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Think tank predicts end of fossil fuel in a decade

April 26, 2016 2017-10-25T08:26:24 by 9 Comments
renewables-in-10

No fossil fuels from 2026?

Most supporters of the clean energy revolution have never wavered in their belief that renewables will be the dominant energy source of the future. The only question is how long before we wean ourselves off fossil fuels.

Now a think tank based in the United Kingdom has had a stab at answering this $64 question by predicting that fossil fuels could be phased out almost completely over the next decade.

The Sussex Energy Group, based at the University of Sussex, has said that a co-ordinated effort could see the switch to clean energy brought in much earlier than previously thought. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Solar Policy Tagged With: ,

Enphase’s Cunning Plan: Make Micro Inverters Cheaper than String Inverters.

April 14, 2016 2016-05-30T14:05:55 by 17 Comments

enphase costs: half price by 2017When it comes to Australian solar installations, conventional string inverters tower over the competition like a current converting colossus. But microinverters, which are tiny in both physical size and market share, are shaping up to beat string inverters on both price and reliability. Enphase, the world’s largest producer of microinverters, plans to beat conventional inverters on price within two years. If they meet their goal of cutting micro inverter costs in half, it will change the way Australians install solar power. [Read more…]

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The race is on as Panasonic snatches lead as most efficient solar panel

March 9, 2016 2017-10-25T09:25:59 by 8 Comments
panasonic most efficient panel

Panasonic snatch the title for most efficient panel from Sunpower.

Well that didn’t take long! No sooner had we published our article on SunPower grabbing the unofficial prize of most efficient solar panel for commercial use, than Japanese manufacturer Panasonic surprises with a late sprint to the line.

The Japanese manufacturer has now jumped into the lead in the solar conversion Premier League with not one but two records. The new record, which was verified by the Japanese government-funded National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology, is an eye-catching photovoltaic module conversion efficiency of 23.8 percent. This leaves SunPower’s previous record in the dust by a full percentage point. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Solar Panels Tagged With: , , ,

Trina Solar Panels deliver (yet another) efficiency record

January 2, 2016 2025-07-29T11:50:09 by 3 Comments
trina solar logo and panels

Trina Solar Panel Efficiencies Keep On Rising,

Trina Solar panels look set for a big 2016 with news that the company has achieved yet another solar cell efficiency record.

Fresh from trouncing its previous record for efficiency for a p-type polycrystalline silicon solar cell, Trina Solar announced last week they had achieved an efficiency of 22.13 percent for a 156 x 156mm² solar cell for a mono-crystalline silicon (c-Si) solar cell. This beats the company’s previous record of 21.40 percent, set in November 2014. [Read more…]

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Do Electrolytic Capacitors Cripple Microinverter Reliability?

November 12, 2015 2017-04-19T14:11:28 by 15 Comments

Part 1 of an interview with Enphase VP of Quality & Reliability: Ciaran Fox

In my experience solar installers either really love microinverters, or are incredibly wary of them. There seems to be very little middle ground.

Those who love them talk about their ease of installation, increased power output, flexibility of panel layout, panel level monitoring and shade performance.

Those who are wary of them generally worry about their reliability.

A microinverter is a box of sophisticated electronics that sits on your roof (under each solar panel). In Australia your roof gets hot! And if a microinverter fails, replacing it means climbing on the roof and removing the panel. So installers’ concerns are understandable.

an Enphase microinverter

A microinverter. You generally use one per solar panel instead of a single large central inverter. They are about as big as an iPad mini

To get some authoritative answers, I asked installers that I know to send me their toughest questions about microinverter reliability.

I then put those questions to Ciaran Fox who is the Vice President of Quality & Reliability at the world’s biggest microinverter manufacturer, Enphase. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Solar Inverters Tagged With: ,

We ask five experts: Will battery storage change the way we live?

September 23, 2015 2017-10-24T13:52:48 by 4 Comments

In the first of a series from SolarQuotes, we ask five eminent experts in the clean energy field to discuss four questions on a selected topic. This month we’ve selected “battery storage” as the launching pad for some fascinating discussion and advice.

Solar and battery storage has been one of the clean energy talking points of 2015 following the dramatic unveiling of the Powerwall by Tesla’s Elon Musk. However as we’ve seen, the Powerwall isn’t the only option out there in the marketplace and the best battery storage option will differ depending on your situation whether on-grid, off-grid or hybrid solar.

With this in mind we’ve asked our experts what these solar battery storage breakthroughs mean for Australian households and small businesses and what the future holds for energy independence. [Read more…]

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Will Turnbull Practice What He Has Preached about Solar?

September 15, 2015 2017-04-19T14:20:51 by 6 Comments
malcolm turnbull and solar panels

Malcolm Turnbull talks the talk but has consistently voted strongly against increasing investment in renewable energy.

The quote above comes from a video of Malcolm Turnbull giving a speech to launch the Beyond Zero Emissions Stationary Energy Plan in Sydney in 2010. The plan was (and still is) a blueprint to affordably go to  100% renewables in Australia within 10 years. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Solar Policy Tagged With: , ,

Climate Institute poll finds Australians support renewables

August 18, 2015 2024-09-05T09:53:46 by Leave a Comment
wind turbines and solar

Renewables appear to be a vote winner. Someone may want to tell our government.

Banish any questions you may have had about whether or not Australians support renewables. If you listen to certain, unnamed cash-for-comment shock jocks, certainly in NSW anyway, you’d be of the opinion that Aussies generally find solar power and wind farms completely objectionable.

Of course nothing is further from the truth as a poll released by The Climate Institute last week to coincide with the unveiling (dare we say unravelling?) of the government’s emissions reduction target. The poll shows the extent to which Aussies prefer solar and wind energy over that of fossil fuel. [Read more…]

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Interview: Finn Peacock talks solar battery storage in Australia (and more)

July 7, 2015 2017-10-25T09:34:41 by 24 Comments
finn peacock

Finn Peacock talks shop with Rich Bowden

It’s been a big year for news on solar battery storage in Australia. With the imminent release of Tesla’s Powerwall onto the market and influential reports predicting a new way of accessing energy, the trend has not been “if” but “when” renewables will end up dominating new energy takeup in the country.

But how much of this is kosher and how much wishful thinking? Are we on the cusp of a solar battery storage revolution? Can we start tearing up our electricity bills? To find out the answers we asked Finn Peacock, SolarQuotes founder (and professional cutter through bullshit), his opinion on exactly what has made 2015 so important in solar power and what his predictions are for the near future.

His frank analysis is fascinating, sometimes controversial and may surprise some. [Read more…]

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Microinverters Vs. Dc Optimisers: Which option is best?

June 24, 2015 2024-05-07T11:50:31 by 91 Comments
optimisers and microinverters

If you’ve decided on panel-level optimisation, which is the better choice, microinverters or optimisers?

Good grief this article is going to get me into trouble with some solar installers.  Why? Because by the end of it I will give my humble opinion on whether microinverters (e.g. Enphase) are better than DC optimisers (e.g. SolarEdge or Tigo). [Read more…]

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