{"id":1718,"date":"2012-06-12T21:48:31","date_gmt":"2012-06-12T12:18:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/?p=1718"},"modified":"2024-07-03T11:20:04","modified_gmt":"2024-07-03T01:50:04","slug":"how-to-work-out-if-your-solar-system-is-performing-properly","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/how-to-work-out-if-your-solar-system-is-performing-properly\/","title":{"rendered":"How to work out if your solar system is performing properly."},"content":{"rendered":"
\"a<\/a>

Stop guessing, start measuring!<\/p><\/div>\n

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

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.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

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) ?<\/p>\n

How many kWh should your system produce over 1 year?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Averaged out over any one year, your system should perform to within at least 90% of these daily kWh outputs per kW installed<\/strong> (based on Clean Energy Council<\/a> Guidelines) :<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Adelaide<\/td>\n4.2 kWh<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Alice Springs<\/td>\n5.0 kWh<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Brisbane<\/td>\n4.2 kWh<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Cairns<\/td>\n4.2 kWh<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Canberra<\/td>\n4.3 kWh<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Darwin<\/td>\n4.4 kWh<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Hobart<\/td>\n3.5 kWh<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Melbourne<\/td>\n3.6 kWh<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Perth<\/td>\n4.4 kWh<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Sydney<\/td>\n3.9 kWh<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

 <\/p>\n

If you have had your system for more than 12 months then most good inverters should be able to tell you what your daily average has been over the past 12 months.<\/p>\n

So if that is you – go check it! And see how your system is performing. Let us know in the comments below!<\/p>\n

(If you don’t know how to get this information out of your inverter then give your friendly installer a call and ask them for instructions!)<\/p>\n

But what if you have had your system for less than 12 months?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Dec, who sent me the email, has only had his system installed a couple of months. And I get the vibe that if I tell him to wait another 10 months to find out if his system is a dog he may not be thrilled with my response!<\/p>\n

You can see why he is worried. The table says that Melbourne solar systems should get an average of 3.6kWh per day per kW installed average. So that works out at \u00a014.4 kWh per day for Dec’s 4kW system. His last reading was 7.2kWh\/day.<\/p>\n

(If all this talk of kW and kWh is confusing you then here’s a really simple explanation<\/a> of what they mean)<\/em><\/p>\n

The thing to remember is that the table is average values over a whole year. And at the moment it is June, i.e. midwinter in Melbourne – and Dec’s panels are also facing West whereas these numbers are for optimal North facing panels.<\/p>\n

How to check your solar power system output for any month of the year.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Here’s how we can definitively work out if Dec’s current daily reading is acceptable or not. One of my favourite tools on the web is a solar power calculator called PVWatts. It has been developed by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) in the USA. The international version can be found here.<\/a><\/p>\n

So here’s how I used PVWatts to answer Dec’s concerns:<\/p>\n

1.<\/strong> Go to PVWatts and select Melbourne as the location in the bottom RH corner:<\/p>\n

\"Select<\/a>

Select your nearest city.<\/p><\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

2.<\/strong> Click to the next screen and enter the following values<\/p>\n

a) DC Rating<\/strong> = 4 kW (the size of Dec’s solar power system in kW)<\/p>\n

b) Array Tilt<\/strong> = 22 degrees (Dec didn’t tell me the angle of his roof – but most Aussie roofs are 18-22 degrees)<\/p>\n

c) Array Azimuth <\/strong>= 270 degrees (Dec’s panels face West – this is an “azimuth angle” of 270 degrees because North = 0 degrees.<\/p>\n

I left the other options as defaults. The “derate” factor is an estimate of the solar system losses<\/a> and 77% is a little pessimistic – but will do for this calculation.<\/p>\n

\"configuring<\/a>

Enter your system size, tilt angle and direction.<\/p><\/div>\n

3.<\/strong> Click ‘Calculate’<\/p>\n

And here is what we get:<\/p>\n

\"PVWatts<\/a>

The results!<\/p><\/div>\n

The table on the RHS is showing you how many kWh per month your solar power system should produce for every month of the year. I’ve circled the column so you can’t miss it!<\/p>\n

To translate this into a more intuitive form, I simply cut and paste the results into an Excel spreadsheet and divided the kWh\/month column by 30 days to get an approximate “kWh per day” for each month of the year – along with a pretty graph for better visualisation:<\/p>\n

\"the<\/a>

The results formatted for kWh per day per month<\/p><\/div>\n

You can immediately see that, in Melbourne, with its miserable<\/strong> winters (hey – I’m from Adelaide and they stole our Grand Prix!)\u00a0, there is a huge variation between power outputs throughout the year.<\/p>\n

