For three years now, we’ve asked our network of 500+ solar installers what brands of solar panels they’d choose to install on their own homes. [Read more…]

Solar panel temperature is typically at least 20ºC above ambient temperature.

Solar panel output is hurt by heat. The hotter they are, the lower their efficiency. This seems like a major drawback for something deliberately exposed to the Australian sun. In practice, it’s not something anyone with a solar power system needs to worry about. This is because our hottest days … usually have the most sunshine. [Read more…]

Breaking the infamous ‘133% / 75% Solar Oversize Rule’ won’t get you in trouble if you add a battery. Or will it?

It depends on who you ask… [Read more…]

Shade is bad for solar panels. They work by changing light energy into electrical energy, so any shade reduces output.  This makes it a bad idea to locate panels anywhere they’ll be out of direct sunlight for a significant part of the day. [Read more…]

PVEL 2022 PV Module Reliability Scorecard — More Panels Pass All 5 Main Tests Than Ever Before.

PVEL stands for PV Evolution Labs.  Their speciality is torturing solar panels to determine how tough they are.  Every year they publish a report that separates Top Performing panels from those they don’t call Top Performing.  This year was no different — except in the ways it wasn’t the same. [Read more…]

What are the best solar panels to put on an Australian roof in 2022?

I think the best people to answer that question are professional, Australian installers. [Read more…]

Many premium solar panels are now warranted until…2046.

Solar panel prices have recently risen… except those with 25 year product warranties. 

The pandemic’s economic slowdown was severe. But it’s hard to keep humanity’s lust for stuff down, and the economy is bouncing back.  The rebound caught many off guard, causing shortages and price rises across an array of industries.  Solar is no exception. 

[Read more…]

At the moment we’re locked down in Adelaide.  Because I’m no longer able to smuggle badgers across the border in my beard as I’d planned, I’m catching up on stuff I should have written about weeks or months ago. 

One of these things is the PVEL 2021 Module Reliability Scorecard report that came out in May.  While I’ve been tardy bringing it to your attention, it’s far too interesting to let slip by. [Read more…]

Over the next week or so I’ll write some articles busting solar myths because, if I’ve learned anything from 25 years of internet use, it’s way easier to complain about something than go through the effort of doing something useful.  Today I’m tackling solar energy output in winter in Australia. [Read more…]

Which solar panels would the top installers in Australia put on their homes?

Since I started writing about solar energy in 2009, one of the most common questions put to me is:

“Finn, what are the best solar panels?”

[Read more…]