Can LDK drag itself out of Bankruptcy?
Another large solar panel manufacturer appears to be in serious financial trouble. Bloomberg is reporting that LDK Solar, the world’s largest producer of wafers by capacity, has put it’s US operations into bankruptcy with over a billion dollars of debt. [Read more…]
Is the evac tube system really more efficient than the flat plate system you have been quoted? Here’s how to find out…
When you are looking to buy a solar hot water system for for home, one of the most important things to check (apart from the price) is the efficiency of your Solar Hot Water System. The more efficient your system is, the better it will be at converting the sun’s heat to piping hot water, which means you will use your gas or electric boost less.
But with thousands of models of solar water heaters on the Aussie market, from flat plate or evacuated tube, to heat pumps it can be difficult to know how to find the most efficient solar water heater. Especially when each sales person says their technology / model is the most efficient! They can’t all be right…
Poor old Solar Hot Water.
The concept of heating water directly from the Aussie sun with a solar hot water system like this…
The humble solar hot water heater
…really seems to have gone from hero to zero over the past 3 years. [Read more…]
Some solar companies are claiming that their Tier 3 panels are really Tier 1. How can you identify real Tier 1 Solar panels?
For many years now I’ve been banging on about “Tier 1 Solar Panels”. My recommendation has always been that you should spend a few hundred dollars more for Tier 1 panels, so that you can massively reduce the risk of having crappy solar panels installed on your roof. [Read more…]
If you’ve been offered really cheap solar panels, please check that they are not grey imports.
Recently, a number of people have asked me about parallel or ‘grey’ imports of solar panels.
Parallel imports are defined as products (in our case, solar panels) that are imported unofficially by someone other than the manufacturer or their official Australian distributors.
Interestingly, in this day and age with so much online and internet based trade, the lines on this issue have become a little blurred. Some manufacturers will supply you directly with their product, but the majority do not. Most panel manufacturers have carefully developed formal partnerships in place with Australian companies who distribute their panels and provide technical and warranty support for those panels.
Why is parallel importing a problem? [Read more…]
Should Aussies follow the American way when it comes to solar leasing?
Are Americans are getting their butts handed to them with long-term solar leasing? And what can us Aussies do to come out ahead?
It seems the suits perched in the top floor offices on Wall-Street are finally taking notice of solar energy. And that could spell bad news for American consumers.
American energy firms like SolarCity, a growing solar-energy giant based out of California, have been offering long-term, relatively affordable leasing arrangements to consumers for years; either by financing the installation of panels or charging users by the kilowatt-hour and selling the remaining power back to the grid.
But those arrangements are about to get a whole lot more expensive now that they, and firms like them, are going public. Why? Because their shareholders, many of them massive hedge funds and banks, are demanding an American-sized profit which can only be attained through skyrocketing costs to consumers. [Read more…]
Some Chinese panels are top quality. But which ones?
A lot of people are wary of Chinese solar panels. China doesn’t exactly cover itself in glory with some of the low quality junk it manufactures. But, as I have said many times before, China also produces some fantastic quality stuff.
Need examples? I bet the device you are reading this blog on was made in the People’s Republic. The Macbook Pro I am writing it on certainly was and it is impeccably put together (the laptop – not the blog!). [Read more…]
There are a hell of a lot of companies offering cheap solar panels right now, and as with all free markets, that is driving down the prices and the margins of solar power installers and suppliers.
The question I get asked the most is this:
“How do I tell if this deal from XYZ solar (which is heaps cheaper than anyone who quoted through your site) is too good to be true?”
So here’s your answer: [Read more…]
The key to good solar payback is system sizing.
Occasionally I venture out of my straw-bale, solar passive eco-cave and meet real people, in person instead of over the interwebs. When they inevitably ask me the standard icebreaker “what do you do?” and hear that I’m in “solar power”, the usual response is: “Oh – that must be a tough industry, now that the rebates / buy back rates have all ended?”.
The reality seems to be that most people who don’t work in the solar industry seem to use the words “rebate” and “feed in tariff” interchangeably. And who can blame them? Both are essentially government cash handouts.
Of course the truth is that the “Solar Rebate“, is actually still available through the Federal government. The government frowns upon anyone who calls it a rebate, preferring the term “Financial Incentive”. But all that really matters is that you can get about $700 off the upfront cost of every kW of solar you buy. For a typical 3kW, that’s a $2100 subsidy. [Read more…]
Why don’t more SMEs have solar on their roof?
OK, I admit it – that was a headline designed to get your attention if you own or operate a small or medium sized business (I’m also a sucker for bad puns).
But it’s just that I feel the need to shout from the rooftops about the insane returns that SMEs can get from commercial solar right now due to the combination of:
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