{"id":11393,"date":"2017-05-15T08:58:09","date_gmt":"2017-05-14T22:28:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/?p=11393"},"modified":"2017-05-15T08:59:06","modified_gmt":"2017-05-14T22:29:06","slug":"solar-gaps-blinds-mb0036","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/solar-gaps-blinds-mb0036\/","title":{"rendered":"The Return Of Plug-In Solar &#8211; SolarGaps"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"attachment_11394\" style=\"width: 646px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-11394\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11394\" src=\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/solar-gaps-blinds.jpg\" alt=\"Solar Gaps Blinds\" width=\"636\" height=\"431\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/solar-gaps-blinds.jpg 636w, https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/solar-gaps-blinds-300x203.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 636px) 100vw, 636px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-11394\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">SolarGaps Blinds<\/p><\/div>\n<p>These solar blinds are an interesting idea for self-generating electricity and have been creating a bit of buzz, but it&#8217;s doubtful we&#8217;ll be seeing them used legally in Australia as a plug-in device.<\/p>\n<p><!--more-->Targeted primarily towards renters or those without suitable roof space, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.kickstarter.com\/projects\/1170840477\/solargaps-smart-solar-blinds\/description\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">SolarGaps<\/a> blinds can be mounted internally or externally. To use the electricity generated, the device is plugged into an existing standard\u00a0 power outlet.<\/p>\n<p>The blinds automatically track the sun throughout the day or be manually adjusted. The system can be integrated with devices such as Google Home and Echo to control the blinds by voice, temperature and\/or smartphone app.<\/p>\n<div class=\"youtube-wrapper\"><iframe title=\"SolarGaps Smart Blinds with built-in solar panels\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/ZQzUMMWBdBQ?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div>\n<p>The manufacturer claims one square meter of SolarGaps blinds generates up to 100 watts of electricity if installed outside and if installed indoors, 50 watts. The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/panels\/photovoltaic\/monocrystalline\/\">monocrystalline<\/a> solar cells used in the blinds appear to be good quality, having been sourced from <a href=\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/panels\/sunpower-review.html\">Sunpower<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>The company says surplus electricity can be stored in an existing <a href=\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/battery-storage\/comparison-table\/\">battery system<\/a> and\u00a0 &#8220;even sent back through the grid&#8221;, enabling the sale of energy back to power companies.<\/p>\n<p>There&#8217;s a significant issue that may prevent this product from being used as intended (legally) in Australia &#8211; even if a 240V version is produced &#8211; and it&#8217;s to do with the product&#8217;s inverter. Some years ago, grid-tie plugin solar inverters generated quite a bit of interest in Australia, but the issue with those inverters is what will cause the same problem for Solar Gaps&#8217; &#8220;plug in&#8221; functionality.<\/p>\n<p>Grid-connected solar PV systems need to be installed by a person with Clean Energy Council grid-connect accreditation. The latest Clean Energy Council <a href=\"https:\/\/www.solaraccreditation.com.au\/dam\/solar-accred\/installers\/becoming-accredited\/install-guidelines-1-may-2017.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"> guidelines for accredited installers<\/a> (PDF), mandatory from July 1, states:<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;8.5.2 The inverter shall be connected by fixed wiring to a dedicated circuit on a switchboard.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>The current CEC guidelines also state the same thing.<\/p>\n<p>Based on this issue alone, it&#8217;s really a case of caveat emptor for Australian purchasers of this product.<\/p>\n<p>Even if the system is safe (e.g. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/inverters\/anti-islanding-protection\/\">anti-islanding<\/a> features aren&#8217;t mentioned), permission from the relevant electricity network would also be required to plug this system in &#8211;\u00a0 without this, it potentially leaves the user wide open to legal risks.<\/p>\n<p>Additionally, SolarGaps will need to be added to the Clean Energy Council&#8217;s list of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.solaraccreditation.com.au\/products.html\"> approved modules and inverters<\/a> in order to be entitled to small-scale technology certificates (STCs); which form the basis of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/panels\/rebate\/\">solar subsidies in Australia<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Without appropriate approvals, attempting to claim <a href=\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/systems\/feed-in-tariffs\/\">solar feed in tariffs<\/a>\u00a0 using SolarGaps will also not be possible.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>These solar blinds are an interesting idea for self-generating electricity and have been creating a bit of buzz, but it&#8217;s doubtful we&#8217;ll be seeing them used legally in Australia as a plug-in device.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":17,"featured_media":11394,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[678],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-11393","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-solar-battery-news","entry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v27.2 (Yoast SEO v27.2) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>The Return Of Plug-In Solar - SolarGaps - SolarQuotes Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"These solar blinds are an interesting idea for generating electricity, but it&#039;s doubtful we&#039;ll be seeing them used legally in Australia as a plug-in device.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/solar-gaps-blinds-mb0036\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Return Of Plug-In Solar - SolarGaps\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"These solar blinds are an interesting idea for generating electricity, but it&#039;s doubtful we&#039;ll be seeing them used legally in Australia as a plug-in device.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/solar-gaps-blinds-mb0036\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"SolarQuotes Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/SolarQuotes\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2017-05-14T22:28:09+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2017-05-14T22:29:06+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/solar-gaps-blinds.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"636\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"431\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Michael Bloch\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@solar_quotes\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@solar_quotes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/solar-gaps-blinds-mb0036\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/solar-gaps-blinds-mb0036\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Michael Bloch\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/66afd571aa00c2e442f0192ebac2f6f1\"},\"headline\":\"The Return Of Plug-In Solar &#8211; 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Yesterday, the Hodgman Government launched the $10 million Tasmanian Energy Efficiency Loan Scheme (TEELS) in partnership with Aurora Energy and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;General Solar &amp; Storage News&quot;","block_context":{"text":"General Solar &amp; Storage News","link":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/category\/solar-battery-news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Interest-free solar loans Tasmania","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/solar-panels-tasmania.