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

Cuts To Electricity Prices And Feed-in Tariffs From July Will Extend Solar Payback

May 25, 2020 2020-05-26T16:05:43 by 37 Comments
Electricity price and solar feed in tariff reductions

COVID-19 has contributed to wholesale electricity prices cuts, which should be reflected in your power bills from July.

The coronavirus has killed more than 340,000 people worldwide and taken a big bite out of economic activity.  Fortunately, Australia’s death toll has been low thanks to the effective response from medical professionals.

While we’ve gotten off lightly with regard to lives lost, there has been a sizable economic downturn.  This has caused wholesale electricity prices to drop, which you should see reflected your bills from July.  Unless you’re in Western Australia. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Electricity Prices

SA Home Battery Scheme’s New Calculator Gives Dismal Results (If You Can Find It)

May 18, 2020 2024-10-03T09:54:32 by 17 Comments
SA Home Battery Scheme calculator

The SA Government commissioned a calculator for their home battery scheme. It shows that, for most homes, even subsidised solar batteries don’t add up yet. So they buried it on their website.

Finally, after one and a half years, the South Australian Home Battery scheme has added a battery calculator to their site. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Battery Storage

The Grid Wants To Control Your Solar Inverter — But Only For Good, Not Evil

May 11, 2020 2023-11-22T13:14:57 by 39 Comments
Solar inverter control

Thanks to a deficit of trust in government, people are rightly worried when they hear that ‘the government wants to be able to switch off their solar systems’.

On the 30th of April the AEMO or — as it’s known by the long-winded — Australian Energy Market Operator, published a significant report called Renewable Integration Study 1.  A few people read the summary and then wrote articles on how the grid wants to take control of people’s solar inverters; switching them on and off as they desire. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Solar Inverters

Michael Moore Attacks Renewable Industry By Detonating His Own Credibility

May 1, 2020 2020-05-02T10:29:16 by 81 Comments
Planet Of The Humans review

Planet Of The Humans:  Earth Day documentary by Jeff Gibbs and promoted by Michael Moore. It’s zero stars from me in this review.

Two days ago I watched a documentary called Planet of the Humans that was released on Earth Day on April 22.  It’s by Jeff Gibbs and promoted by Michael Moore, who was its executive producer. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Solar and the Environment

Help! I’m Export Limited To Zero kW. Does Solar Make Any Sense?

April 27, 2020 2020-04-28T13:42:48 by 54 Comments
Zero export limited - solar power in Australia

If you are not allowed to export any of your solar electricity, is it still worth getting panels?

Some people in Australia can’t export solar electricity to the grid.  This is because their local Distributed Network Service Provider (DNSP) has export limited their home to zero kilowatts.  While this isn’t common — yet — it is a tragedy wrapped in personal economic pain. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Economics Of Solar

Choosing A High Efficiency Inverter Can Save Hundreds Of Dollars Over Its Lifespan

April 20, 2020 2020-04-20T13:44:00 by 6 Comments
Choosing a high efficiency solar inverter

How much can you save over 10 years by choosing a higher efficiency solar inverter?

A solar inverter’s efficiency determines how much solar electricity will be lost on the short journey from your solar panels to your switchboard.

The efficiency of popular Australian residential solar inverters varies from 96.5% to 98%.  Higher efficiency lets a home squeeze more kilowatt-hours of generation out of its solar power system.  [Read more…]

Filed Under: Solar Inverters

MIL-Solar Produces Australian-Made Eclipse Solar Inverter

April 14, 2020 2020-04-30T17:17:47 by 17 Comments
MIL-Solar Eclipse 5 kW inverter review

The MIL-Solar Eclipse 5 kW inverter. Made in Australia and tough as a Toowoombian.

Are you in the market for a grid-tied 5 kilowatt solar inverter?  In that case there’s plenty of choice.  I can think of nine brands I can recommend off the top of my head, but every single one of them is manufactured overseas. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Solar Inverters

Idiots Insisting “Over 20% Renewables Is Impossible” Go Into Hiding. Won’t Be Missed.

April 8, 2020 2025-01-02T10:14:25 by 8 Comments
20 per cent renewable energy

A few years ago it was common to hear “Grids Can’t Handle More Than 20% Renewables”. South Australia (among others) would beg to differ.

I was talking to Finn on Sunday — electronically because computer viruses are less of a threat than biological ones these days — and I mentioned South Australia was producing much more electricity from renewables than it was consuming and that the surplus was being exported to Victoria.  There’s nothing unusual about this, especially on weekends, but it prompted Finn to ask… [Read more…]

Filed Under: Solar and the Environment

Will SA’s “Solar Sponge” Tariff Make ‘Batteries Without Solar’ Worthwhile?

April 6, 2020 2020-04-25T11:12:26 by 13 Comments
Solar sponge tariff - South Australia

A battery and a sponge. See what I did there?

Update 9th April 2020:  South Australia Power Networks has informed us the Solar Sponge tariff is available now for people with smart meters, but very few electricity retailers are offering it.1  It was to become standard on the 1st of July, but this may be delayed due to the Coronavirus pandemic.

In October 2019 South Australia Power Networks (SAPN) announced they would introduce a new “Solar Sponge” tariff promising electricity in the middle of the day at one quarter their usual rate.  As a result, some people have claimed this will let a battery pay for itself, even if the home doesn’t have solar panels.  Are they nuts? Not completely. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Battery Storage

Archeologists Uncover Ancient Egyptian Solar Power

April 1, 2020 2024-01-02T14:21:23 by 18 Comments
Ancient Egypt and solar power

Copper filled grooves in a piece of ancient Egyptian obsidian. (Image: The Irish Times)

A set of papers published in the International Journal of Antiquity last month has revealed ancient Egyptians may have had access to a technology that, in our modern world, has only taken off over the last few decades.  [Read more…]

Filed Under: Solar Innovations
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