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

The Billionaire’s Gambit – Why we should politely decline.

March 13, 2017 2024-01-25T13:16:39 by 31 Comments

 

Note from Finn:

This post is Ronald’s considered opinion of Elon Musk’s offer. My personal opinion (with caveats) is that we should accept the offer. I’ll publish a post later today with my reasoning.

 

Elon Musk has offered to sell South Australia large scale Tesla battery storage of 100 megawatt-hours or more.  He says it will cost $250 US dollars at the “pack level” per kilowatt-hour which is around $333 at today’s exchange rate.  What’s more, he has promised it will be installed within 100 days of the contract being signed or it’s free.

This may be the best offer that has ever been made for large scale lithium battery storage.  But despite the small chance we would get it for free, I think our reply should be a polite, “No thank you.”

South Australia doesn’t need a large amount of battery storage to solve its current electricity supply problems and so there are better alternatives to spend the money on.  If in the future it turns out it would be useful we can get it then and it should be even cheaper. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Battery Storage Tagged With: , , ,

SunPower And SMA Choose To (Very Discreetly) Manufacture In China

March 7, 2017 2017-09-01T17:56:46 by 20 Comments

 

sma sunpower Chinese welcome

High end manufacturers SunPower And SMA have chosen to manufacture in China. But they aren’t exactly advertising the fact.

China produces far more solar panels, far more solar inverters, and god knows how many more batteries than any other country in existence.  China has been called the workshop of the world1 and has repeatedly shown itself to be capable of producing high quality, reliable goods. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Economics Of Solar Tagged With: , , ,

Tesla Kills Off DC Powerwall 2. AC Powerwall Delayed

March 2, 2017 2023-01-31T11:40:17 by 53 Comments
powerwall 2 DC is dead

DC’s not pinin! DC’s passed on! This battery system is no more! DC has ceased to be! It has expired and gone to meet its maker! DC’s kicked the bucket! DC has shuffled off its Tesla coil, run down the charge, and joined the bleedin’ choir invisible! THIS IS AN EX-BATTERY!

I was just relaxing by listening to the musical version of the Massacre of Mankind when I suddenly got some news from the solar grapevine1 concerning the Tesla Powerwall 2.  To cut a short story even shorter:

The DC version of the Powerwall 2 is dead!

Long live the AC version!

If it ever gets here!

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Battery Storage Tagged With: , ,

Solar Panel Maintenance: How often should they be inspected?

February 20, 2017 2024-01-25T07:05:50 by 31 Comments

Some defects found when inspecting badly installed solar. If you suspect your system was shoddily installed, you should book an inspection ASAP. But how often should your system be maintained/inspected if you used a reputable installer?

Is getting your panels inspected worth the expense? In the end, it comes down to how safe you really consider your rooftop solar to be. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Solar Installation Tagged With: , ,

Tesla Powerwall 2 Vs Ampetus Super Lithium

February 16, 2017 2024-01-30T19:57:19 by 45 Comments
Ironman vs superman

Can Ampetus’ Super Lithium battery beat Elon’s Powerwall 2?

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Note: As of 29 May 2018 Ampetus Energy Pty Limited have been placed in liquidation

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A lot of attention has been paid to the Tesla Powerwall 2 lately on account of how it promises to dramatically cut the cost of home battery storage.  And when I wrote “promises” I chose that word carefully on account of how that’s all we got at the moment.  We won’t know what it’s capable of until next month when Tesla promises the first installations will be done. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Battery Storage Tagged With: ,

Blackouts In SA While Generators Stand Idle & Politicians Bicker

February 10, 2017 2017-04-18T14:53:51 by 15 Comments
Barnaby Joyce Coal Heatwave

Joyce titters, Weatherill gets mad, Australia cooks.

Late on Wednesday afternoon, in the middle of a heatwave, electricity was cut off to roughly 90,000 Adelaide properties for around 45 minutes.

Because I have access to a working TV at the moment1 I have seen an implausible number of people shitting bricks over this incident.  So many bricks I could use them to build a Great Wall of South Australia.  I’m sure it would be effective at keeping foreigners out.  After all, who’d want to enter a state surrounded by shitty bricks?

To all the people who are acting like this is some sort of unprecedented event2, I have to ask which bloody country do you live in?  Rolling blackouts during heatwaves in Australia are not uncommon and have occurred in every mainland state, including those that are almost entirely powered by coal.

But for those who are complaining for the right reasons, your anger is bloody well justified. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Electricity Prices Tagged With: ,

An Apology To Australian Premium Solar

February 1, 2017 2017-04-18T14:57:26 by 15 Comments

Sorry can be the hardest word.

I am writing this article to apologize to Australian Premium Solar, also known as APS.

On the 20th of January this year I wrote an article entitled, “Australian Premium Solar Turn A 30 Year Warranty Into A One Year Warranty.”

In the article I did the following:

  • I described the APS warranty as “horrible”.
  • I said that unnecessary and expensive inspections are required to maintain the APS warranty.
  • I advised people not to use APS panels.

I of course apologize for none of that, as I still believe it all to be true. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Solar Panels Tagged With: , , ,

Despite What The Coalition Says Or Doesn’t Say, The “Solar Rebate” Won’t End Soon

January 27, 2017 2017-07-06T11:23:12 by 9 Comments

Will they scrap the Renewable Energy Target (and by extension the ‘Solar Rebate’) or won’t they?

The Australian newspaper has reported that a couple of Coalition MPs have said Australia should scrap its Renewable Energy Target (RET) if Donald Trump dumps the United States’ commitment to the Paris climate agreement. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Solar Policy Tagged With: , ,

Australian Premium Solar Turn A 30 Year Warranty Into A One Year Warranty

January 20, 2017 2017-04-18T15:02:07 by 8 Comments
ASP Australian Premium Solar

Australian Premium Solar. Not made in Australia and not Premium. (Screenshot from now-deleted APS Youtube video: Caution-tape is mine)

Australian Premium Solar is a company that sells solar panels with a warranty that is truly exceptional and sets them apart from all other panels on the market. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Solar Panels Tagged With: ,

What Everybody Ought to Know About Solar Panels And The Environment

January 11, 2017 2017-07-18T14:31:54 by 5 Comments

I think fossil fuels are great. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Solar and the Environment Tagged With:
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