Posts By SolarQuotes Founder Finn Peacock

Fact Checking An SA Government Press Release Spruiking Their Battery Subsidy

March 26, 2019 2019-03-26T16:24:41 by 26 Comments

SA home battery scheme

Last Sunday the South Australian State Government issued a press release spruiking its Home Battery Scheme.

It is clearly aimed at getting more South Australians to fork over thousands of dollars for a home battery, no doubt triggered by the fact that – at the current run rate – it will take 15 years for them to flog all 40,000 subsidies, despite throwing about $100,000 per month at advertising the Home Battery Scheme.

This will be a very simple blog post. I will simply rate each paragraph of the press release on my humble opinion of its truthfulness. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Battery Storage

SolarQuotes Vodcast Episode 9: The Approved Solar Retailer Edition

March 26, 2019 2019-03-26T10:54:24 by 3 Comments

Round 9 of the SolarQuotes Vodcast, where Ronald and I address the worrying development of the CEC Approved Solar Retailer Scheme (ASR) becoming effectively mandatory in Victoria, plus other recent solar news. [Read more…]

Filed Under: General Solar & Storage News

Off-Site Solar Scheme: Don’t Buy AGL’s Golden Handcuffs

March 25, 2019 2019-03-26T08:41:15 by 11 Comments
AGL Offsite Solar - Solar Power For Renters

Tenants who ‘invest’ in AGL’s Offsite Solar are emotionally handcuffed to their tariffs for 7 years

If you are lucky enough to own an unshaded roof over your head, solar power is a no brainer.

Millions of homeowners have realised this and, for those who have done it right, they are living a life free of energy bill worries for the foreseeable future.

But what about the 30% of Australians who rent? They are seemingly stuck having to pay electricity retailers for overpriced, dirty grid electricity. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Solar Innovations

SolarQuotes Vodcast Episode 8: Ronald On Drugs & Chocolate

March 18, 2019 2019-03-18T15:21:18 by Leave a Comment

In the 8th instalment of the SolarQuotes Vodcast, Ronald and Finn discuss taking drugs, eating chocolate and of course solar power stuff. Click on the timestamp to go to that part of the video. [Read more…]

Filed Under: General Solar & Storage News

SolarQuotes Vodcast #7 : Finn Gets In Trouble With The Police

March 12, 2019 2019-03-12T11:26:25 by 1 Comment

In this episode:

0:17 We discuss why the CEC Approved Solar Retailer Scheme might be about to enter a dangerous new phase.

0:17 Ronald dobs me in for getting a police caution on the streets of Adelaide.

And then we go through the last 7 days of solar news on the blog. [Read more…]

Filed Under: General Solar & Storage News

Making Approved Solar Retailer Status Mandatory in Victoria Would Be Disastrous

March 12, 2019 2019-03-14T17:49:01 by 20 Comments

Approved Solar Retailers In Victoria

In Orwell’s Animal Farm, animals were told that doing extra work was voluntary, yet those who didn’t volunteer got their rations reduced.

In November 2013 the Clean Energy Council told solar companies that becoming an Approved Solar Retailer (ASR), which requires extra work, was voluntary. But in 2018  solar companies that had not signed up started to lose their opportunity to benefit from participation in state government solar rebate and zero interest loan schemes.

Beware of schemes that claim to be voluntary but force you into applying by other means. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Solar Policy

SolarQuotes Vodcast Episode #6

March 6, 2019 2019-03-06T18:43:36 by Leave a Comment

Join Ronald and I from the SolarQuotes office in Adelaide CBD where we discuss the previous week’s happenings on the blog: [Read more…]

Filed Under: General Solar & Storage News

SolarQuotes Vodcast Episode #5

February 25, 2019 2019-02-25T16:50:43 by 2 Comments

Last Friday Ronald and I sat down in SQHQ to discuss the previous 7 days on the blog. Here are the posts we discussed, along with links to the relevant place in the video. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Battery Storage

A Solar Installer Questioned SolarEdge’s Reliability And SolarEdge Is Furious

February 5, 2019 2019-02-07T15:58:51 by
angry man pointing at review

Spat over inverter review intensifies as SolarEdge go legal.

At 3:15pm on Christmas Eve, when most Australian families were kicking back with a drink and looking forward to at least 2 days with family, friends and no work worries, Mark Cavanagh1, owner of the highly regarded solar installation company, MC Electrical2 received a five page letter from lawyers acting for $1.6 billion Israeli inverter manufacturer, SolarEdge. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Solar Inverters

How To Power Through A Heatwave – In Comfort – On 100% Solar Energy

February 1, 2019 2019-02-02T09:50:04 by 58 Comments
solar power and heatwaves

Is it possible to keep a family home comfortable in an extreme heatwave using only solar energy? Yes.

Last week I received a phone call from an ABC journalist. Unfortunately he didn’t want to invite me on Gruen to talk about the joys of solar advertising, or book Ronald & Tonto23 to perform on Mad As Hell. Rather, he’d been told that solar panels lose efficiency when it gets hot, and was keen to learn more. Specifically, he wondered how much solar panel efficiency would be lost if the temperature hit 45º during the heatwave – as forecast for the following day. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Solar Panels
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