Thinking of buying a solar power system to kill your electricity bill?
Then this one simple action could shave a whole kW off the size of solar system that you need to buy to get that magical zero dollar electricity bill.
Your Solar Panel & Inverter Warranty And The Law: What You Need To Know
Your Solar Panel Warranty and Solar Inverter Warranty have tough new minimum standards by law. Changes to the Australian Consumer Law came into effect on 1 January 2012. These are good changes which help protect you as a solar consumer from toothless warranties when buying a solar system. [Read more…]
How long will SMA Inverters stay top dog in solar?
If, like me, you get turned on by Solar Inverters, then here are three companies doing very cool stuff that I think you should look out for in 2012:
[Read more…]
How Much Does Off Grid Solar Cost?
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 used. A typical grid connection charge is about $1 per day.
So what is the extra cost of getting completely off the grid with your solar system in the city compared to a standard grid connect solar system?
AC Solar Panels (microinverters) : The #1 Solar Trend to watch for in 2012?
Will 2012 be the year of the AC Solar Panel?
Before answering that question I should probably explain exactly what an AC Solar Panel is…
What is an AC Solar Panel?
The short answer is: An AC Solar Panel is a solar panel that takes sunlight in and spits AC (Alternating Current) electricity out. This compares to a “conventional” DC Solar Panel which takes sunlight in and spits DC (Direct Current) electricity out.
AC Electricity is the type of electricity you need to power the appliances in your home. DC panels need a Solar Inverter to convert the DC electricity to AC. The big advantage of AC panels is that there is no need for an inverter to do that conversion, so you have a really simple design, a simpler installation, and adding extra panels becomes almost plug and play.
Will your solar power system protect you from power cuts?
I get asked this question a lot.
Unfortunately the short answer is: No – A standard grid connect solar system will not protect you from blackouts.
Kind of counter intuitive isn’t it? You go to the trouble and expense of your own little solar power station, and then you have no power if the electricity grid goes down. [Read more…]
13 Solar Questions You Must Ask To Weed Out The Shonks
One of the questions that lands in my inbox almost every day is this:
“Hey Finn – I’ve been made a fantastic offer on a shiny new solar power system for my home. It is heaps cheaper than every one else on the market. Is it too good to be true or a genuine bargain???”
Here are 13 Solar Questions to quickly ask either yourself or the solar sales dude that will help you decide. [Read more…]
The Problems With Thin Film Solar Panels
Picture: Thin Film Solar Panels on a solar farm in Germany
If you are looking to buy a solar power system and have done any kind of research on the web, then you have probably come across lots of people arguing over the pros and cons of Thin Film Solar Panels compared to the more common monocrystalline or polycrystalline solar panels. In a nutshell, there are 3 major types of solar panel technology on the market:
- MonoCrystalline,
- PolyCrystalline
- Thin-Film
It seems a lot of people are firmly in either the “Crystalline” or “Thin-Film” camp. And when discussing which panel is best, they can easily lose their objectivity with arguments along the lines of “Thin Film is the only way to go” or “Mono Crystalline and Poly Crystalline are junk!”.
Don’t Make these 10 Mistakes When Buying a Solar Power System
1. Buying the cheapest – because it is the cheapest.
If a solar system seems too cheap to be true, then it is probably is!
Here are 4 ways they get the price so low:
a) The solar company is buying absolute junk panels and inverters on the spot market in China
What is wrong with this advert?
How do they get away with this!?!
Tell us what is very wrong with this advert…
Your answers in the comments or on our Facebook page please!
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