We’ll miss you Bosch Solar
Yesterday was a really sad day for fans of top-of-the-range solar panels. German giant Bosch announced that it could no longer bear to haemorrhage any more cash from its solar division. So it is going to shut the whole shebang down ASAP. [Read more…]
Panel prices have dropped 80% in 4 years – can they get any cheaper?
If you want to buy some absolute junk you can currently buy bottom end, ultra cheap solar panels for $0.50 per Watt. But I wouldn’t recommend it. Unless you want to risk your roof turning into a giant barbecue.
Most solar panel factories have been losing money hand over fist for at least the last couple of years. Many of the largest companies have lost many hundreds of millions. This has led many observers to believe that solar panel manufacturers will have to start raising prices in order to survive. In fact there is evidence of this starting to happen with panel prices rising slightly in the first 2 months of 2013.
So is this the end of dirt cheap solar panels? [Read more…]
What warranty are you really getting?
One of the most important things you have to watch out for when buying solar is the warranties that are offered. All too often people end up going with a cowboy firm because they have been reassured by their “25 year solar panel warranty”. What many people don’t realise is that, in reality, this warranty can be worthless. You really need to understand how solar warranties work when you are buying a system that is designed to last 30 years or more, so you can separate the worthless promises from the genuine guarantees… [Read more…]
Is this what the windows of the future will look like? Picture: OxfordPV
Imagine, in a time in the not-too-distant future, when tall office buildings will have their photovoltaics built into their structure. Tall skyscrapers for example will provide their own energy needs through their glass windows and frontage. More than that, the buildings will be pumping clean alternative energy back into the power grid.
A bit far fetched I hear you say, perhaps your correspondent needs a Bex and a good lie down? [Read more…]
Crunching the numbers on your solar panels’ performance is fun!
One from the mailbag today that is bound to please fellow solar nerds:
Back to the absolute solar basics today on the SQ blog!
In this video I describe the 3 things you need to understand about your roof before buying a solar power system.
And here’s the transcript if my pink shirt gets too much for you: [Read more…]
Solar Panel production produces large quantities of toxic waste. Where does that waste go?
If you are looking to invest in solar panels for environmental reasons, you’ll be pleased to know that, the solar electricity you will get from those panels will be 40 to 50 times less carbon intensive than electricity generated from coal.
But before you buy those solar panels and start basking in their green glow, you should be aware that the environmental impact of those panels might not be all good news. [Read more…]
Nanosilicon contacts like these can go underneath the solar cell instead of on top where they block some of the sunlight. Pic: Bandgap Engineering
It must be really depressing being a solar nark these days. With the increased popularity of solar power throughout Australia and the world, and regular announcements of improvements in technology, better storage capacity and cheaper prices, solar power is going through the roof (or on the roof). The more the narks whine about what they see as the limited capacity of solar, the more breakthroughs in technology occur to push back the possibilities of clean, solar, renewable energy future for our world. [Read more…]
One steaming pile of Solar BS that you hear all the time from worst sales people in this industry – who will feed you any line to get a sale – is that polycrystalline panels are better than monocrystalline solar panels, or vice versa.
In this video I finally get off my chest why you should avoid anyone spouting such drivel:
Transcript follows if you don’t like listening to angry, sweary solar geeks, and I go into great detail about the two technologies over on the main site:
Spinach doesn’t only make Popeye kick ass – it might help make dirt cheap solar panels too.
We cover quite a bit in this column in our quest to bring you (the reader) up to speed on the latest in solar policy, news and development. From solar cars, to government policy (or lack of) to the latest solar technology to hit our shores. But we’ve yet to talk vegetables, their obvious benefits and how this relates to solar power. This week we change all that. [Read more…]
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