Posts By Ronald Brakels, Author & Fact-Checker At SolarQuotes

Bigger Inverters Are Much Better Value – So When Buying Solar, Go Big!

January 11, 2021 2021-01-11T14:56:10 by 18 Comments
Bigger solar inverters are better value

Big inverters are much cheaper per Watt. Another reason to go big with your solar power system.

When people ask me how much solar they should put on their roofs, I usually reply along the lines of…

“As much as you bloody well can.”

I’m not saying you should borrow money from the mafia or a dodgy finance company to do this. Still, I recommend putting on as many solar panels as is reasonable given the constraints of budget, roof space, and how much they’ll let you install in your area. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Solar Inverters

Satellites Show Sea-Level Rise Of Almost 10 cm In 28 Years

January 4, 2021 2021-01-04T11:38:37 by 21 Comments

Sea level rise - climate change

I’m not going to prevaricate.  I won’t even waste time using large words I hardly understand.  I’m going to come right out and say it.  The world’s oceans have problems — big problems as in they’re getting bigger.  [Read more…]

Filed Under: Solar and the Environment

2020 In Review: Fossil Fuel Industry Running On Fumes

December 28, 2020 2024-01-25T10:56:59 by 29 Comments

2020 in review - fossil fuels and renewable energy

The year 2020 was wonderful except for one little thing, and it’s hard to get littler than a virus.  Thank god Australia got off lightly compared to most.  [Read more…]

Filed Under: Solar Policy

Solar Export Limiting — What It Is & Why It’s Useful

December 21, 2020 2020-12-22T15:01:04 by 76 Comments

Solar export limiting explained

Many Australian homes are not allowed to export more than 5 kW to the grid. If they want a big solar system with an inverter larger than 5 kW, they must ‘export limit’ the inverter. Here’s what that means. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Solar Inverters

Renewables Now 60% Of South Australian Electricity Generation

December 14, 2020 2020-12-14T12:19:25 by 31 Comments

South Australia renewable energy generation

The 21st century has brought radical change to South Australian electricity generation.  Eighteen years ago SA had the least renewable energy in the country thanks to hydroelectricity being a tough sell in a location as dry as a Sao biscuit and twice as flat.  [Read more…]

Filed Under: Solar Policy

LAVO’s Australian Made Hydrogen Battery: Incredible Engineering. Tough Sell.

December 7, 2020 2024-10-03T09:04:51 by 32 Comments
Lavo hydrogen battery review

The LAVO hydrogen battery is a feat of engineering -but who will buy it?

If all you’ve ever wanted out of life is to own an Australian made, hydrogen-powered, fuel cell, energy storage system then I have some really good news for you.  In October, Australian company LAVO launched a hydrogen energy storage system for homes and businesses.  While it’s mainly a fuel cell, they refer to it as a hydrogen battery, so if you want to call it a battery knock yourself out. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Battery Storage

Why Your Solar Feed-In Tariff Is Lower Than Your Electricity Usage Tariff

November 30, 2020 2024-10-02T12:13:13 by 35 Comments
Why solar feed-in tariffs are lower than retail electricity prices

To understand why solar feed-in tariffs are comparatively low, you need to understand how your electricity bill sausage is made. Image credit

In this article, I am going to take a typical electricity bill and break it down into its components. 

I told Finn I was doing this for two sensible reasons:

  1. To let people know where their electricity dollar goes.
  2. To show where solar feed-in tariffs come from and why they are significantly less than electricity’s retail price.

But the main reason is I hate electricity bills and enjoy breaking them into pieces. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Electricity Prices

Click Energy: Best Feed-in Tariffs But Not Always Best Deal 

November 23, 2020 2020-11-23T15:13:27 by 25 Comments
Click Energy solar feed in tariff review

Click Energy provides high feed-in tariffs — If your inverter is 5kW or less.

If you:

  • want a high solar feed-in tariff.
  • have a solar inverter 5 kilowatts or less.
  • have low grid electricity consumption 

…then Click Energy may be the best choice of electricity retailer to minimize your electricity bills (or maximize credit received). [Read more…]

Filed Under: Electricity Prices

Dan Andrews Doesn’t Understand How Victoria’s ‘Solar Homes’ Program Works

November 19, 2020 2020-11-19T11:51:27 by 23 Comments

Victoria Premier Dan Andrews - Solar Homes

Dan Andrews, the Premier of Victoria, has been a busy man.  For four long months, Melbourne was locked in a desperate, life or death struggle with the coronavirus and only recently emerged victorious.  It’s well past time he stopped to pat himself on the back and take a well-earned rest, as he has clearly been doing everything by himself.  This was made apparent by a tweet he sent out yesterday showing he doesn’t understand how his own state’s Solar Homes Program works. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Solar Policy

Tesla Increases Powerwall Price $800 After Announcing They’ll Halve Battery Prices By 2025

November 16, 2020 2024-10-01T14:43:19 by 31 Comments
Tesla Powerwall price increase

Despite promising to reduce energy storage costs, Tesla keeps increasing the price of its Powerwall home battery.

On September the 23rd I woke up at 5:00 am to listen to Elon Musk’s Battery Day announcement where the world was told Tesla would cut the cost of batteries in half by 2025.  We were told they would:

  • Lower the cost of battery cells.
  • Lower the cost of battery factories.
  • Reduce the cost of raw materials required.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Battery Storage
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