Posts By SolarQuotes Founder Finn Peacock

Solar Subsidies : Let’s get the facts straight

June 30, 2011 2017-08-09T14:12:20 by Leave a Comment

Despite running a popular Solar Power website, whose revenue is seriously helped by generous Federal and State solar subsidies, it may surprise you to learn that I’m not a huge fan of government subsidy in any shape or form. Mainly because I have worked for the government and seen how inefficient they really are. Trust me it is frightening.

I would be happy for the Feds to completely scrap their solar subsidy, called Solar Credits, and let the economics of small scale solar stand on its own merit through innovative finance schemes designed by innovative Solar Installers. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Solar Policy Tagged With:

2 Reasons to be wary of Ultra Cheap Solar Deals

June 16, 2011 2014-01-05T18:49:14 by 1 Comment

Thanks to Mark for sending these pics in from his “Great Value” solar install…

In a hurry to install this boys?

That might hurt your efficiency…

Installed with love?

Filed Under: Solar Installation Tagged With: , ,

Solar Power Installation Tale of Woe

April 28, 2011 2014-11-10T13:12:08 by 4 Comments

I just received a long email in response to my blog post about what to watch out for with ultra cheap solar power systems.

After reading the email (published below) – It sounds to me (without knowing any other details) that the fundamental problem here may have been that the system was not properly designed by a CEC Accredited Solar Designer. (note: A CEC Accredited Solar Installer is not necessarily qualified as a Designer –  so always double check). If a CEC accredited designer had done the most basic calculations on this system initially – then the oversizing problem would have been avoided.

The moral of the story: Always ask to see the design document for the system you are about to invest thousands of dollars in. And make sure that that document is signed off by a real person who is CEC Accredited as a Solar Power System Designer.

Here’s the sorry tale as told by Phill in his email: [Read more…]

Filed Under: Solar Installation Tagged With:

Will Solar Power Save The Planet?

April 4, 2011 2014-01-05T21:07:29 by Leave a Comment

I suppose some would call me a “Greenie”.  Heck, I call myself that sometimes.

Like any good Aussie, I love the outdoors, the sunshine and the surf. I’m deeply grateful for the beauty and majesty of our planet. It pains me when I see it being brutalized, plundered or wasted in the name of laziness or greed.

And I do believe that we have a responsibility to be good stewards of the earth’s resources. I believe that a lot of the political and economic tension that our world currently faces could be reduced with more responsible use of the limited resources we have at our disposal.

And I believe solar power will play a central role in an improving the relationships with our political neighbours and our natural world.

But, I don’t believe solar power is the answer to all our problems. I don’t believe solar power is the great savior of our planet. I don’t believe solar power is right for everyone. I don’t believe we should make too big a deal of solar power.

Why not? Because it’s too easy. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Solar Panels Tagged With:

4 Ways to Know You’re Talking to a Solar Moron

March 14, 2011 2025-07-29T09:42:08 by 3 Comments

The title of this blog post is not exactly accurate. “Moron” implies that they don’t know any better. In actuality, most of the people who throw these lines DO know better.

Much better. But they still use these lines because they help them to sell more product. Which makes them much worse than morons. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Solar Installation Tagged With: , , , , ,

Solar Power Lie #1: “The profit margins in solar power make it a money-printing scam for all installers.”

March 2, 2011 2017-05-03T13:45:06 by Leave a Comment

I just got off the phone with a homeowner interested in solar power and here’s a snippet of what he was ranting about…

“The profit margins in solar power are bullsh%&t! They want to charge me $9000 (before RECS) when the wholesale price of the panels and inverter is only $4,000!  Even if it costs them $1000 to install, That’s still almost a 100% mark up! This is highway robbery! I’ll just wait until the prices come down and there is more competition to drive out the gougers.”

Solar Power Lie #1: “The profit margins in solar power make it a money-printing scam for all installers.” [Read more…]

Filed Under: Solar Installation Tagged With:

Got A Shaded Roof? Then don’t buy solar without a Suneye shade analysis.

February 10, 2011 2017-05-03T13:45:52 by 55 Comments

Shade is the number one enemy of a high performance solar power system.

If your roof has substantial shading between 9am and 3pm then installing solar panels is probably going to be a really bad investment.

If you are confident that your roof roof has absolutely no shading, then solar can be a great investment thanks to the current handouts by the Federal and State governments in terms of Solar Rebates and Solar Feed In Tariffs. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Solar Panels Tagged With: , , ,

BP Solar Panels come last in 2010 German Solar Panel Test

January 25, 2011 2017-05-03T13:47:43 by 4 Comments

 

A recent solar panel test by German outfit “The TEC Institute for Technical Innovations” which put 15 Solar Panels under identical conditions for a month had some surprising results.

The test measured the power output of the following brands of solar panels:

  • ANTARIS AS M 185 AI
  • CSI CS 5A 180 M
  • ULICA 180 (34) D-UL 800
  • Jiangyin Jetion JT 175 (35)
  • ANTARIS AS M 175 AI 1
  • SolarGate SG 2200
  • Yunnan Tianda TD 175 M5
  • 180 Sharp NU-180 E1
  • aleo S16
  • asola 185W/48
  • CSI CS6P-230P
  • Kyocera KC 175 GHT-2
  • Sym. Energy SE-M231
  • bpSolar 3210 N

Here are the results:

(click  here for full size image)

Basically the lesser known (and cheaper) brands like Ulica and the funny sounding Jiangyin Jetion produced more power in the test than the better known and generally more expensive brands such as Sharp, Kyocera and BP Solar in over their 1 month under the German Sun.

Of course your panels have to keep producing power over 25 or more years and the test doesn’t help measure the longevity of the panels, but the results are pretty interesting nonetheless.

Filed Under: Solar Panels Tagged With: ,

The truth about Solar Panel performance and temperature

January 21, 2011 2023-12-08T17:00:12 by 282 Comments

How does the Aussie heat affect your solar panel performance?

One of the main factors that makes Solar Power so popular over here (apart from the Aussie Pollies throwing wads of money at in in the form of Solar rebates and Solar Feed In Tariffs) is the fact that the Sun is so damn strong down here.

It’s not rocket science to work out why Solar Power hasn’t really taken off in less sunny climes like my homeland; grey, drizzly old England.

In fact the same 1.5kW system on a roof of my Mum’s quaint cottage in Northern England will produce 45% less energy than if it was on my roof here in Sunny Adelaide.

So does that mean the more sun the better, when it comes to generating Solar Power?

That would kind of make sense, right?

Unfortunately, as with most things in this life, it is a bit more complicated than that. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Solar Panels

Are you getting the best Solar Panels? The Top 10 Things To Check

January 10, 2011 2025-07-29T10:10:01 by 352 Comments
the best solar panels

How do you know if they are going to perform on your roof?

There are a bewildering array of solar panel brands out there. How do you sort the wheat from the solar chaff and be sure you are getting the best solar panels for your roof?

My advice is go thru the spec sheet for each panel and judge them on the following criteria.

If you haven’t got a spec sheet, then get another quote!

If the spec sheet combined with the quote doesn’t have the answers, call up the solar supplier and ask. If they don’t know the answers, that’s a bad sign.

The Top 10 Criteria [Read more…]

Filed Under: Solar Panels Tagged With: ,
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