Finally, something that’s genuinely German in the solar industry… sheet copper is no longer made in Australia, sadly.

If we’ve noticed anything of late in the SolarQuotes office, it’s that water heating isn’t just a mundane task; it’s a subject passionately debated and deeply entrenched. Who would have thought? [Read more…]

Last week, I extolled the virtues of heat pumps, lauding their unparalleled efficiency. As promised, it’s time to investigate why these newfangled appliances might not be as splendid as they seem. [Read more…]

Having observed countless passionate discussions in various online forums on hot water heat pumps, it’s clear to me that people care – a lot – about this seemingly mundane subject.

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Evaluating the Cost-effectiveness of Heat Pumps vs. Solar and Resistive HWS [Read more…]

A well-meaning plumber recently made a mistake that could have cost a friend hundreds of dollars. Fortunately for her, I was on hand to save the day by explaining that because of her high solar feed-in tariff, her hot water system should only be turned on at night. [Read more…]

Last week Finn got me into hot water.  He did this by referring me to a study called::

“Analysis of electricity consumption and thermal storage of domestic electric water heating systems to utilize excess PV generation”

Let me translate that from Academeze into English for you:

Are electric hot water systems any good at soaking up excess solar electricity?

Here are some of the findings: [Read more…]

Rocco was burned by rules saying he could not have a solar feed-in-tariff AND off-peak hot water.

Updated with comment from United Energy: A tale brought to our attention by reader Rocco is a handy reminder customers and retailers need to read the fine print of their solar feed-in-tariff contracts – and also brought to our attention how complex wholesaler and retailer rules can get. [Read more…]

Hot water diversion is now more affordable with the new Catch Power ‘Green Catch’

Hi everyone.  Happy New Year!  This is a short article about a new hot water diverter developed by Australia’s Catch Power.  I’m just letting you know it’s available and because I don’t really have anything bad to say about it this may seem like an advertisement.  [Read more…]

Heat Pump Hot Water. Power it with Solar PV and its efficiency cannot be beaten by solar thermal. Bloody expensive though.

If you are looking for the most efficient solar hot water system then solar PV panels powering a heat pump are hard to beat.

While both the panels and heat pump will need to be proficient performers, it is possible for the combination to beat solar thermal hot water which is widely considered the most efficient method. [Read more…]