Every year we publish the Installer’s Choice Awards, and every year the same two objections turn up in the comments within about four milliseconds.
From My Wardrobe To A Million Quotes: What’s Changed (And What Hasn’t)
This week SolarQuotes ticked over one million quote requests. Somewhere in a database is customer number one1, and somewhere in the queue right now is customer number one million.
Most Battery Owners Passed On VPPs. Offer Them Something Better.
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.
Best Home Battery In Australia 2026: Installer’s Choice Awards
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.
[Read more…]
The ACCC Is Fighting Battery Cowboys Backwards
Last week the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) published a 114 page report on the electricity market which uncovered the following insights:
- People bought lots of batteries after the battery rebate came out
- People with batteries have lower bills than people without
- People on VPPs have even lower bills.
Best Solar Inverters In Australia 2026: Installer’s Choice Awards
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.
[Read more…]
Don’t Let An Uber Driver Install Your Solar
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.
I Thought Soccer Parents Were Angry. Then Solar Sharer Happened.
July 6, 2026 2026-07-14T11:42:29 by
Up until last week, the angriest Australians I’d ever experienced were the parents at under-10s soccer. [Read more…]
Best Solar Panels In Australia 2026: Installer’s Choice Awards
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.”
[Read more…]
Intersolar 2026: Europe’s Biggest Solar Show, In A City That Couldn’t Keep Cool
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).
RSS - Posts
Currently Raging Debates: