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

Battle Royale Of EV Charger Warranties: Who Will Be Crowned Champion?

Ronald in boxing garb surrounded by EV chargers and warranty documents

I have 11 EV charger warranties, and I will make them fight. [Read more…]

The Fronius Wattpilot Warranty: It’s Too Short

Fronius Wattpilot and a 2-year warranty badge

This is a deep dive into the Fronius Wattpilot EV charger warranty.  If you don’t know what that is, it’s a device for charging EVs. 

There is nothing especially wrong with the warranty Fronius provides — except that it’s too short.  The Wattpilot warranty is only two years. [Read more…]

Drowning In Despair:  A Deep Dive Into The Jinko Solar Suntank Warranty

jinko suntank battery and warning symbol

UPDATE JULY 2023: Jinko has updated and improved the SunTank warranty, also retroactively applying it to existing installations. Good on them! The new warranty document is available here. Summary of changes below:

Features Old Warranty New Warranty
Energy Retention 70% for the first 5 years
50% for another 5 years
60% for 10 years
Life Cycle or Life Cycle Power Shouldn’t be over 300 per year Total energy discharged from the battery reaches 3.05MWh per kWh usable capacity
Accessories Warranty Period 1 year 2 years
Warranty if not connected with Internet 3 years 5 years
Operating Temperature -10 ~ +45 -10 ~ +50
Transferrable No Yes
Others Applies to all previously sold systems

 

Jinko Solar launched their Suntank low-voltage home battery in July 2022.  This article is my opinion of its warranty.  While it’s possible the battery could be good, I can tell you right now its warranty isn’t.   [Read more…]

US Study Shows EV Batteries Should Last An EV’s Lifetime

a very old Tesla

Good news! As your EV gets old, its battery should be fine.

How long do electric vehicle batteries last?  According to a study by Recurrent — a US company devoted to helping people buy and sell used EVs — it’s a long time. [Read more…]

Home Batteries Finally Taking Off?

Fronius Gen24 and BYD battery installation, Australia

Installation by DJM Electrical

This year’s Smart Energy Conference was abuzz with news on solar and batteries — more abuzz than a bucket of Queensland prawns on a hot tin roof.  The hottest of hot topics was home batteries — not because dodgy ones were spouting flame — but because their installation rate is soaring.  If growth continues, by the end of 2027, Australia could have as many home batteries as some optimists predicted for the year 2020. [Read more…]

A Deep Dive Into The Sungrow Battery Warranty — It Can’t Take The Heat

a bearded man in a desert overloaded with warranty documents

I read the Sungrow Battery Warranty so you don’t have to…

Could Bad Weather Kill Your Battery Warranty?

Home battery sales are growing, with around 47,000 Australian installations last year.  One popular choice that won’t break the bank — but may still put a major dent in it — is from Sungrow.  Their High Voltage SBR battery is competitively priced and, because it’s modular, provides from 9.6 to 25.6 kilowatt-hours (kWh) of storage.  This article will be a deep dive into the details of its warranty. [Read more…]

Budget 2023. Direct Bill Reductions: Dumb. Low Cost Loans: Smart

hand full of cash

Last night the Treasurer gave a half-hour Budget speech.  I listened in because lately, there hasn’t been enough boredom in my life.  There is a lot I could say about this year’s budget —  but I won’t.  I’ll stick to discussing energy.  Mostly, the Government’s plan for providing cost-of-energy relief to low-income households and how they’re doing it wrong. [Read more…]

One Month: Time Between Tesla Lowering EV Prices & Raising Them

one month on a calendar

One month after lowering their EV prices in Australia, Tesla has bounced them up again and added $400 to all Model 3 and Model Y electric vehicles.  [Read more…]

Federal Energy Rebates: Solar Households May Come Out Ahead

piggy bank house with solar

Electricity Price Hikes Incoming…

If you live in an eastern state —  or that middle state called South Australia strapped to them by a couple of transmission lines — then in July, you’ll be hit with hefty electricity price increases. [Read more…]

Solar Analytics Ditches 3G Lifetime Subscriptions – Discover Your Rights and Next Steps

sad solar analytics

Solar Analytics Is Taking Away My Lifetime Subscription — What Can I Do?

Solar Analytics provides a solar monitoring service for households.  It’s one of the better ones available and it’s not difficult to find people who say it is the best.  It requires a subscription and, currently, you can pay for it by the month, the year, or five years.  In the past, Solar Analytics sold lifetime subscriptions but they have decided people with older 3G monitoring hardware with lifetime subscriptions will lose them.  This will occur before either these people or the solar systems being monitored are dead. [Read more…]

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