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/solar-panels-tasmania.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/solar-panels-tasmania.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":60287,"url":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/qld-community-solar-grants-mb2409\/","url_meta":{"origin":11393,"position":1},"title":"Solar Cash For QLD Community Groups Up For Grabs","author":"Michael Bloch","date":"March 28, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Grants of up to $50,000 for community-based action on climate change provide an opportunity for the installation of solar power systems and battery storage at community facilities in Queensland. On Friday, Queensland Environment Minister Meaghan Scanlon announced $1.2 million would be made available through the Palaszczuk Government\u2019s Community Sustainability Action\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;General Solar &amp; Storage News&quot;","block_context":{"text":"General Solar &amp; Storage News","link":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/category\/solar-battery-news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Community solar grants in Queensland","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/community-solar-queensland.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/community-solar-queensland.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/community-solar-queensland.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/community-solar-queensland.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/community-solar-queensland.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":21123,"url":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/solar-loans-tasmania-mb0566\/","url_meta":{"origin":11393,"position":2},"title":"Interest-Free Solar Loans In Tasmania Extended","author":"Michael Bloch","date":"May 1, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Tasmania's Minister For Energy announced yesterday the Tasmanian Energy Efficiency Loan Scheme (TEELS) program, which offers interest-free finance to households and small businesses, will be extended for another year. The TEELS scheme was originally launched in May last year, then had its funding doubled in June 2017. The program, which\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;General Solar &amp; Storage News&quot;","block_context":{"text":"General Solar &amp; Storage News","link":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/category\/solar-battery-news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Interest free solar loans in Tasmanaia","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/solar-loans-tasmania.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/solar-loans-tasmania.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/solar-loans-tasmania.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/solar-loans-tasmania.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":3592,"url":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/solar-panel-innovation-part-one-quantum-dots-solar-windows\/","url_meta":{"origin":11393,"position":3},"title":"Solar panel innovation (part one): quantum dots and solar windows","author":"Staff Writer","date":"April 22, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Both ends of solar panel innovation are covered in this and next week's solar rants readers. These courtesy of heads ups provided by our very own Finn Peacock and SolarQuotes reader and follower Sad Clownfish. By both ends I mean solar power from the impossibly small to the...well stratospheric. Let\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Solar Panels&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Solar Panels","link":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/category\/solar-panels-2\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"quantum dots","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/1-shinyquantum.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/1-shinyquantum.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/1-shinyquantum.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":66300,"url":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/qld-community-solar-mb2668\/","url_meta":{"origin":11393,"position":4},"title":"Cash For QLD Community Groups To Install Solar And Batteries","author":"Michael Bloch","date":"October 10, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Another round of grants is available for eligible community groups in Queensland to slash their emissions and energy bills with solar power and battery systems. Last Monday, Queensland Environment Minister Meaghan Scanlon announced $3 million would be on offer for community-based organisations to install batteries, solar panels and other energy-efficient\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;General Solar &amp; Storage News&quot;","block_context":{"text":"General Solar &amp; Storage News","link":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/category\/solar-battery-news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Solar and batteries for community groups","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/community-qld-solar.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/community-qld-solar.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/community-qld-solar.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/community-qld-solar.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/community-qld-solar.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":49374,"url":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/power-saver-scam-mb1957\/","url_meta":{"origin":11393,"position":5},"title":"No, This Device Will Not Provide Big Electricity Bill Savings","author":"Michael Bloch","date":"April 15, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Online ads continue to pop up on Australian screens spruiking various magic products promising to slash electricity bills by \"up to 90%\". All the devices and products of this nature I've seen are power saver scams. For starters, the party or parties behind the campaigns don't use accurate images in\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;General Solar &amp; Storage News&quot;","block_context":{"text":"General Solar &amp; Storage News","link":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/category\/solar-battery-news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Power saver scams","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/power-saver-scam-1.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/power-saver-scam-1.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/power-saver-scam-1.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/power-saver-scam-1.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/power-saver-scam-1.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11393","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/17"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11393"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11393\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11399,"href":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11393\/revisions\/11399"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11394"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11393"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11393"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11393"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}