Have solar panel optimiser manufacturers been too optimistic in their performance claims? A Danish study says optimisers can be the opposite of optimal.
Solar systems hate shade. They really do. Sometimes they talk to me in my dreams and it’s always their number one complaint, right after being pooped on by birds. But these two problems are related — they hate bird poop because it shades their solar cells. [Read more…]
If you own a solar business, the government has announced a surprisingly generous support package for small/medium businesses. Here’s what you need to know.
On March 12th, in response to the economic slowdown caused by the coronavirus and bushfires, the Australian Government announced a $17.6 billion economic stimulus. Then, at some point in the last week, they must have spoken to someone in the Treasury who actually knows what’s going on, because they then increased it by an order of magnitude to $189 billion. [Read more…]
It’s a great time to buy commercial solar power to slash your energy bills. And the new $150,000 instant asset write-off can reduce your tax bill too.
Due to the economic hit from the coronavirus COVID-19 and bushfire disasters, the Federal Government has announced a $17.6 billion economic stimulus. It includes tax deduction incentives that make commercial solar power — and other investments — even more attractive. [Read more…]
Electric cars beat hybrids on emissions thanks to additional rooftop solar power
Pop Quiz: Which results in greater CO2 per kilometre? An all electric car (EV) or a fuel efficient hybrid?
Answer: An electric car charged from the Australian grid will result in around twice the emissions per kilometre driven. [Read more…]
Are you willing to trade control of your home battery for cash payments? Then a Virtual Power Plant may be for you. Our VPP table lets you compare offers.
Do you own a home battery, or are planning to get one? Then I have good news. The SolarQuotes Virtual Power Plant (VPP) Comparison Table is up and running. So if you are interested in joining a VPP, you’d better go catch it. [Read more…]
SMA’s ShadeFix doesn’t fix shade but reduces some of its secondary effects.
A couple of weeks go a reader asked me to write about ShadeFix. ShadeFix is the software German manufacturer SMA include in their solar inverters. This request made me feel a bit stupid because I had no idea what ShadeFix was. [Read more…]
The coronavirus, or COVID-19 as all the cool epidemiologists are calling it these days, has at time of writing killed over 2,600 people in China and quarantine measures taken to slow its spread have led to the greatest economic downturn that country has seen since the Global Financial Crisis of 2008.
But in the wake of all this suffering and disruption, there is a silver lining saving many more lives than the virus is taking. With power stations consuming half the coal they were at this time last year and road travel way down, lives saved from reduced air pollution should easily exceed those lost to the virus. [Read more…]
Solar Victoria’s marketing department wanted to spruik their solar battery rebate. Did they choose to mislead or inform the public?
On the 16th of January 2020 Solar Victoria published what they called a “case study” under the Latest News section on their web site. It’s about a person who is happy with their new solar battery system. On the face of it, that seems a lot better than someone who is unhappy with their battery system, but I suspect the person who bought it may have been misled and won’t be so happy with their purchase after they learn the truth. [Read more…]
On Wednesday last week Australia’s Chief Scientist, Alan Finkel, gave a talk on Australia’s energy future at the National Press Club. While there’s no doubt Australia’s Chief Scientist is a smart cookie, I think a couple of predictions he made are fairly obviously wrong. [Read more…]
Under 10 degrees tilt? Try groovy solar panels made by Winaico (and others).
It’s really bucketing down here in Queensland right now. I’m relieved because until this evening there was a remote but real possibility of everything going all orange and wavy and really hot. I have friends coming over from Taiwan and I’d be most dreadfully embarrassed if all we had to offer them was a fine selection of ashes. [Read more…]
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