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

Cost Of Powerwall 2 Drops 9% Overnight

powerwall 2

The Tesla Powerwall 2 is now $800 cheaper in Australia.

Tesla appears to be unsure about how much to charge Australians for the Powerwall 2.

Or maybe they are sure, but confused about how the Australian dollarydoo works.

Perhaps they’ve been confusing it with the New Zealand doubloon or the Fijian guilder?

I know I often do.

"Crikey! 900 Dollarydoos to the New Zealand doubloon and 6 centaroos to the Fijian guilder!"

“Crikey! 900 dollarydoos to the New Zealand doubloon and 6 centaroos to the Fijian guilder!”

[Read more…]

Unwitting Warranties: A Ticking Time Bomb For The Battery Industry

dodgy battery sales guy

As soon as a battery manufacturer says this, your battery magically gets a 20 year warranty in Australia. No matter what the warranty document says.

The other day a salesperson give me the rundown on a home battery system he had on display.  While it wasn’t cheap, it certainly appeared to be a very impressive piece of technology.  The salesperson clearly had a lot of confidence in it because, even though its written warranty was only for 10 years, he very generously doubled that to a 20 year warranty without batting an eyelid.

Ben Affleck had his eyes batted for two hours a day in preparation for this role.

Ben Affleck would bat his eyelids for two hours a day in preparation for this role.

We weren’t related, so nepotism wasn’t the reason for his generosity.  And it wasn’t because I saved his life in Nam…bour.  (That sugar cane train could be really dangerous.)  We weren’t old schoolmates, and as hard as it may be to believe, he wasn’t taken in by my charm and good looks.

No, the reason why he gave me a 20 year warranty was simply because he didn’t realize he was giving one.  Or possibly, he did realize he was giving one and really hates his company.

He gave me a 20 year warranty when he told me the battery system had a design life of 20 years.  According to Australian Consumer Law, if a salesperson makes a statement that a reasonable person would conclude to mean that a product can be expected to last for 20 years, then that counts as a 20 year warranty.  It doesn’t matter that this warranty was given verbally or that it is twice as long as its written warranty, legally it still counts. [Read more…]

Solar Rebate Ending?

dont-panic

Have you heard the news?  The solar rebate is ending!  It’s all over the internet.  Or at least all over the parts of the internet that run ads from shonky solar companies.  According to them, if you don’t rush out right now to get rooftop solar installed before the first of January you’ll end up paying a fortune for it!  If you don’t buy now, the price of a typical 5 kilowatt rooftop solar system will rise by…

…just a second… let me work it out…

Around $263 which is about a 4% increase. [Read more…]

Energex Tries To Stop Tide Of Batteries With Bonkers Tariff 31 and 33 Rule

king energex on a throne

Cnut from Energex1 tries to stop batteries.

Energex is the state government owned network operator for all of Queensland.  They receive electricity from the high voltage transmission lines that Powerlink manages and distribute it to the state’s homes and businesses. They also kindly distribute it things that aren’t homes or business, including my cousin’s non-profit Fight Club Community Center2. [Read more…]

Reposit Power Review: Does It Really Halve The Payback Time Of Your Battery?

Reposit pokie

Do you feel lucky? Maybe you can make a great return with Reposit by selling electricity to the grid, and maybe you can’t. Find out with our Reposit Power review.

Reposit is a Canberra based startup. They make software which optimizes the performance of a home battery system. The software is installed on a controller the size of a circuit breaker that sits in your switchboard. [Read more…]

Congratulations! Your 10 Year Solar Panel Product Warranty Is Probably 25 Thanks To Australian Consumer Law

magician turning a 10 year warranty in to 25 year warranty

Has your solar panel’s ‘product warranty’ has been magically transformed from 10 to 25 years thanks to Australian Consumer Law?

When people ask me about solar panel warranties, I tell them to look at the product warranty.  This is usually for 10 or 12 years.

I tell them not to worry about the performance warranty, which is normally for 25 years or sometimes 30.  You see, while most manufacturers are happy to honor their product warranties, not all of them expect to replace solar panels that fail while they are only covered by their performance warranty. [Read more…]

Will Trump Take A Dump On Solar?

usa flag in solar cells

Will Trump destroy the US clean energy industry?

Donald Trump has won the US Presidential election.  The people of the United States of America have spoken.  They haven’t spoken very well, but they have done it.  And since they will have a guy in charge who never shuts up, they’re not likely to stop now.

[Read more…]

Is Tesla’s Solar Roof Fair Dinkum?

elon musk on tv

Tesla’s solar roof tile announcement raises more questions than it answers.

On Saturday the 29th of October, Elon Musk made an announcement that thousands of Australians were waiting to hear.

He spent 37 seconds making that announcement.

Then he spent most of the rest of the time spruiking Tesla’s new solar tiles. [Read more…]

The Sonnen Battery: Expensive & Warranty Unclear

 

a marketing shot of a sonnenbatterie in a living room

The lovely looking Sonnen Battery. Don’t ever put one in your living room. That would be silly.

Sonnen is a German company who have been making home batteries longer than Tesla.  They were originally known as sonnenBatterie but shortened their name and called their battery system that.  Its full name in Australia is the sonnenBatterie eco.

Their system is 100% made in Germany using 100% made in Japan batteries and their inverters appear to be 100% made in either Spain or Bulgaria.  All other components are 100% made in whatever countries they were made in. [Read more…]

The Tesla Powerwall 2: Batteries Can Finally Pay For Themselves

Elon Musk proclaims the coronation of Powerwall 2.0

Elon Musk proclaims the coronation of Powerwall 2.0

Today at 12:15 Eastern Standard Time, Elon Musk announced the arrival of the Tesla Powerwall 2.

Some people were enthusiastically looking forward to this announcement, but I was not. I fully expected to be underwhelmed, and as soon as Musk finished his two or three sentences on the actual system, I felt a near fatal lack of enthusiasm sweeping over me. [Read more…]

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