If you live in Adelaide and would like to hear about a 100% renewable powered future then come along and say hi next Wednesday At UniSA:
Hybrid Solar Too?
Please note: this post was written in 2012 and is way out of date.
>>> Please visit this page on solar batteries, which is constantly updated. <<<
In my previous blog post on hybrid solar systems (aka grid connect with battery backup) I promised to follow up with a post that went into more detail on the costs and give examples of inverter hardware that can be used to make such a beast.
I’ve realised that if I go into the costs and paybacks then this blog post may be longer than War and Peace. So in this post I’ll cover the hardware and I’ll save the financials for next time.
As I said in the previous post, your motivation for spending more on a hybrid solar system will likely be either: [Read more…]
Don’t fall for it!
I’m angry.
I get a lot of emails asking for me to look over quotes. I try to answer every one. Sometimes it takes a couple of weeks to reply, but generally I manage to reply.
Tonight I got 3 emails in a row with quotes from 3 separate companies which all appeared to be trying the same trick. They appear to be deceiving the customer into thinking they are getting a great deal and then hitting them with a bill for thousands more than the quoted price when the system is installed.
I love the solar industry, and to see these guys operating like this makes me so freaking angry I want to scream! [Read more…]
Batteries + Solar?
Note: This post was written in 2012 and is way out of date.
>>> Please read this post on solar batteries for the latest information. <<<
A few weeks ago I blogged about my mate who really hates his electricity company. In fact he hates them so much he wanted his new house to have an expensive off grid solar system with battery backup, diesel genset, the works.
I blogged how the cost of going off grid with solar would be over $50,000 compared to about $12,000 for a standard, grid connect 5kW system and that it would be economically barmy to go completely off grid if your home already has a connection to the grid which you can use.
The German press has just announced that one of my favourite solar companies plans to file for insolvency tomorrow (April 4th).
Dirt is one of 5 losses
Is your new solar system producing the power output it should?Â
A very common question I get from people who have just got a new solar power system is: “Now the solar panels are on my roof, how do I know what the solar system output should be?”.
The solar power system owners are usually a bit concerned because they have bought, for example, a  5kW system but their inverter is telling them that they only got 4kW of peak power  yesterday! Where’s the missing 1kW? Most people expect a 5kW solar system output!
Don’t confuse kW and kWh. It matters!
One of the most common sources of confusion I encounter when talking to non-electrical people about solar power is related to the terms kW and kWh. What do they stand for? What do they mean? And what’s the difference between the two? Watch the video, or read below to find out…
Folks who are really confused also throw the term “kilowatt/hour” into the mix. I’ll deal with that doozy in this footnote1.
Please excuse this post if you think I am explaining the bleeding obvious! But I think it is vital to write a post that describes these key units of electricity in a way that requires zero prior knowledge of anything electricity-related.
So here is my humble attempt to answer the question:
Chinese Sungrow Vs German SMA Inverters: Which ones are best?
Note: This post is just one opinion on Sungrow Inverters. Click here for lots of Customer Reviews of Sungrow Inverters to see how they have performed in Australian homes over the last few years.
If you are considering buying a Sungrow Inverter over an SMA inverter – then you should also check out customers’ SMAÂ reviews. You’ll see that, in practice, SMA inverters are more reliable. This is to be expected, since SMA are double the price of a Sungrow!
Now back to the post…
Yesterday I received my latest issue of the solar industry bible, Photon International  via airmail all the way from Germany. Whilst many people may get excited by the latest issue of Top Gear Australia magazine or Better Homes & Gardens, I’m one of those odd people that gets my kicks looking through the latest solar panel and inverter specs.
The Samil Inverter got a great review in the German Photon Magazine in August 2011
Samil Inverters are very popular in Australia. They are great value, and have great specifications on paper. However I get a lot of emails asking me if this Chinese made solar inverter is any good.
It is a fair question. The inverters are a lot cheaper than their German made competition (like SMA), and are a relatively new player in the market. Plus there are a lot of solar salespeople out there that are peddling the (somewhat xenophobic) line that all Chinese made solar components are crap.
So what’s the truth? Are Samil Inverters any good? [Read more…]
Solar Power is a very new and very fast growing industry. That makes it an exciting thing to be part of, and attracts a lot of interesting, enthusiastic and hard working people, most of whom believe passionately in what they are selling.
Unfortunately it also attracts people and companies that appear to have no other motive than to make as much cash as possible in as short a period of time as possible. Now there is nothing at all wrong with trying to maximise the profitability of your business. That’s just good business. But if you are maximising your short term profits by throwing your ethics out of the window, then that is wrong, dumb and short sighted. In the 21st century your actions will catch up with you.
That is one of the main reasons I started collecting Solar Installer Reviews.
Over the past 4 years, I’ve found that the common theme amongst the bad ‘uns in the Solar Power game seems to be their old school, hard sell, sales tactics. If you’ve ever been cold called by a solar power company knocking on your door, you’ll probably recognise some of these tactics. I personally believe these tactics are wrong, counter productive, insulting to the customer and have no place in this industry. See if you agree:
Finn Peacock (RSS) (338)
Ronald Brakels (RSS) (505)
Michael Bloch (RSS) (3303)
Staff Writer (RSS) (261)
Richard Chirgwin (RSS) (159)
Trevor Glen (RSS) (1)
Anthony Bennett (RSS) (195)
Kim Wainwright (RSS) (78)
Pat Southwell (RSS) (18)
Neerav Bhatt (RSS) (7)
Max Opray (RSS) (28)
Toby Hagon (RSS) (1)
Baran Yildiz (RSS) (1)
Tim Johnston (RSS) (1)
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