There’s nothing better than a house surrounded by lush green trees. But will those trees make solar panels pointless, or will the shade they cast be manageable? Here’s how to find out.

Max from Sydney emailed this question to the support inbox last week:

“Hi, We have 3 large gums on a small property in Sydney. We are planning to build a 2nd floor and are hoping that gives us enough height to put solar on. Can you help us figure out if we can?”

Here are the drawings he sent through: [Read more…]

When I came to Australia from the UK in 2002, I was struck by how rare double storey houses were over here. Fast forward 18 years and, as medium density living becomes the new norm in the suburbs, double storey houses are popping up everywhere.

[Read more…]

Your grid voltage should average 230V. But it probably doesn’t.

This time last week I was at the 2019 All Energy Conference and Exhibition in Melbourne.  Or — if I have been lazy getting this article out — it was this time last week plus or minus one day.  Mostly plus.

I attended a group presentation on grid over voltage. It’s a growing problem.  When grid voltage rises too high, rooftop solar either reduces output or shuts down.  This not only costs solar households money but costs the country lives, as clean solar energy going to waste means more fossil fuel is burned, resulting in more pollution and environmental damage. [Read more…]

Is your company licensed to sell solar power in all the states & territories it operates in? Are you sure?

At SolarQuotes, we constantly get applications from solar companies across Australia hoping to join our network.

Today we received a promising application from New South Wales. It was a 3 month-old company, founded by two experienced installers. The installers had been operating as sole traders for many years and had decided to take the next step: forming a company. They had a website up and running and were out selling and installing solar, trading as the new company. They appeared to have lots of happy customers.

But I quickly spotted a showstopper of a problem with their application… [Read more…]

Power Of No Choice. AusNet are making the most of their monopoly.

Update 16th January 2020: Yesterday we were sent a screenshot of what a home owner in the Ausnet area were told by Ausnet customer support.  It states that Ausnet never allows solar homes to have a standard tariff in their area.  This is different from what they told me on the phone.  Here is the letter they sent:

The letter says the default tariff for solar households is NEE26 but they can change to another time-of-use tariff and mentions two specifically, NASN11S and NSP23.  I’ve put these three tariffs below exactly as they appear in Ausnet’s “Schedule of Network Use of System Tariffs” effective 1st January 2020:

Because that’s difficult to read, here’s a version I’ve shortened:

Looking at the NEE26 tariff it appears Ausnet is fine with a two rate tariff that that charges the same amount for peak and shoulder periods with a lower rate for off-peak periods.  This is likely to be the best tariff for solar households in the Ausnet area, but this is likely to change if a home battery is installed.

Note what you will actually have to pay depends on what plans retailers offer.  The Ausnet restrictions just limit the plans you can choose from to time-of-use tariff plans. 

AusNet Services — formally known as SP AusNet — is a Victorian Electricity distributor¹ that covers most of Victoria east of Melbourne, along with some of Melbourne’s outer suburbs.

If you get rooftop solar panels installed, AusNet will force you to change to a time-of-use tariff regardless of your personal preference.  So I guess your freedom to choose means nothing to them.  [Read more…]

When you get solar power installed you often need a new meter. The rules governing this meter are made by the local network. The electricity retailer organises installation and readings, then a third party company installs the meter. This can cause frustration when there is a metering issue – as Margie in Tasmania found out recently.

In this week’s post, we’re hoping we can help resolve a problem for a customer named Margie, who found herself falling between the cracks after installing new solar panels in Tasmania. [Read more…]

What are the rules about deposits when buying solar power systems?

This post is going to be light on words, but the topic is worth covering. It arose from a couple of questions SolarQuotes founder Finn Peacock asked me to research: what’s a “normal” start-work deposit to offer a solar PV installer, and is there deposit protection for consumers? [Read more…]

On a Friday afternoon early in July, I was pleased to hear the ABC’s current affairs radio program PM cover cyber-security in the small business sector. It’s impossible for a four-minute radio spot to be comprehensive, but building awareness is a slow process. [Read more…]

6.66 kW is the largest solar system most people are allowed (without resorting to export limiters). How many panels do you need to reach the magic number?

If someone casually asks me how much solar they should install, I may simply tell them they should fill their roof with as much capacity as they reasonably can.  But after learning the details, I often recommend installing as close to 6.66 kilowatts as possible. [Read more…]

Is the solar industry full of shonks like the ABC implied? Should you be worried?

Who saw the 7:30 report last night? Its lead story was questioning the safety and quality of the Australian solar power industry. Leigh Sales promised to reveal “the dark side of Australia’s solar obsession”. [Read more…]