you connect to your inverter?

It is common practice, when designing a solar system, to ‘undersize’ the solar inverter, by connecting more panels than the inverter appears to be rated for.

This can freak out some solar customers when they see, for example 3.25kW of panels proposed to be connected to a 3kW inverter in their solar quote.

Confused?

Let me explain the nuances of solar inverter sizing… [Read more…]

Filed Under: Solar Inverters

Aurora Inverters sold to Swiss giant for a cool $1Billion. SMA should be worried…

April 24, 2013 2015-08-11T10:37:35 by 9 Comments
an aurora inverter surrounded by cash

Power-One has been sold to ABB for $1B

I’m a big fan of Aurora inverters. These thoroughbred Italian inverters are manufactured by a company called Power-One and are the second best selling inverters on the planet. (The best selling are SMA in case you didn’t know)

So news of Power-One being sold, lock, stock and barrel to Swiss engineering conglomerate ABB, made me sit up and take notice.

Why?

Two reasons: [Read more…]

Filed Under: Solar Inverters Tagged With: ,

Trina Solar Panel Review Shows Great Performance in Hot Aussie Conditions

April 5, 2013 2017-11-10T13:33:29 by 84 Comments
trina solar logo and checksheet

The latest Trina solar panel review ticks a lot of boxes

Thinking of putting Trina solar panels on your roof? Then finding a review that you can trust is critical. After all, unless you are an uber solar geek like me you probably have never heard of the Trina brand before (they are one of the biggest solar panel manufacturers on the planet by the way).

Reliable, honest solar panel reviews are very hard to come by. Why? Firstly because properly testing a solar panel takes at least a year – so that you get all the seasons. Secondly it takes a big investment in carefully calibrated measurement hardware. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Solar Panels Tagged With: , ,

Grand Designs + Solar Panels = Epic Fail

March 27, 2013 2017-04-25T11:31:33 by 197 Comments
Grand Designs Logo with FAIL stamp

Note to Grand Designs: “Do your bloody homework!”

Today’s top solar tip:

Please don’t look to Kevin McCloud or Grand Designs for advice on solar power!

Now don’t get me wrong, I love Kevin McCloud, he seems like a top bloke. And Grand Designs is one of the few things I actually watch occasionally on the gogglebox.

But they really need to do their research when it comes to solar.

The UK episode on ABC1 last week showed that they don’t have a freaking clue about solar power. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Solar Installation Tagged With: , ,
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