Search Results for: victoria

Coal vs Solar – Which is more space efficient?

November 19, 2014 2019-04-15T14:22:37 by 6 Comments

solar and a coal fired power station

This is a guest post by Greg Bell – which was conceived in the comments section of another post on this blog.

Take it away Greg:

——-

Some things we can say we know for sure about photovoltaics – the fuel is free, it’s quiet, and there are no moving parts. But other benefits are more controversial. Recently a claim was made to me that solar PV is actually more area efficient – that is, it generates more energy per hectare – than coal.

Specifically, the claim was

“The 1,600 megawatt brown coal Hazelwood Power Station and associated mine in Victoria covers 3,554 hectares. In a sunny location in Australia 20% efficient solar panels covering that area would produce more kilowatt-hours than Hazelwood’s average output.”

Let’s see if that’s true. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Big Solar

Are micro inverters & battery backup compatible?

November 5, 2014 2018-01-17T14:32:32 by 57 Comments
3 microinverters and 2 batteries

Can you combine micro inverters with batteries? Yes you can!

Can you use a micro inverter off grid? Or even for grid connect with batteries?

With the growth in the use of micro inverters, I’m starting to get more and more emails asking: can micro inverters be used in off grid (or hybrid) solar power systems? [Read more…]

Filed Under: Battery Storage, Solar Inverters Tagged With: , , , ,

Nine in ten look to solar to beat rising electricity bills: report

October 22, 2014 2017-10-25T09:47:30 by 6 Comments
rising bills

Rising electricity costs are driving more people to consider solar.

An Ernst and Young utilities survey report released this week has highlighted the battle ordinary Australians are having with their rising electricity bills. The study also found over 90 percent of those surveyed would like to switch to solar power. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Economics Of Solar Tagged With: ,

Is midday the new off peak – thanks to solar?

August 27, 2014 2019-04-15T14:50:07 by 4 Comments
pylons

Pylons carrying electricity at $0.005 per kWh. Last Saturday.

I was at home on a cloudy Saturday morning in Adelaide last week, performing some much needed repairs on my puppets in between refreshing my knowledge of chemistry. (Apparently everything is still made of atoms.) Then I noticed through a crack in the wall that the sun had come out and I opened the electrically operated steel shutters to see that, although there were still patches of cloud around, most of Adelaide was bathed in glorious noon sunshine.

On a whim I decided to check what effect this break in the weather had on grid demand and so I went to the Australian Electricity Market Operator’s site. Fortunately I could do this via internet and so didn’t have far to walk. I saw there had been quite a steep decline in demand which apparently had gone hand in hand with the clearing skies. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Economics Of Solar Tagged With:

Solar lighting: Mandarin 2 adds style to practicality

September 18, 2013 2017-10-25T10:11:56 by 1 Comment

The Victorian Premier’s Design Awards are currently being judged. Not your usual port of call for this correspondent I hear you say but bear with me readers! That’s because one of the many excellent designs under consideration is the Mandarin 2 solar-charged light which is flying the flag for solar lighting under the category “product design”.

Described on the Design Awards site as a “simple” design that “works” under the toughest of conditions, the Mandarin 2, as its name implies, offers a robust solar lighting alternative to more expensive and polluting energy sources such as kerosene. The handheld solar charged light is described as durable and reliable and ticks that important box for SQ readers — powered by renewable source — solar. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Solar Innovations Tagged With: , ,

Does Mildura CPV solar farm offer a glimpse of the future?

July 22, 2013 2017-10-25T10:13:27 by 5 Comments

 

cpv dishes

Pretty dishy solar farm technology! Pic: Solar Systems P/L

Always great to bring our readers news of an Aussie breakthrough. However this week’s opening of Silex Systems’ massive CPV solar farm in Mildura, Victoria may prove to be more than just a cheery news item. Indeed it may offer a look at solar power’s future in the country.

CPV is of course Concentrating Photovoltaics. which in Mildura is getting solar cell efficiencies over 40%. No that was not a misprint. Forty Percent. Four Zero. Wowzers! Read that Wikipedia link to find out how they do it…

Here at SQHQ we’ve issued a number of rants (er discussion documents that is) on CPV and Mildura. These can be downloaded from the dank and dusty SQHQ archives shed here (second left past the outside dunny): [Read more…]

Filed Under: Big Solar Tagged With: , , , ,

Royal nod of approval as solar energy shines at Chelsea Flower Show

May 26, 2013 2017-10-25T10:15:19 by Leave a Comment
Chel_19_05_2013_1181_Trailfinders_LW

The winning entry. Credit RHS.

As regular readers would know, it is this column’s opinion that nothing beats a win over the Brits in an international comp. Now things haven’t gone so well in recent years with proud Aussies being forced to surrender the Ashes and we don’t want to talk about the Olympics! [Read more…]

Filed Under: Solar Innovations Tagged With:

Solar energy: has the smart money seen the light?

April 29, 2013 2017-10-25T10:16:05 by Leave a Comment
cash and solar panels

Follow the money…

The big news in solar energy this week was the acquisition of Power-One — manufacturers of the fable Aurora Inverters — by the Swiss energy giant the ABB Group for one billion dollars. For those among us who will never see $1,000,000,000, to give you an idea of its worth, its about half of what celebrity Oprah Winfrey charged for her recent Australian appearance. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Solar Inverters Tagged With:

Solar Council’s electorates map destroys ‘rich’ theory

November 5, 2012 2017-10-25T10:21:15 by Leave a Comment
lots of roofs, no solar

Solar only for the rich? You won’t see many solar panels in Pott’s Point! Photo: Flickr – philoye

There’s a false perception in Australia — perpetrated in part by the anti-solar brigade and their fellow travellers — that the only people who invest in domestic solar systems are those who are rich. According to this theory it is only those in the more affluent parts of Australia that have the resources to afford solar panels. Working and lower middle class families apparently don’t have them on their roofs because they are out of their price range. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Solar Policy

How Much Will You Get Paid For Your Solar Electricity?

October 11, 2012 2017-07-28T18:36:20 by 7 Comments

Hint: It’s a bit more complicated than you might think!

By my reckoning 25% of people buying solar power systems want to save the planet as a priority. The other 75% want to save their bottom line and saving the planet is a nice side-effect.

I get a lot of emails saying: “Help! My bills are [insert large number here] dolars a quarter – what size solar system do I need?”

The answer to this question is quite longwinded – but if you want to understand whether a solar system is worthwhile for you financially – you need to understand this stuff! So I made a video to help explain. If you are considering buying a solar system I strongly recommend watching this:

[Note: Since I made this video the Victorian and QLD Feed In tariffs are no longer more generous than the rest of the country – they are both 8c per kWh at time of writing!]

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Solar Installation Tagged With: , , ,
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