Search Results for: queensland

How To Divert Your Excess Solar PV to a Hot Water Cylinder.

February 25, 2015 2024-10-02T10:33:14 by 90 Comments
a diversion sign

Is it worth investing in a system that will divert your excess solar electricity away from the grid and into your hot water system?

This guest blog post has been written by experienced solar installer, electrician, solar company owner and all round good guy, Mark Cavanagh from MC Electrical in Brisbane.

Mark answers a really common question we are getting here at SolarQuotes: “Can I divert my excess solar energy into my hot water cylinder instead of selling it to the grid for a pittance?”

Take it away Mark:

With the reduction of the solar feed in tariff across Australia, and battery storage not economically viable yet, there has been an ever-increasing interest in developing ways to use the electricity you produce rather than feeding it back to the grid for 8c per kWh. [Read more…]

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ET Solar Panels win government support

February 4, 2015 2017-10-25T09:40:00 by Leave a Comment
commercial solar installation

Government backed CEFC has joined forces with ET Solar Panels to power large Aussie businesses.

What do ET Solar Australia and the Clean Energy Finance Corporation (CEFC) have up their sleeves to promote ET solar panels for large commercial businesses in our country?

There’s more than one way to skin a cat. And more than one model for financing solar energy. This was amply demonstrated last week with the release of the CEFC’s plan to stump up $20 million with the solar energy provider ET Solar in a new innovative partnership that has proved radically successful in overseas countries. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Economics Of Solar Tagged With: , ,

If you want a 5kW solar system in QLD – consider getting it before March 1 2015!

January 30, 2015 2017-06-28T11:28:32 by 26 Comments
QLD map

Rules for installing solar in QLD change on March 1

****UPDATE****

On 12th Feb 2015 Ergon and Energex announced that they are extending this deadline from 1 March out to 30 September 2015.

*****************

The Queensland electricity networks (hello Ergon and Energex!) are a fussy bunch. At the time of writing (Jan 2015) if you want to install a standard grid connect solar system bigger than 5kW, you need to jump through all sorts of technical hoops. And then the networks may also insist that you install a box of electronics that stops any of your excess energy being exported. That’s right you have to waste any excess clean energy instead of letting your neighbours use it! [Read more…]

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Why connecting your solar system to the grid is harder in NSW

December 23, 2014 2017-04-20T10:31:27 by 11 Comments
grid connect solar

What are the rules for connecting to the grid in NSW?

Australians love their rooftop solar and believe it or not, despite our relatively small population we have collectively installed more household solar systems than almost any other country in the world.

For consumers, it’s a no brainer but the electricity companies seem to be making things more difficult as time goes by. Is this justified and are their technical issues we need to understand as solar owners, or are they just profiteering?

The grid is a complex beast and the electricity industry is even more complicated, so the answer is ‘a bit of both’. In fairness to the utilities, and because I’ve had a heap of emails from frustrated NSW folks, I thought I would highlight the New South Wales Service Rules as one example of how technical issues need to be considered. [Read more…]

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SA leads the way with 25 percent of households using solar: ABS

December 8, 2014 2017-10-25T09:45:40 by 2 Comments
solar panels and south australia map

SA takes the medal for most solar systems per household.

The latest figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics show one in five households use some form of solar energy. The figures back anecdotal and other statistical evidence of a massive growth surge for solar that has occurred since the ABS first began publishing statistics on solar energy, back in 2011.

Then the figures were comparatively low with only around five percent of households using solar energy, said the ABS’ Karen Connaughton in a 3/12/2014 press release. However the change in just three years has been dramatic.

“Jump just three years, to 2014, and there are solar panels being used by fourteen per cent of all households.”, she said.

Add to this solar hot water and the numbers of households using solar energy in one form or another has jumped to 20 percent. [Read more…]

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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…]

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Is Greg Hunt running scared?

August 25, 2014 2017-10-25T10:00:49 by 7 Comments
whiteboard with angey face

Greg Hunt’s taxpayer funded whiteboard yesterday.

Ever noticed how shrill Environment Minister Greg Hunt is getting these days readers? The man once considered the smiling face of the Abbott’s administration’s policy of dismantling of renewable energy appears to have lost all control in recent weeks.

I refer of course to Gregory’s extraordinary attack on John Grimes, the head of the Australian Solar Council this week on the ABC’s Mornings program in Brisbane. The minister sank the boot into the respected chief executive of the Council saying he should be “ashamed” of hinself and accused him of duplicity. Which sounds quite funny coming from a politician.

So what disturbed the minister so much to resort to this type of debating technique? [Read more…]

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Solar Hot Water vs Solar Panels. Which should you buy?

August 6, 2014 2024-10-02T12:23:49 by 73 Comments

Poor old Solar Hot Water.

The concept of heating water directly from the Aussie sun with a solar hot water system like this…

a solahart hot water heater

The humble solar hot water heater

…really seems to have gone from hero to zero over the past 3 years. [Read more…]

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Clive Palmer: renewable energy hero? Or a publicity-seeking miner/politician?

June 30, 2014 2017-10-25T10:02:51 by 16 Comments
clive palmers head on a green heroes body

Is it a bird, is it a plane? No it’s a miner who loves publicity.

So Big Clive Palmer is suddenly a renewable energy hero? And wants to be revered as the saviour of the clean energy sector? According to some press coverage, the Queensland fossil fuel mining superstar has single handedly changed the climate change debate in our country.

Not for me. Let’s be very careful before we anoint The Big Fella. [Read more…]

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Taking the politics out of solar power policy

September 2, 2013 2017-10-25T10:12:17 by 4 Comments
Renewable energy is too important to be trusted to pollies.

Renewable energy is too important to be trusted to pollies.

At the end of a depressing week for renewables, talk over the SQHQ water cooler has been centred along the lines of: is it time to keep pollies out of solar power policy?

First we had the shrill and frankly rather desperate tactic of Kevin “The Queensland Kid” Rudd bucketing on the carbon tax introduced by his predecessor Julia “Who?” Gillard. The Kid seemed to aiming to appease the fossil fuel lobby (or was it Murdoch?) when he said his previous government had “got it wrong” on the carbon tax. [Read more…]

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