Copper filled grooves in a piece of ancient Egyptian obsidian. (Image: The Irish Times)

A set of papers published in the International Journal of Antiquity last month has revealed ancient Egyptians may have had access to a technology that, in our modern world, has only taken off over the last few decades.  [Read more…]

This was our cartoon from way back in 2016 when Tesla originally launched their solar roof tiles. Three years later it may actually be ready, rebranded as the “Tesla Solarglass Roof”.

Persistence has paid off for Tesla, which surprised finance markets with a US$143 million GAAP profit for Q3 2019, on the back of its long-promised and finally-delivered production ramp-up. [Read more…]

Ronald went to the All-Energy Exhibition & Conference in Melbourne. Here’s what he stumbled across.

I just got back from the 2019 All Energy Conference and Exhibition in Melbourne.¹  While there I also snuck across to the the Energy Efficiency Expo next door.  Over the next couple of weeks I’ll write a few articles on what I learned, but for now I’ll just go over some highlights and show some pictures… [Read more…]

SA Power Networks plan to use dynamic export limits to allow more people to get rooftop solar power – whilst maximising allowable solar energy exports. Brilliant.

When the Australian Energy Market Commission (AEMC) released its Economic Regulatory Framework Review, “Integrating Distributed Energy Resources For The Grid Of The Future” (PDF here) last week, media reactions had a pessimistic, almost apocalyptic slant. [Read more…]

A couple of weeks ago, I took a look at a customer’s need to integrate his solar PV controller with his smart home system, and concluded that this industry needs to settle on standard protocols so systems can get smarter. [Read more…]

You’ve probably heard of mono and poly panels. Now there’s a third type: ‘cast-mono’. But what the hell is it?

Silicon is the Queen of solar power.  Some people say Coal is King, but I say our Queen can kick your King’s arse. [Read more…]

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…]

Another company who can help get solar on tenant’s roofs is the Gigawatt Project. Ronald looks over the details…

The Gigawatt Project is a Queensland company that helps put solar panels on the roofs of rental properties.  They give tenants some of the savings from rooftop solar power while giving landlords a good enough return to make installing it worthwhile.  In Queensland the Gigawatt Project can:

• Install a solar power system.
• Monitor tenant electricity use.
• Bill tenants for solar electricity they use at a rate less than the cost of grid electricity.  The bill is paid to the landlord.

[Read more…]

Virtual Powerline technology is due to disrupt the poles and wires business. Image Credit: BiTchain

The cornerstone of the new South Australian Liberal government’s energy policy, a new $740 million electricity interconnector with NSW, may be rendered obsolete before construction has even begun thanks to a new blockchain based ‘virtual powerline’ being built between the two states.  The technology was developed by the US company BiTchain and has already avoided the building of billions of dollars worth of transmission capacity between the United States and Canada. [Read more…]