So for Dec’s West facing panels, right now (June) \u00a0he can expect only 4.3 kWh per day.<\/p>\n

So good news Dec! Your system is actually performing very well based on your winter readings of over 7kWh per day!<\/p>\n

Assuming that it can also pump out 19kWh per day when summer finally arrives, your installer is off the hook!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Once your solar system is on your roof, how can you work out if it is giving you the power that you paid for? i.e. how can you tell that you haven’t been sold a lemon? Here is a 2 minute method to get a definitive answer that your installer can’t argue with!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","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":[57],"tags":[112,64],"class_list":["post-1718","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-solar-installation","tag-buyers-guide","tag-efficiency","entry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nHow to work out if your solar system is performing properly. - SolarQuotes Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Has this SQ been sold a heap of junk? Is his solar power system producing enough power for its size, location and the time of year?\" \/>\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\/how-to-work-out-if-your-solar-system-is-performing-properly\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"How to work out if your solar system is performing properly.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Has this SQ been sold a heap of junk? Is his solar power system producing enough power for its size, location and the time of year?\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/how-to-work-out-if-your-solar-system-is-performing-properly\/\" \/>\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=\"2012-06-12T12:18:31+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2024-07-03T01:50:04+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/06\/measure.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Finn Peacock\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@FinnPeacock\" \/>\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\/how-to-work-out-if-your-solar-system-is-performing-properly\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/how-to-work-out-if-your-solar-system-is-performing-properly\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Finn Peacock\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/495c35fb3086e6ef93220dcf2472b178\"},\"headline\":\"How to work out if your solar system is performing properly.\",\"datePublished\":\"2012-06-12T12:18:31+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-07-03T01:50:04+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/how-to-work-out-if-your-solar-system-is-performing-properly\/\"},\"wordCount\":898,\"commentCount\":72,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/how-to-work-out-if-your-solar-system-is-performing-properly\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"http:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/06\/measure.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"buyers guide\",\"Efficiency\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Solar Installation\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/how-to-work-out-if-your-solar-system-is-performing-properly\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/how-to-work-out-if-your-solar-system-is-performing-properly\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/how-to-work-out-if-your-solar-system-is-performing-properly\/\",\"name\":\"How to work out if your solar system is performing properly. - SolarQuotes Blog\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/how-to-work-out-if-your-solar-system-is-performing-properly\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/how-to-work-out-if-your-solar-system-is-performing-properly\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"http:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/06\/measure.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2012-06-12T12:18:31+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-07-03T01:50:04+00:00\",\"description\":\"Has this SQ been sold a heap of junk? Is his solar power system producing enough power for its size, location and the time of year?\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/how-to-work-out-if-your-solar-system-is-performing-properly\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/how-to-work-out-if-your-solar-system-is-performing-properly\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/how-to-work-out-if-your-solar-system-is-performing-properly\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"http:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/06\/measure.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"http:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/06\/measure.jpg\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/how-to-work-out-if-your-solar-system-is-performing-properly\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Blog\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Solar Installation\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/category\/solar-installation\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"How to work out if your solar system is performing properly.\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/\",\"name\":\"SolarQuotes Blog\",\"description\":\"An independent reckoning of the Aussie solar scene\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/#organization\",\"name\":\"SolarQuotes\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/solarquotes-logo.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/solarquotes-logo.png\",\"width\":592,\"height\":600,\"caption\":\"SolarQuotes\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/SolarQuotes\/\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/solar_quotes\",\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/solarquotes\/\",\"https:\/\/au.linkedin.com\/company\/solarquotes\",\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/SolarQuotesAustralia\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/495c35fb3086e6ef93220dcf2472b178\",\"name\":\"Finn Peacock\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/6416cde752d8e0b695acfadb239ba7b7026ae219306ca29f9eb28780087cbcbf?s=96&d=monsterid&r=r\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/6416cde752d8e0b695acfadb239ba7b7026ae219306ca29f9eb28780087cbcbf?s=96&d=monsterid&r=r\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/6416cde752d8e0b695acfadb239ba7b7026ae219306ca29f9eb28780087cbcbf?s=96&d=monsterid&r=r\",\"caption\":\"Finn Peacock\"},\"description\":\"I'm a Chartered Electrical Engineer, Solar and Energy Efficiency nut, dad, and the founder of SolarQuotes.com.au. I started SolarQuotes in 2009 and the SolarQuotes blog in 2013 with the belief that it\u2019s more important to be truthful and objective than popular. My last \\\"real job\\\" was working for the CSIRO in their renewable energy division. Since 2009, I\u2019ve helped over 800,000 Aussies get quotes for solar from installers I trust. Read my full bio.