Posts By SolarQuotes Founder Finn Peacock

Enphase & Solar Analytics Mind-Meld: The Future Of Smart Solar Monitoring?

September 28, 2018 2018-09-29T15:20:58 by 35 Comments
solar analytics and enphase energy

Solar Analytics & Enphase have had a meeting of the minds which could lead to cheaper and better monitoring for everyone.

Solar monitoring firm Solar Analytics and microinverter manufacturer Enphase sent out a joint press release yesterday.  It is unlikely to get much attention as it is very geeky: they are trialing making Solar Analytics monitoring software compatible with Enphase monitoring hardware. You won’t be reading about it on the front page of the Australian any time soon. But here’s why it’s a big deal (in my little world at least). [Read more…]

Filed Under: Solar Innovations

The Good Solar Guide: 7 Steps To Tiny Bills For Australian Homeowners

May 29, 2018 2018-09-10T14:29:48 by 8 Comments

Order the Good Solar Guide by Finn Peacock

Almost 10 years ago, I sat down for 2 weeks in Brighton Public Library and put everything I knew about residential solar power systems into my battered old laptop. I used the free Wi-Fi to upload that information to a home-brewed website called SolarQuotes. The knowledge was picked up from working for the Energy Transformed Flagship at CSIRO combined with my broader background in electrical engineering.

Since then, millions of people have visited the site; which has been continuously improved over the years. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Solar Installation Tagged With:

Solar Panel Optimisation: Micro inverters, DC Optimisers, AC Solar Panels & Maxim Explained.

May 25, 2018 2021-02-11T10:53:06 by 83 Comments

Solar panel optimisation

Solar Panel Optimisation is an extra feature you can pay for when buying solar that optimises the power output from each panel independently. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Solar Panels

Don’t Add Batteries To A 3-Phase Home Before Reading This

April 26, 2018 2024-01-15T08:50:53 by 258 Comments

3-phase homes and solar battery systems

If you buy the wrong battery system for your three-phase home your electricity bill will not go down nearly as much as you expect. And with the economic return of battery systems being pretty marginal in even the best case scenario, it is super important that your battery gives you the best returns possible. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Battery Storage

The Six Biggest Myths About Battery Storage

March 29, 2018 2018-03-29T13:17:26 by 161 Comments
finn's battery system - energy storage myths

If you are buying a solar battery – go in with your eyes wide open.

I’ve been publishing thoughts on the solar industry since 2009. And since Tesla announced their Powerwall battery to great media hype in May 2015, a lot of those thoughts have concerned batteries.

Unfortunately, a lot of the facts I’ve published about batteries, their economics and their environmental impacts have not gone down well with some parts of the solar industry, generally the parts that have bet their future on selling lots of batteries in the short to medium term. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Battery Storage

Tesla Says Powerwall 2’s Return Will Be 8-15%. Really?

April 11, 2017 2021-06-06T13:06:08 by 55 Comments
powerwall spruiker

Is it reasonable to expect a “8-15% return on investment” on a Powerwall 2?

Last month, Lyndon Rive, Tesla’s Vice President for Energy Products, stood up in front of a large group of people, including me, and promised the Powerwall 2 will deliver a return between 8% and 15%. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Battery Storage Tagged With: , ,

Will it be illegal to install a single phase Powerwall 2 from Thursday?

March 26, 2017 2017-11-16T14:27:08 by 91 Comments

Unless your local electricity network provides a local variation to a new Australian Standard that becomes mandatory on Thursday, it may be illegal to install a Powerwall 2 plus solar on a single phase. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Battery Storage Tagged With: ,

Billionaire’s Gambit – Why we should accept Musk’s offer.

March 14, 2017 2017-04-18T14:40:15 by 44 Comments

deal

Last Thursday in a trendy re-purposed Substation near Melbourne, Elon Musk’s cousin Lyndon Rive claimed he could solve SA’s energy woes in 100 days.

How?

By installing 100-300MWh of batteries.

Big Call.

A day later, via Twitter, Aussie tech billionaire Mike Cannon-Brookes asks Musk if he’s serious about “100MW1” of batteries in 100 days. Musk wagers he’ll deliver and install them in 100 days or it’s free. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Battery Storage Tagged With: ,

Happy Christmas From The Crew At SolarQuotes

December 23, 2016 2018-05-09T09:08:25 by 3 Comments
santa and tesla sleigh

Look what Santa got for Christmas.

From all of us here at SolarQuotes® : John, Rob, Jono, Ronald, Claudio, Chantel, Margherita, Bec and Finn, have a great Christmas under your LED and solar powered Christmas lights.

See you next week, with a turkey sandwich and a post rounding up what happened in Australian Solar Land during 2016.

 

 

Filed Under: Solar Panels Tagged With:

Powerwall 2 Full Spec Released: Low cost but ‘unlimited cycles’ warranty has limits.

November 25, 2016 2018-05-09T08:52:20 by 79 Comments
powerwall 2 spec

The full spec and warranty of the Powerwall 2 reveal a cost per warranted kWh almost half that of its nearest rival.

[Update March 13: Tesla has cancelled sales of the DC Powerwall 2 in Australia and the first installations of the AC version of the Powerwall 2 will now apparently be done in April.]

Yesterday, Tesla kindly sent me the Powerwall 2’s full data sheet and warranty. We already knew the headline specs:

Storage: 13.5kWh

Power: 5kW steady, 7kW Peak

Price: AUD$8,000 + GST and Installation

But there were lots of questions over the exact configuration and warranty details that could make or break Tesla’s shiny new battery. Most of these questions have now been answered.

Here’s what the new specs reveal: [Read more…]

Filed Under: Battery Storage Tagged With: , ,
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