Victoria’s 2023-2024 state budget yesterday hit the headlines with a billion dollars to re-establish the State Electricity Commission, focusing on driving the state’s switch to renewables.

A much lower profile move was a rejig of Solar Victoria’s support for home batteries. [Read more…]

Keen SolarQuotes readers will no doubt recall the ongoing saga which began when LG Energy Solution Australia issued a recall notice for various LG Chem RESU models and battery packs back in February 2021. Since then, the recall has spread to other manufacturers containing the affected LG batteries. [Read more…]

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…]

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…]

A Sungrow Hybrid Inverter connected to 6.6 kW of solar and 12.8 kWh of Sungrow batteries. And a dishcloth.

As a solar installer in Australia, I’ve looked at many Powerwall alternatives for residential battery storage systems. In this guide, I want to share my knowledge about using hybrid inverters for grid-connected solar battery systems. [Read more…]

Have CATL Won The Battle For High Specific Energy?

Last week the world’s largest battery manufacturer — CATL — launched a new high-specific-energy battery.  If used in a typical EV today, it would improve its range by over 80% with no increase in battery pack weight.  It may also have applications in shipping and aviation.  CATL call it a condensed battery — or at least they do in their English media release.  It may sound less stupid in Chinese. [Read more…]

The Tesla Powerwall is by far the most famous home battery on the market.  The major drawback is that they don’t come cheap.

Most people would probably expect such a well-known and well-reputed bit of kit to have an excellent warranty.  And as it happens, that’s a fairly accurate conclusion — at least relative to many other home battery warranties — and it should last most households a full 10 years. However, as always, there are some caveats. [Read more…]

SolarQuotes has sometimes faced accusations of lacking independence, with critics suggesting Tesla must be footing the bill for our positive coverage of the Powerwall. We’ve also been accused of rigging Tesla’s gold medal in our 2023 Installers’ Choice Awards. [Read more…]

The words ‘budget battery’ strike fear into many installers’ hearts. The thought of a too-cheap battery going wrong is the stuff of nightmares. [Read more…]