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

Peer Reviewed Study: Grid Connect Solar Helps Environment But Batteries Harm It

August 8, 2017 2017-08-08T14:14:24 by 98 Comments
academic in ivory tower

A paper published in ‘Nature’ has agreed with Ronald’s back of an envelope conclusions from last year: at the moment, most grid connected storage harms the environment.

Almost a year ago I wrote an article about how on-grid home battery storage does not help the environment but instead harms it by increasing greenhouse gas emissions and other types of pollution. I am raising this topic again, hoisting it above my head, and waving it around, because a scientific paper published in the journal Nature vindicates my position. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Battery Storage

Solar Panel Torture Testing: Jinko & Trina Do Well

August 1, 2017 2024-01-25T11:00:29 by 4 Comments
DNV-GL reliability scorecard

Now you know what the those DNV-GL engineers *really* get up to in their secret European HQ…

DNV-GL’s PV Module Reliability Scorecard Report for 2017 is out1 and gives some fascinating results.  You can follow that long link in the previous sentence to download your own copy of the report, but for your benefit, I’ve included my own unique analysis below, where I will give my interpretation of the results in 2,000 words or less.

Or possibly more.  I’ve only just started writing so don’t really know just how many words I’ll require, but if it looks like I’ll go over my self-imposed limit I can just leaveoutsomespaces, so it’s not really a problem. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Solar Panels Tagged With:

What is a PERC Solar Panel?

July 28, 2017 2024-01-25T08:01:09 by 20 Comments
perc solar panel

34 years after it was invented ‘PERC’ is now a big deal in solar panel technology. But what the hell is it?

Update 16th April 2019:  Many PERC panels have suffered from LeTID deterioration problems since this article was written.  This article here goes into the problem and this article on the MC Electrical blog covers it in detail and gives information on which PERC panels are resistant to LeTID.

Solar panel manufacturers crave efficiency.  I’m not talking about the labour efficiencies they receive from building new production lines that are robot-heavy and people-light, although they like those too. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Solar Panels Tagged With:

Can An Installer Change The Quoted Price Of My Solar System?

July 25, 2017 2017-07-25T22:59:29 by 25 Comments
stc price

The STC price has plummeted and pushed the price of solar up. What should you do if you’ve already accepted a quote and the installer wants to increase the price?

I’m going to ask you to imagine preparing to buy a rooftop solar system.  I want you to see yourself working hard, saving your money, doing your research, and getting yourself some quotes.  After careful consideration, you decide upon an installer, sign the contract, and transfer a 10% deposit to them.  At that point you would be looking forward to saving money on your electricity bills and doing your bit to help the environment.

Now imagine how you’d feel if, before the day of the installation, the installer contacts you and says the price has gone up and you now have to pay $1,000 extra.

I imagine you wouldn’t be very happy about it. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Solar Installation Tagged With: ,

SolarEdge HD Wave Review:  The World’s Smallest And Most Efficient String Inverter

July 20, 2017 2024-01-25T13:20:13 by 45 Comments
ronald and a hdwave

Today Ronald examines the SolarEdge HD Wave inverter. It’s small. But not that small.

It’s An Itsy Bitsy, Teeny Weeny, SolarEdge, HD Wave String Inverter…

SolarEdge, an Israeli company, has produced the HD Wave — the world’s smallest string inverter.  By size, this little cracker takes more DC than any inverter out there.  Not only that, but it grabs DC, uses its funky HD wave technology on it, and spurts out the AC our homes use with greater efficiency than any thing else on the market.  And it’s now available in Australia, starting from a couple of weeks ago. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Solar Inverters Tagged With:

Solar Panel Clamping Zones: Are Your Panels Mounted Correctly?

July 18, 2017 2020-12-30T14:41:12 by 35 Comments
clamping zones

That clamp is not in the zone! After reading this post you will know what that means. (Photo credit: Matt Hines – definitely not one of his installs)

There is one main way solar panels are attached to roofs in Australia and I’m hoping you won’t be surprised to learn it’s not glue.  If you’ve got panels, they are almost certainly fastened to your roof with clamps and held tight in the loving embrace of metal brackets. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Solar Installation Tagged With:

Chinese Company ‘Tesla New Energy’ Steals Tesla’s Name And Logo

July 13, 2017 2017-07-13T14:59:38 by 3 Comments
screenshot

The ‘Tesla New Energy’ website yesterday.

Many people are aware Tesla is planning to produce solar tiles, but not so many know the company is also has plans to sell conventional solar panels.  According to one report, Tesla is going to follow the novel approach of producing them inside a buffalo in New York.  Production is scheduled to begin within two months and the panels will only be available from Tesla.

The panels are not featured on Tesla’s Australian site and I currently have no information on when or if they will be available here.  But if you do enough searching on the internet or, more likely, receive some spam from them as I did, you may think you can order some of these panels from the Tesla New Energy factory in China. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Solar Panels Tagged With:

Solar For Renters? Landlords & Tenants Share The Benefits with ‘Matter’

July 11, 2017 2017-10-19T10:25:18 by 21 Comments
rental property without solar

Have you ever noticed that rental properties almost never have solar?

Australia has the lowest cost rooftop solar in the world, plenty of sunshine, and because we are heading towards having the most expensive pre-tax grid electricity in the world, solar is a must have for almost anyone who owns a roof.

But over the past 11 years Australian home ownership has fallen from 70% to around 66% and since it costs over a million bucks to buy a butterbox in Sydney, this figure isn’t likely to improve any time soon.  This means one-third of the Australian population is locked out of owning rooftop solar. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Solar Innovations

Channel 9’s Battery BS

July 7, 2017 2018-05-09T08:13:42 by 29 Comments
9 news and batteries

Channel 9 recently aired a segment with some very wild claims about battery payback.

“Hey everybody!  Is your cornflake bill getting you down?  Tired of spending a fortune on flaked corn?  Want to slash your monthly cornflake bill down to zero?  Well now you can, with the new Ron-Man Cornflake Storage Device.  This compact unit is capable of fitting inside a single car garage and holds a 10 year supply of cornflakes.  We guarantee you will never have to pay for another cornflake again for 10 whole years.  That’s right!  Free cornflakes for a decade!  All you need to do is pay $12,000 up front for the unit and a $1 a day cornflake management fee.  Who would have guessed free cornflakes could cost so little?” [Read more…]

Filed Under: Battery Storage

Clean Energy Council Accredited Installers, Approved Retailers, And Members: What’s The Difference?

July 4, 2017 2024-10-03T10:29:12 by 13 Comments
3 types of CEC affiliate

The CEC has 3 levels of affiliation, members, installers and approved retailer. What is the difference?

The Australian Clean Energy Council, or CEC, is Australia’s peak body for solar and other renewable energy. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Solar Policy Tagged With:
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