Posts By Ronald Brakels, Author & Fact-Checker At SolarQuotes

Trump Solar Tariffs — Evil, But Not As Evil As They Could Be

January 24, 2018 2018-01-24T17:09:12 by 7 Comments

The United States has announced import tariffs of 30% will apply to all imported solar panels but a yearly quota of 2.5 gigawatts of imported solar cells, or enough to make around 9 million panels, is allowed.  Just how much the United State’s Figurehead in Chief, Donald Trump, had to do with this decision I don’t know, but when you vote in someone who is only good for being blamed you may as well get as much mileage out of that as possible. So they will be forevermore known as the Trump solar tariffs and that’s definitely what they’re being called in the news. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Solar Policy Tagged With:

Black Solar Panels: Is Lower Efficiency Worth The Sexy?

January 19, 2018 2025-09-04T10:09:21 by 23 Comments
black solar panels

Black solar panels in Alice Springs. Black frame, black cells, black backsheet. Photo Credit: Finn

Black Solar Panels Are Hot!  This Reduces Efficiency.

I want you to think about someone you know who has rooftop solar.  It doesn’t matter who.  It could be a friend, a relative, or that handsome bearded man you’ve been stalking for months — it doesn’t matter.  I want you to think about where they live.  Picture their home in your mind’s eye and then answer these two questions: [Read more…]

Filed Under: Solar Panels

Want Hundreds Of Dollars Worth Of Cool Cash?  Buy An Energy Efficient Fridge

January 16, 2018 2025-12-18T16:15:51 by 39 Comments
fridge

Ronald’s fridge yesterday.

Disaster has struck the Brakels household! And I’m not talking about a minor disaster like a son or daughter breaking a leg.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Electricity Prices Tagged With:

Australian Standards Must Be Free For The Benefit Of Education, Business And The World.

January 11, 2018 2024-01-25T11:36:48 by 29 Comments
australian solar standards and freddie

Australian Standards must break free. Charging hundreds of dollars per standard is nuttier than wearing high heels while vacuuming.

People say I have no standards, but that’s only true in a legal sense.  You see, I do have access to Australian Standards that have been purchased by my employer, SolarQuotes.  While these particular standards have a heavy focus on how not to kill people when mucking around with electricity, there lots of other ones covering almost everything you can think of – and quite a few things you’d be very unlikely to think of.   [Read more…]

Filed Under: Solar Policy

Rooftop Solar And Exclusion Zones: Where Solar Panels Dare Not Go

January 4, 2018 2024-10-03T09:01:16 by 47 Comments
solar panel exclusion zones

How close to the edge of the roof should your solar panels go?

In the past I’ve written about solar panel clamping zones which determine where, on a solar panel’s edge, you can place the clamps that attach the modules to their mounting rails.  What I didn’t do was go into just where on a roof solar panels can and can’t be installed. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Solar Installation

Bifacial Solar Panels May — Straight Up — Dominate Australian Solar Farms

December 28, 2017 2024-08-20T12:24:02 by 4 Comments
perpendicular

Are vertical solar panels the best orientation for new Australian solar farms?

Last week I wrote about double glass bifacial panels that are able to use light coming from the front and behind, while on Christmas Eve I mentioned large scale solar farms are taking off in Australia.  Because it’s the season for togetherness, I thought maybe we could put these two things together and make a bifacial solar farm.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Big Solar

Merry Christmas And A Happy Old Year

December 24, 2017 2024-01-25T13:47:20 by 9 Comments

Well, another year is almost gone and so to everyone I say, Merry Christmas and a Happy Old Year! [Read more…]

Filed Under: Solar Policy

Double Glass, Glass On Glass, and Bifacial Panels — What The Hell Are They?

December 21, 2017 2017-12-22T14:25:17 by 12 Comments

bifacial panel installer

Glass is a vital part of almost every solar panel installed on Australian roofs.  The sheets of glass used to protect solar cells are long lasting, non-reactive, very tough, and — above all else — it’s transparent.  As a result glass functions far better than wood, cheese, iron, or mucus.  [Read more…]

Filed Under: Solar Innovations

The Solar Panel Warranty Paradox

December 18, 2017 2017-12-18T13:54:21 by 13 Comments
solar panel warranty paradox

Presenting “Ronald’s Solar Panel Warranty Paradox™ “. Or what happens when you spend too much time thinking about solar panels and not enough time playing Dungeons & Dragons.

Why Solar Panel Warranties Are Less Important Than You May Think

I’ve written one or two blog articles over the years and if you’ve happen to have seen them, you may have noticed I have a thing about solar panel warranties.  Specifically, I like ’em long.  The longer the better.  It’s a little peccadillo of mine.  Because of my predilection for impressive warranties you could, quite understandably, reach the erroneous conclusion that I think a good solar panel warranty is a valuable thing for a household to have.  But this is not the case. I think for all practical purposes most solar panel warranties will be almost worthless. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Solar Panels Tagged With:

Should you scrap your 1.5kW solar and replace it with a bigger system?

December 13, 2017 2024-01-25T16:16:39 by 54 Comments
solar rag and bone man

Should you bite the bullet and scrap your 1.5kW solar system so you can fit a bigger system on your roof?

Five to eight years ago, just as the Australian solar industry was getting underway, many people locked in high feed in tariffs for their new, cutting-edge solar power systems.  For example, many people in Victoria with systems installed before 2012 are now getting 71.3 cents per kilowatt-hour of solar electricity exported into the grid.  And they will continue to receive this for almost 7 more years. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Economics Of Solar
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