How to work out if your solar system is performing properly.

a ruler

Stop guessing, start measuring!

I got an email from Dec in Melbourne this week who is very worried that his solar installers have sold him a lemon:

Hi Finn, Since my last email, my 4.0kw solar has been independently checked and I have been told it was found to be installed correctly. At this time it is producing only 1800w on a clear sunny day. It seems that no one has an answer as to why the production is low as the system is only producing an average of 7.2kwh/day. Do you have any idea as to what I can do to try and resolve this as I am really struggling with getting this sorted out.

So has Dec been sold a heap of junk? Is his solar power system producing enough power for its size, location and the time of year (June) ? [Read more…]

Solar panel energy payback: What’s the truth?

a loopOne of the myths that gets bandied about a lot is the idea that it takes more energy to create a solar panel:  through mining, transport, manufacturing and distribution, than will ever be generated by that solar panel over its lifetime.

20 years ago that was a valid argument against solar power. However in 2012 that myth is pure BS. Hopefully this post can set the record straight.

[Read more…]

What you need to know about solar inverters and RF interference

A radio tuning dial

A solar inverter is like any other electronic device in your home and it will produce some Electromagnetic radiation and potentially Radio Frequency interference. There is a standard that all approved electrical devices in Australia are required to meet (C Tick) but it does not guarantee zero emissions.

[Read more…]

3 Phase Solar : What you need to know about connecting solar to your 3 phase supply

A solar panel and a 3 phase breaker

Solar is compatible with 3 phase

There is an awful lot of confusion (and misinformation) out there about the practicalities of installing solar on a house that has a 3 phase supply. So I’ve written this post to clear up the confusion. [Read more…]

The inflated STC Price Scam : The Solar Cowboy’s Favourite Trick?

a cowboy

Don’t fall for it!

I’m angry.

I get a lot of emails asking for me to look over quotes. I try to answer every one. Sometimes it takes a couple of weeks to reply, but generally I manage to reply.

Tonight I got 3 emails in a row with quotes from 3 separate companies which all appeared to be trying the same trick. They appear to be deceiving the customer into thinking they are getting a great deal and then hitting them with a bill for thousands more than the quoted price when the system is installed.

I love the solar industry, and to see these guys operating like this makes me so freaking angry I want to scream! [Read more…]

kW, kWh and kilowatt/hour : What do they stand for?

An electricity meter reading kWh

Don’t confuse kW and kWh. It matters!

One of the most common sources of confusion I encounter when talking to non-electrical people about solar power is related to the terms kW and kWh. What do they stand for? What do they mean? And what’s the difference between the two? Watch the video, or read below to find out…

Folks who are really confused also throw the term “kilowatt/hour” into the mix. I’ll deal with that doozy in this footnote1.

Starting with the absolute basics

Please excuse this post if you think I am explaining the bleeding obvious! But I think it is vital to write a post that describes these key units of electricity in a way that requires zero prior knowledge of anything electricity-related.

So here is my humble attempt to answer the question:

What is the difference between a kW and kWh?

[Read more…]

Old School Solar Sales Tactics That You Should Not Tolerate

Solar Power is a very new and very fast growing industry. That makes it an exciting thing to be part of, and attracts a lot of interesting, enthusiastic and hard working people, most of whom believe passionately in what they are selling.

Unfortunately it also attracts people and companies that appear to have no other motive than to make as much cash as possible in as short a period of time as possible. Now there is nothing at all wrong with trying to maximise the profitability of your business. That’s just good business. But if you are maximising your short term profits by throwing your ethics out of the window, then that is wrong, dumb and short sighted. In the 21st century your actions will catch up with you.

That is one of the main reasons I started collecting Solar Installer Reviews.

Over the past 4 years, I’ve found that the common theme amongst the bad ‘uns in the Solar Power game seems to be their old school, hard sell, sales tactics. If you’ve ever been cold called by a solar power company knocking on your door, you’ll probably recognise some of these tactics. I personally believe these tactics are wrong, counter productive, insulting to the customer and have no place in this industry. See if you agree:

[Read more…]

Solar Panel Size: Is Bigger Better?

a 410W solar panel

A 410W solar panel. Look at the size of that thing! (image: TopSun)

The Size of Solar panels is definitely increasing, there’s no denying it.

A couple of years ago the average solar panel was 165W. Today the average is about 240W. The biggest one approved for installation in Australia at the time of writing is the whopping Topsun TS-S410. This giant amongst solar panels has these super sized stats: [Read more…]

8 Reasons To Get A Site Inspection Before Buying Solar Power

a solar inspection

If you are considering putting some solar panels on your roof, then I strongly recommend that you have a physical site inspection before getting firm quotes.

Since I started SolarQuotes many years ago, we’ve handled hundreds of thousands of quote requests and over those years the most frequent complaint I’ve had from people looking for quotes is:

“This solar installer won’t even give me a ballpark price for a solar system! He’s insisting on coming round to my house first!”

[Read more…]

Solar Inverter Efficiency: What you need to know before buying.

Everything goes through the inverter so its efficiency is critical.Solar inverter efficiency is a critical specification that directly affects the efficiency of your entire solar system. It is almost always a much more important consideration than solar panel efficiency.

All the power generated by your solar panels has to go through your inverter before you can either use the power in your home or export it to the grid (and get paid) so every percent of extra efficiency that you can squeeze out of your inverter will directly improve the performance and payback of your solar system.

So do you just need to pick the inverter with the highest “efficiency” number on the specification sheet? Well I’m afraid it isn’t quite that simple. (You guessed I was gonna say that didn’t you?!) [Read more…]

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