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

Is Solar Panel Cleaning A Waste Of Time And Money?

September 27, 2016 2024-10-01T14:56:09 by 122 Comments
a bird shitting on a solar panel

Solar Panel Cleaning – It’s A Dirty Job, But Nobody Has To Do It

The day your solar panels are installed is the day you will get the best performance out of them.  After that it is all down hill. Admittedly, it is a very shallow hill and it might take over 40 years to get to the bottom, but day one is going to be as good as it gets.

One of the reasons for this is dirt. As soon as your panels are out in the open in the clean air, or not so clean air, dust will start to settle on them, blocking sunlight, reducing their efficiency, and costing you money.

The obvious solution is to pay someone to clean those panels, or get out there and clean them yourself. And sometimes this obvious solution will be a sensible course of action. If a dust storm has covered your panels in dirt or pelicans have had a poop party on your roof, then it’s a pretty good idea.

But most of the time solar panel cleaning is not worth it. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Solar Panels Tagged With: ,

Misleading Statements On Sunrise Hurt Solar Industry

September 23, 2016 2017-04-18T15:36:26 by 24 Comments
sunrise

The scene in the Brakels’ household last Sunday morning.

On Sunday morning the program Sunrise had a segment on solar power and battery storage. While I am glad whenever popular TV takes the opportunity to educate people on these topics, that wasn’t what happened here. It was the opposite of education, as anyone watching it could easily come away believing the following three things:

1. Battery storage pays for itself.
2. Battery storage cuts CO2 emissions.
3. Rooftop solar needs batteries to be worthwhile.

None of these things are true.

Battery storage does not pay for itself when used on-grid and it may be years before it does.

Home batteries do not cut emissions, they increase them. In the future they may allow us to decrease greenhouse gas emissions, but that point is still years away.

Rooftop solar by itself is cost effective. It is adding batteries that can make it uneconomical.  The mistaken belief that rooftop solar needs batteries to be effective is causing harm to both the solar industry and the environment, as people are delaying installing rooftop solar until batteries become affordable. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Battery Storage Tagged With:

Goodwe’s GW2500-BP DC Converter: The Cheapest Way To Retrofit Batteries?

September 19, 2016 2024-08-18T20:23:38 by 15 Comments
goodwe bp

This yellow box is a DC converter (not an inverter) that lets batteries share your solar inverter.

If you own a solar system and want to add batteries then, in theory, the cheapest way to do this is to simply plug your batteries into your existing solar inverter. The solar inverter can then convert the batteries’ DC power into AC power, just like it does for your solar.

Unfortunately, in practice, regular solar inverters are not designed to be shared by solar and batteries, so this hasn’t been possible and battery upgrades have been jolly expensive as a result.

But Goodwe, a major Chinese inverter manufacturer, has just released a battery DC converter, going by the catchy name of GW2500-BP. It is designed to allow batteries to interface to existing solar inverters.

This DC converter may be the cheapest way to add batteries to an existing solar home. It will also bypass any restrictions that Australian network operators may put in the way of using battery-inverters, such as the Sunny Boy Storage.

By itself it won’t make battery storage pay, but it brings it one step closer to being cost effective. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Battery Storage Tagged With:

Cheapest Electricity Plans For Solar Owners Revealed

September 8, 2016 2024-01-25T16:57:19 by 31 Comments
ronald's head exploding

This is how I felt after spending 2 days trying to work out the best electricity plans for solar owners.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, electricity bills are confusing.

If you are one of those rare people who don’t find electricity bills confusing, then I have two things to say to you. Firstly, “Good for you”.

Secondly, “When are you returning to your home planet?” because I find it hard to believe you are human.

Because they are so confusing, it is very difficult to know which retailer offers the best plan for your household. Especially for people with rooftop solar, as they have the additional complication of accounting for feed-in tariffs. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Electricity Prices

Does Battery Storage Help Or Hurt The Environment?

September 1, 2016 2024-10-02T10:35:38 by 66 Comments
an eco-warrior dreaming about a powerwall

If you want to save the environment and have limited funds, then buying batteries should not be a priority.

Millions of Australians have installed rooftop solar to help the environment and save money.

Many are hoping home battery storage will soon let them do the same.

The cost of home energy storage is falling rapidly and it may not be long before it pays for itself.  But at its current price it will not save money, even under favourable circumstances, when used on-grid.  Despite this, there have been hundreds, or possibly thousands, of people who have installed home battery systems because they want to help the environment.

Have these people  made a horrible mistake? [Read more…]

Filed Under: Battery Storage Tagged With: , ,

Aquion Battery Review: Safe… But Limited Power & Efficiency

August 24, 2016 2024-08-18T20:26:25 by 48 Comments
DIY Salt Water Battery

You can now buy an Aquion salt water battery to power your home. Nemo not included.

UPDATE MARCH 2017: As of March 8, 2017, Aquion has filed a voluntary petition under Chapter 11 of the United States Bankruptcy Code

UPDATE JULY 2017 : Aquion Energy is resuming operations

Keen on storing your excess solar in a big battery? Worried about having a big box of toxic and/or flammable chemicals in your home? Then you’ll want to know about the Aquion battery and its salt water technology. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Battery Storage Tagged With:

Victoria’s Residential Demand Tariffs: Designed To Cripple Rooftop Solar?

August 19, 2016 2016-08-19T09:02:48 by 11 Comments
an evil genius pasting demand tariffs to a solar panel

The Victorian demand tariff appears to be a cunning plan to slow the spread of solar.

Residential demand tariffs are now available in Australia, and I recommend you watch out for them. If you are a modest user of grid electricity, as many solar owners are, they have the ability to blow your electricity bill through the ceiling. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Electricity Prices Tagged With: ,

How Residential Demand Tariffs Could Add $1000’s To Your Bill

August 16, 2016 2024-08-18T20:30:19 by 17 Comments

demand tariff

Electricity companies around Australia are starting to roll out a new way to charge you for electricity. It is called a residential demand tariff.

Unsurprisingly this new tariff can result in higher bills for you, and higher profits for them.

This post is important. It will explain to you what a demand tariff is, how it works, and why many households should avoid it at all costs.

The electricity companies want to make demand tariffs the norm, so you must be armed with the knowledge to spot one when you see one, and understand the implications of signing up for one. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Electricity Prices Tagged With: , ,

Solar Panels By The Sea And Corrosion Resistance

August 11, 2016 2024-01-03T18:59:18 by 19 Comments
beach house with solar

If you are putting solar on a house by the sea then I’m jealous! And I also need to tell you about the IEC-61701 standard.

Oh, I do like to be beside the seaside,
I do like to be beside the sea…

Ever wonder why you never hear a robot singing that song? I’ll tell you why.

Two words: corrosion!

Sorry, that was one word. Two words – bad corrosion! [Read more…]

Filed Under: Solar Panels Tagged With:

Why Oversizing Solar Panel Arrays Is A Smart Move

August 9, 2016 2024-04-08T10:18:05 by 87 Comments
house with lots of solar panels

Did you know you can add panels up to 133% of your inverter capacity? Read on to discover why oversizing solar is a smart move (as long as your roof is big enough – unlike this guy’s).

Installing rooftop solar systems with a total panel capacity greater than the inverter capacity is usually a very good idea.  It will certainly save you money, but it can also help get around the restrictions many Australians face on the size of inverter they can connect to the grid. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Solar Inverters, Solar Panels Tagged With: ,
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