Solar industry Christmas has just rolled around again, and like the rest of the renewable industry it just keeps growing. From insulation tips to the latest solar gear, here’s an account of this installer’s adventures at All Energy Australia in Melbourne. It’s only the last few years I’ve been going to Australia’s largest clean energy event, so the term “industry veteran” doesn’t sit altogether well with me – I guess I’ll have to imagine it’s a compliment, even if I always feel like a bit of an imposter, drinking free coffee & swanning around under the obnoxiously bright lights.
I did plenty of roaming on the exhibition floor, but didn’t make it to a single conference presentation in part because, gawd help us, they asked me to speak on one. Apparently crawling around in the roof makes one an expert in insulation, so I was asked to offer some amusing anecdotes.
This Is What Good Insulation Looks Like
Merch with a message from the Energy Efficiency Council.
Southern Australians might call it a “hand warmer” in winter, but everyone knows what a “stubby cooler” does. It’s not technically cooling anything, but it’s making us more comfortable.
It seems flippant but it’s such a good explanation I’m going to steal it from the real expert, Jeremy Watson (the founder and CEO of Alexander Watson Insulation & Electrification), who was on the same panel I was on to discuss insulation.
Imagine it’s summertime and you’re out on the lawn. With a pile of ice cooling your drinks, the grass will be happy for the hydration and your beverages will be tepid by lunchtime. A tub might help, but what you really need is insulation.
You Need An Esky
Everyone knows you need to contain the cool, however an esky by itself doesn’t make drinks more palatable. So why is it then we concentrate on air conditioning (or heating) houses, without caring much about containing the comfort?
Insulation is a no-brainer if you want an efficient electrified house. We’ve waxed on about it before, but it’s worth reiterating – a 5% gap in your insulation can cost you 50% of its rated performance. Just like cheap eskies with hollow lids and stubby coolers without a bottom – next to useless.
Batteries Galore On The Trade Floor
Aside from the panel, I got to poke around the trade hall to see the other part of the equation with an energy-efficient home – the solar, battery and other tech that will help cut bills.
Enphase’s latest battery was among the shiny new gear on show. While their previous solution was technically good value when you added up all the warranted kilowatt hours, customers needed a lot of wall space and a lot of money to get a moderate-sized battery.
New IQ Battery G5 is due in Q1, so let’s hope it’s not like the IQ8 microinverter, which, after being announced for 2023, arrived in… Q6?
The new package is much more compact, doubling down on the notion E is for electrical efficiency with Enphase. Rather than wasting energy running a 10,000W inverter for a 100 Watt load (eg overnight) Enphase effectively have an system sized exactly to what you need at any given moment, by switching microinverters on or off. They’re promised to be much more competitively priced too.
Enphase IQ G5 up close
ATMOCE Are Making Big Claims
The company you could argue are copying Enphase most closely are making the claim they’re the safest battery (in Europe?) which is something I’d want a lot of evidence for, not just some marketing hyperbole based on a low voltage battery. ATMOCE have upped their warranty to 15 years, which is a lot for a company so young – here’s my recent review of their offerings.
GoodWe Are Going Great Guns
The GW3K-EMA-G10.
With the potential for small plug-in batteries to become a thing in Australia, GoodWe had a European specification stackable battery and inverter solution on display. This will be an interesting space to watch.
GoodWe also have trendy new toys in the form of a gateway. Like Sungrow and FoxESS, GoodWe now have an automatic transfer switch and meter unit that can be built into your switchboard, allowing the stackable All-In-One ESA hybrid to be installed away from the main meter box.
They also have a larger standalone enclosure not unlike the Tesla Powerwall gateway, offering more switchboard room for those who need it, which gives GoodWe installers a pretty flexible design.
Belle Of The Ball
The first glimpse I saw of the new Sungrow All-In-One system was a grainy advertising image on a truck outside. Once up close and personal it was apparent this could be a real charm, even if “PowerHarbour Pro” perhaps isn’t the snappiest name.
What I really liked was the inclusion of a screen to give you some basic information. Having seen the bleating and phone chaos when a Sigenergy server went down recently, and the monitoring app crashed with it, having a display on the box is great.
While Sungrow took forever to release an AC car charger to match their market-leading solar hybrid ecosystem, they’ve been apologising ever since. Installers appreciate the honesty when a manufacturer recognises the product, or its commissioning and integration, is less than stellar. In better news, there’s a new wall-mounted AC EV charger coming.
BYO lead means Sungrow don’t have problems supplying tethered chargers that are a bit short on for reach
To make up for it, Sungrow are now putting the EV charger right into the inverter itself. In some respects this idea leapfrogged the whole industry. Using the new EnergyBridge gateway device means the wiring complexity and switchboard space requirement of iHomeManager is gone, and the EV charger (with potential V2X capability) is now included in the price of the Pro version, with installation that’s fast, foolproof and free.
It’s not the same as a Sigenergy DC EV charger, but it’s not as expensive either.
BYD Lacked An Answer
BYD had a car on their very large stand but nobody to talk about the Atto 1
I was asking about the BYD Atto 1 and its potential as a home energy storage. However the two representatives I approached had no idea about car specifications and didn’t offer to find out either.
I did my own homework and Australia’s cheapest car has a 30kWh battery which gives 25.5kWh useable capacity if you want to siphon the energy out using V2L.
At least the stackable battery they offer now comes with a decent DC termination cover to make it compliant in Australia.
BYD battery terminal cover.
Fronius Forging Ahead
250% solar oversizing is proper market leadership, as are handmade espresso martinis on the conference floor.
Fanbois and fangirls of first world quality will also be pleased to see a European built battery in the form of Reserva Pro, battery backup from Fronius is now fabulously fast using their new backup controller.
From under 20 seconds to under 20 milliseconds is a fair step.
While I think there’s something to be said for a big analogue warning signal that you’ve just had a blackout, many are unsatisfied by 15 seconds of darkness you traditionally get when our conservative Austrian friends find there’s a power failure.
While AC coupling of downstream inverters is a new feature (finally!) Fronius have always had the flexibility of a gateway installed in your switchboard, which other manufacturers are now offering.
Fronius are slow to market with new features, like 15 to 33kW Verto 3 phase hybrid inverters, but once released, they’ll do exactly what it says on the tin. Unlike a lot of others, Fronius tests everything to the nth degree, so they’re not relying on you the customers to finish the research while they develop the final firmware as an after sales afterthought.
For more of SolarQuotes’ All Energy coverage, read our coverage of the best in show, and on the conference side discussions on the wild growth in batteries and EVs.
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