\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/FinnPeacock\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/author\/admin\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"How to work out if your solar system is performing properly. - SolarQuotes Blog","description":"Has this SQ been sold a heap of junk? Is his solar power system producing enough power for its size, location and the time of year?","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/how-to-work-out-if-your-solar-system-is-performing-properly\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"How to work out if your solar system is performing properly.","og_description":"Has this SQ been sold a heap of junk? Is his solar power system producing enough power for its size, location and the time of year?","og_url":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/how-to-work-out-if-your-solar-system-is-performing-properly\/","og_site_name":"SolarQuotes Blog","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/SolarQuotes\/","article_published_time":"2012-06-12T12:18:31+00:00","article_modified_time":"2024-07-03T01:50:04+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/06\/measure.jpg","type":"","width":"","height":""}],"author":"Finn Peacock","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@FinnPeacock","twitter_site":"@solar_quotes","schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/how-to-work-out-if-your-solar-system-is-performing-properly\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/how-to-work-out-if-your-solar-system-is-performing-properly\/"},"author":{"name":"Finn Peacock","@id":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/495c35fb3086e6ef93220dcf2472b178"},"headline":"How to work out if your solar system is performing properly.","datePublished":"2012-06-12T12:18:31+00:00","dateModified":"2024-07-03T01:50:04+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/how-to-work-out-if-your-solar-system-is-performing-properly\/"},"wordCount":898,"commentCount":72,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/how-to-work-out-if-your-solar-system-is-performing-properly\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"http:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/06\/measure.jpg","keywords":["buyers guide","Efficiency"],"articleSection":["Solar Installation"],"inLanguage":"en-AU","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/how-to-work-out-if-your-solar-system-is-performing-properly\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/how-to-work-out-if-your-solar-system-is-performing-properly\/","url":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/how-to-work-out-if-your-solar-system-is-performing-properly\/","name":"How to work out if your solar system is performing properly. - SolarQuotes Blog","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/how-to-work-out-if-your-solar-system-is-performing-properly\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/how-to-work-out-if-your-solar-system-is-performing-properly\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"http:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/06\/measure.jpg","datePublished":"2012-06-12T12:18:31+00:00","dateModified":"2024-07-03T01:50:04+00:00","description":"Has this SQ been sold a heap of junk? Is his solar power system producing enough power for its size, location and the time of year?","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/how-to-work-out-if-your-solar-system-is-performing-properly\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-AU","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/how-to-work-out-if-your-solar-system-is-performing-properly\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-AU","@id":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/how-to-work-out-if-your-solar-system-is-performing-properly\/#primaryimage","url":"http:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/06\/measure.jpg","contentUrl":"http:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/06\/measure.jpg"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/how-to-work-out-if-your-solar-system-is-performing-properly\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Blog","item":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Solar Installation","item":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/category\/solar-installation\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"How to work out if your solar system is performing properly."}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/","name":"SolarQuotes Blog","description":"An independent reckoning of the Aussie solar scene","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-AU"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/#organization","name":"SolarQuotes","url":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-AU","@id":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/solarquotes-logo.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/solarquotes-logo.png","width":592,"height":600,"caption":"SolarQuotes"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/SolarQuotes\/","https:\/\/x.com\/solar_quotes","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/solarquotes\/","https:\/\/au.linkedin.com\/company\/solarquotes","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/SolarQuotesAustralia"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/495c35fb3086e6ef93220dcf2472b178","name":"Finn Peacock","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-AU","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/6416cde752d8e0b695acfadb239ba7b7026ae219306ca29f9eb28780087cbcbf?s=96&d=monsterid&r=r","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/6416cde752d8e0b695acfadb239ba7b7026ae219306ca29f9eb28780087cbcbf?s=96&d=monsterid&r=r","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/6416cde752d8e0b695acfadb239ba7b7026ae219306ca29f9eb28780087cbcbf?s=96&d=monsterid&r=r","caption":"Finn Peacock"},"description":"I'm a Chartered Electrical Engineer, Solar and Energy Efficiency nut, dad, and the founder of SolarQuotes.com.au. I started SolarQuotes in 2009 and the SolarQuotes blog in 2013 with the belief that it\u2019s more important to be truthful and objective than popular. My last \"real job\" was working for the CSIRO in their renewable energy division. Since 2009, I\u2019ve helped over 800,000 Aussies get quotes for solar from installers I trust. Read my full bio.","sameAs":["https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/","https:\/\/x.com\/FinnPeacock"],"url":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/author\/admin\/"}]}},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2FF2s-rI","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":34028,"url":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/solar-power-home-use-mb1242\/","url_meta":{"origin":1718,"position":0},"title":"Solar For Beginners – How Homes Utilise Solar Power","author":"Michael Bloch","date":"October 8, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"https:\/\/youtu.be\/sXihWQesrJA In this video Finn explains the basics of how solar electricity is used in a home and what happens when there's a surplus or deficit in power production. Let's say you have a 6kW solar system installed on your rooftop. It's in the morning and the system is producing\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "General Solar & Storage News"","block_context":{"text":"General Solar & Storage News","link":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/category\/solar-battery-news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"How solar energy is used in a home","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/solar-use-home.