ARENA: the government renewable energy agency that refuses to go away

December 15, 2014 2017-10-25T09:45:24 by Leave a Comment
ARENA - the gift that keeps on giving.

ARENA – the gift that keeps on giving.

Remember ARENA? The plucky Australian Renewable Energy Agency that has helped many renewable energy ventures and research with seed funding and other support? The ongoing benefits of ARENA include not only financial support but also because their involvement has helped pave the way for research and development in partnership with the private sector.

Wait. Ongoing? Didn’t ARENA get axed by the feds in their anti-renewables Budget cuts zeal a while back?

Well no. At least not yet. For ARENA, to quote an oft-used phrase, is the gift that keeps on giving.

Though the agency has, as you’ve probably heard, been axed by the federal government as part of its thinly-disguised ideological campaign against renewables, it still refuses to roll over and die. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Solar Innovations Tagged With: , , ,

Does Sunpower + Solarbridge Microinverters = World’s Best Performing Solar System?

December 3, 2014 2017-04-20T10:34:47 by 24 Comments
sunpower and solarbridge logos

Sunpower & Solarbridge sitting in a tree K-I-S-S-I-N-G

A lot of Aussie solar installers really dislike microinverters. In fact many refuse to install them.

The main reason is a fear of inverter failure. The reasoning goes something like this: [Read more…]

Filed Under: Solar Panels Tagged With: , , , ,

Solar will be the world’s most popular power source by 2050

November 10, 2014 2018-03-19T13:43:44 by 13 Comments
big red hand pointing down

Down, down, solar panel prices are going down!

When someone of the stature of Martin Green says the cost of solar PV technology will halve again by the next decade, you sit up and take notice. Even more so when he says solar will be the world’s most popular energy source by 2050.

For the University of New South Wales’ Prof. Martin Green is considered one of the world’s leading PV researchers. His department’s technological breakthroughs in silicon cell efficiency have not only given us the solar panels we know today but also put Australian PV research at the centre of world PV technology.

“The costs of solar will halve again by 2025 is my prediction,” he told a conference in Sydney on Wednesday. “We are at 60 cents per watt manufacturing now but we will get down to 30 cents per watt some time before 2025.”

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Economics Of Solar, Solar Panels Tagged With: , , , ,

How to find the most efficient solar water heater

August 13, 2014 2021-06-23T15:22:05 by 5 Comments
an evacuated tube solar hot water system

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…

[Read more…]

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ANU and Trina Solar Panels smash solar efficiency targets.

March 10, 2014 2017-11-10T14:03:38 by 2 Comments
a solar cell

Trina and ANU are making kick-ass solar cells together!

With the start of the NRL (AFL just around the corner), the Spring cycling classics in Europe and as women’s and men’s football and others reach the pointy end of their respective seasons, its a case of too much teamwork is barely enough for your correspondent. However a more important form of teamwork was announced late last month. Chinese solar manufacturers Trina and our very own Australian National University (ANU) have combined to create a new, super conversion efficiency in solar cells. This has the potential to make Trina solar panels even more cost effective.

[Read more…]

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Sky’s the limit for solar cell innovation as new breakthrough aims for 50 percent conversion rate

February 24, 2014 2018-03-19T13:58:55 by 9 Comments
50 percent efficiency

Yes you read that right : 50%

One of our favourite subjects — solar cells and more specifically solar cell innovation and breakthroughs — is covered in this week’s SQHQ spray readers.

I think I’ve mentioned, in a previous rant in these pages, one of the enduring memories I have of seeing the famous environmentalist/author/activist Professor David Suzuki in 2007 was his rhetorical question that kicked off the night: why wasn’t every house in Australia covered in solar panels? [Read more…]

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Talking perovskite: the new kid on the solar cell block

November 4, 2013 2017-10-25T10:10:21 by 9 Comments
panel from russia

From Russia WIth Love: Perovskite could reduce solar costs by 75%

One of the many advantages of solar energy is its charge down the cost curve as new technologies outstrip old in performance and cost. This week at SQHQ we’re dusting off the crystal ball and looking into the future of solar power. Specifically we’ll be checking out perovskite; the “new kid on the block” (with all the rave reviews). Perovskite is considered to have the potential to replace silicon in solar cells. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Solar Panels Tagged With: , , , ,

Does Mildura CPV solar farm offer a glimpse of the future?

July 22, 2013 2017-10-25T10:13:27 by 5 Comments

 

cpv dishes

Pretty dishy solar farm technology! Pic: Solar Systems P/L

Always great to bring our readers news of an Aussie breakthrough. However this week’s opening of Silex Systems’ massive CPV solar farm in Mildura, Victoria may prove to be more than just a cheery news item. Indeed it may offer a look at solar power’s future in the country.

CPV is of course Concentrating Photovoltaics. which in Mildura is getting solar cell efficiencies over 40%. No that was not a misprint. Forty Percent. Four Zero. Wowzers! Read that Wikipedia link to find out how they do it…

Here at SQHQ we’ve issued a number of rants (er discussion documents that is) on CPV and Mildura. These can be downloaded from the dank and dusty SQHQ archives shed here (second left past the outside dunny): [Read more…]

Filed Under: Big Solar Tagged With: , , , ,

Grand Designs + Solar Panels = Epic Fail

March 27, 2013 2017-04-25T11:31:33 by 197 Comments
Grand Designs Logo with FAIL stamp

Note to Grand Designs: “Do your bloody homework!”

Today’s top solar tip:

Please don’t look to Kevin McCloud or Grand Designs for advice on solar power!

Now don’t get me wrong, I love Kevin McCloud, he seems like a top bloke. And Grand Designs is one of the few things I actually watch occasionally on the gogglebox.

But they really need to do their research when it comes to solar.

The UK episode on ABC1 last week showed that they don’t have a freaking clue about solar power. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Solar Installation Tagged With: , ,

Be Careful When Calculating Solar Panel Efficiency

December 18, 2012 2017-09-07T14:43:21 by 6 Comments
Solar Panels

Crunching the numbers on your solar panels’ performance is fun!

One from the mailbag today that is bound to please fellow solar nerds:

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Solar Panels Tagged With: ,
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