A couple of years ago, Ronald (SolarQuotes’ Fact Checker) asked me for advice on buying a commuter push bike. I told him:

“Whatever you do, don’t buy a bike from K-Mart!”.

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Right now, we’re riding high. A big battery rebate just dropped, and quote requests are flying in.

But I’ve been in solar long enough to know what this feels like. We’re at the top of the solar coaster.

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The launch of the battery rebate means there’s more work than ever for the industry. Instead of taking advantage of customers as happened with the solar rebate, installers should realise they now have the power to refuse to work with dodgy operators and poor quality brands.

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With all the interest created by Australia’s shiny new Cheaper Home Batteries Program, we’ve seen enquiries soar for everything electric. One of the most common questions is: do I need to replace my existing solar system to get a battery? Here’s how to tell if it is possible to stick with your legacy solar, and how to add a battery to it if so.

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Last week, I got 30 kWh of batteries, 14 kW of solar, an EV charger and a few new power points installed at my commercial property. The job took five days. The owner of the solar business and his apprentice turned up every day and absolutely worked their guts out: in the cold, on ladders, heads down, doing careful, beautiful, and at times dangerous work.

I was in awe of the effort, precision, and professionalism required to do this work well – especially right now, with installers flat out trying to keep up with the surge in demand driven by the July 1 start date of the federal battery rebate.

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Today is the winter solstice. The darkest day of the year. If you’ve got solar on your roof, this is about as bad as it gets.

Which makes it the perfect time to ask: Is your system pulling its weight when you need it most?

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A little while back, SolarQuotes’ in-house installer Anthony Bennett wrote a solid post on a niche issue: whether power and data cables can run in the same conduit.

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Every now and then, someone pops up on Facebook with a gripe:

“SolarQuotes lets installers in their network who work from home!!! 🤬”

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As we get deeper into autumn, the days are growing short and the shadows are growing longer — which is bad news for your solar if a massive palm tree happens to be positioned in the wrong spot. Here’s how an array set up in one season can be set up to fail for another.

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Solar panels don’t keep working into the night, and neither should solar installers.

Ever heard an installer promise a premium brand of solar panel, battery or inverter for an absolute bargain? As the old saying goes: if something seems too good to be true, it probably is. Here’s why good quality gear doesn’t always mean a good quality job.

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