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/solar-use-home.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/solar-use-home.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/solar-use-home.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/solar-use-home.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":849,"url":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/how-much-does-off-grid-solar-cost\/","url_meta":{"origin":1718,"position":1},"title":"How Much Does Off Grid Solar Cost?","author":"Finn Peacock","date":"January 12, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"I had a phone call from a mate today asking for advice on buying an off grid solar system for his new house in suburban Melbourne. He was pissed off about paying the daily grid connection charge when his solar system was easily going to produce more power than he\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Solar Panels"","block_context":{"text":"Solar Panels","link":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/category\/solar-panels-2\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"off grid solar system","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/01\/off-grid-solar.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1290,"url":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/5-reasons-your-solar-system-power-is-lower-than-you-expected\/","url_meta":{"origin":1718,"position":2},"title":"Why Your 5kW Solar System Output Is Lower Than You Expected","author":"Finn Peacock","date":"March 29, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Is your new solar system producing the power output it should?\u00a0 A very common question I get from people who have just got a new solar power system is: \"Now the solar panels are on my roof, how do I know what the solar system output should be?\". The solar\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Solar Panels"","block_context":{"text":"Solar Panels","link":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/category\/solar-panels-2\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Cleaning a dirty sold panel","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/03\/solar-panel-cleaning.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":14558,"url":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/karratha-eco-hub-solar-mb0186\/","url_meta":{"origin":1718,"position":3},"title":"Solar Powered Eco Hub Proposed For Karratha","author":"Michael Bloch","date":"August 30, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Western Australia's City of Karratha has provided in-principle support for three business proposals that could see land at the site of Karratha Airport transformed into an eco-hub. The Karratha Airport land reserve proposed for use is surplus to long-term airport planning requirements. One of the proposed enterprises is the Sahara\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "General Solar & Storage News"","block_context":{"text":"General Solar & Storage News","link":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/category\/solar-battery-news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Producing food from the desert with solar energy","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/desert-forest-project-karratha.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/desert-forest-project-karratha.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/desert-forest-project-karratha.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/desert-forest-project-karratha.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":20178,"url":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/northham-solar-farm-mb0512\/","url_meta":{"origin":1718,"position":4},"title":"Work Begins On WA’s Northam Solar Farm","author":"Michael Bloch","date":"March 21, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"A ground breaking ceremony was held yesterday for a solar farm project outside of Northam in Western Australia, which is expected to be operational by October this year. The 10MW plant is to feature 34,000 solar panels situated on 25 hectares of land and will generate approximately 24,000 megawatt hours\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "General Solar & Storage News"","block_context":{"text":"General Solar & Storage News","link":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/category\/solar-battery-news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Northam Solar Farm Project","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/northam-solar-farm.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/northam-solar-farm.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/northam-solar-farm.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/northam-solar-farm.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":21,"url":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/dont-get-fleeced-by-the-solar-cowboys\/","url_meta":{"origin":1718,"position":5},"title":"Don’t Get Fleeced by the Solar Cowboys","author":"Finn Peacock","date":"March 23, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"In the 1970\u2019s some Australian companies started to research solar energy for use in the home but unfortunately the technology just wasn't there. \u00a0At about the same time in China they were also researching solar energy and managed to produce some electricity producing solar panels. A few Australian companies, believing\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Solar Installation"","block_context":{"text":"Solar Installation","link":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/category\/solar-installation\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1718","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\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1718"}],"version-history":[{"count":20,"href":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1718\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":84953,"href":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1718\/revisions\/84953"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1718"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1718"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1718"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}