Search Results for: nsw

First School In Sydney’s Eastern Suburbs To Go Solar

Kincoppal-Rose Bay School solar installation

Kincoppal-Rose Bay School Installs Solar Panels

What is currently the second largest solar power system and the first at a school in Sydney’s Eastern Suburbs was officially unveiled last week.

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Australia’s Electricity Blueprint For The Future – Finkel Review Report

Finkel Review - Energy In Australia

What’s known as the “Finkel Review” was released on Friday, a document touted as a blueprint to optimise Australia’s ailing National Electricity Market (NEM). [Read more…]

Bellingen Shire Council Adding More Solar Energy Capacity

Solar panels in Bellingen Shire

Bellingen Shire Council Embracing Solar Power | Image: Public Domain

From bins to building rooftops, Bellingen Shire Council has been getting into solar power in various ways – with more to come.

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Does Rooftop Solar Hurt The Have Nots?

a poor mother paying for a prince's solar

Do solar rebates result in the poor subsidising the rich?

If you spend a significant amount of time on the internet, which I can’t recommend as it is a silly place, then you may have come across people who claim rooftop solar is an enormous scam that depends on government subsidies unfairly taken from those who can’t install it, or choose not to. [Read more…]

When Electricity Price Hikes Don’t Improve The Economics Of Batteries

batteries and bills

Do rising electricity prices always improve the economics of batteries? No. Read on to discover why. (And don’t stand on your roof without wearing an approved safety harness – especially if you are balancing giant golden scales on your head.)

I’ve already written on how electricity prices are set to rise substantially.

Because Australians will soon have to shell out like an evicted hermit crab when it comes to grid power, both the good and bad mainstream media are declaring that rising power costs make buying batteries more attractive.

Unfortunately for fans of shock boxes this is unlikely to be the case. Counter-intuitive I know. But bear with me. [Read more…]

Tesla Solar Roofs Are Very Expensive And Their Warranty Is Far From Infinite

elon musk is buzz lightyear

Infinity Warranty? As Chuck D once said. Don’t believe the (Tesla) hype.

In October last year, Tesla announced they were making tiles with built-in solar cells that would allow a roof to generate electricity without the need for solar panels.  Installations of these solar roofs will start in the United States in June and you can go to Tesla’s Australian site and slap down a $1,310 deposit to reserve one.  Tesla says they will be available here in 2018 and, given their record of meeting their own self-imposed deadlines, they should definitely arrive before the heat death of the universe.  Just so long as they don’t get cancelled like the DC Powerwall 2. [Read more…]

Electricity Bills Are Rising Because Of A Lack of Competition And Coalition Opposition To Renewables

ronald in scooby style unveiling

Ronald unveils the true culprit behind current electricity price rises.

Australia’s grid electricity prices are about to soar so high they’ll probably suffer from altitude sickness.  Households in all states, with the possible exception of Tasmania, are looking at increases in electricity bills of roughly 20% over the next two to three years. [Read more…]

SMA’s Sunny Boy: Under The Hood. Chinese vs German Manufacturing

chinese and german sma sunny boy

2 x 5kW SMA Sunny Boy Inverters. One made in China (SMA SB 5.0-1AV-40), one made in Germany (SB5000TL-21). How do they compare?

SMA have released a new single phase inverter. They kept the same joyful name of “Sunny Boy” however the model has changed from what was known as the “dash 21” to the “dash 40”.

But let me tell you a well-known secret about the SMA “dash 40”. The respected German manufacturer is manufacturing these new SMA inverters in China.

Bombshell.

Has this turned the single phase model of SMA inverters into a cheap Chinese inverter? To find out, I bought myself a 5kW Chinese-built SMA “dash 40” and pulled it apart to compare it to the 5kW German made “dash 21”.

In this post, I’ll first look at the external features: the “smart screen”, the Sunny Home Manager, and the inbuilt DC isolator.

Then I’ll look at the internal build quality, and where the different components are manufactured. Finally, we’ll discuss the after sales service and warranty of SMA. [Read more…]

Natural Gas Blamed For Rising Electricity Prices But Is Not the Main Villain

lady looking at electricity price rise graph

Is the rising electricity price really all down to gas prices?

Last week I wrote about how electricity prices in Australia are about to shoot so high the International Space Station will have to take evasive action.  It appears it’s not enough for the electricity sector to make Australians pay ridiculous prices, they are going to force us to go right to ludicrous. [Read more…]

First Lismore Community Solar Array Up And Running

Solar energy project - Lismore City Council

Solar Panels On Goonellabah Sports & Aquatic Centre

A significant solar power system installation on Lismore’s Goonellabah Sports & Aquatic Centre is now operational, helping Lismore City Council towards its renewable energy goal.

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