SunPower Solar Panels: One of the best panels lots of money can buy

June 6, 2016 2017-11-10T14:01:38 by 83 Comments
sunpower solar panels

SunPower make very good, very expensive panels.

SunPower make some of the best solar panels in existence. Or at least some of the best on this planet. Perhaps Spectrolab regularly shoots better ones into space to mars or somewhere, I don’t know. But if you want to buy something that is meant to go on a roof and not a space probe, then SunPower solar panels are hard to beat.

Now note that I did say some of the best and not some of the cheapest. If you haven’t worked out that the words cheap and best don’t normally go together, then I have a really low quality laptop held together with superglue and wooden rulers that I’d like to sell to you at a really high price. [Read more…]

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Phono Solar Panels Review: Reliability Scores Highly

May 24, 2016 2017-04-18T18:10:09 by 14 Comments
phono solar panel review

Phono Solar Gets A Rave Review From Respected testing House DNV-GL

Getting the most out of solar panels depends upon them working as promised when they are installed, and then continuing to work in a similar way for decades to come. To assist people in selecting solar panels that are likely to do this, DNV GL, an international certification organization, performed tests upon a wide range of mostly Tier 1 solar panels including Phono Solar, Kyocera and numerous other manufacturers.  They published the results in their PV Module Reliability Scorecard Report 2016. Or at least they published a very useful review of the results, as they didn’t include everything they found. [Read more…]

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Revealed: Ausgrid’s Devious Strategy To Keep Solar Customers Confused

May 13, 2016 2017-04-18T18:15:09 by 6 Comments
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Want to ask Ausgrid what the rules are for connecting solar? Then be prepared to enter their infinite loop of hell.

In order to help out people who are considering installing rooftop solar in Sydney, I took it upon myself to find out what people need to know if they want to install a system in the Ausgrid Electricity Network area. I did it for the benefit of humanity. Well, specifically for the benefit of people in the eastern half of Sydney, but if it results in more clean solar electricity being generated, then it will benefit all humanity. [Read more…]

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Trina Breaks Black Silicon Efficiency Record

April 28, 2016 2017-04-19T14:00:25 by 10 Comments
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Trina have done it again: a solar cell efficiency of 23.5%.

Trina Solar, one of the largest manufacturers of solar panels in the world, has announced they have achieved a new efficiency record for black silicon solar cells of 23.5% on a large-area, mono-crystalline, square silicon wafer, 156 millimeters across. This beats the previous record of 22.94% Trina achieved in May 2014. The new record was confirmed by the Japan Electrical Safety & Environment Technologies Laboratories. [Read more…]

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Adding Solar Panels To Existing System? Here’s What You Need To Know.

March 24, 2016 2023-11-23T10:37:48 by 125 Comments
solar panels with space for adding more

Here are your options and gotchas when adding solar panels to an existing system.

 

Please note: this post was written in 2016

***Please read this 2022 post for the latest information on upgrading your solar panel array.***

So you’ve got solar panels on your roof and you want more so you can get your bills even lower?

[Read more…]

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SolarWorld launches bifacial solar panels in US

March 13, 2016 2017-10-25T09:25:17 by 9 Comments
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A SolarWorld worker in the USA inspects a bifacial solar panel. Pic: SolarWorld

German and US based manufacturer of top quality solar panels, Solar World AG launched their new bifacial solar modules in late 2015 at the industry trade show Solar Power International. However it was this month’s announcement of the first rollout of the new SolarWorld solar panels in the United States that has set tongues wagging. [Read more…]

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The race is on as Panasonic snatches lead as most efficient solar panel

March 9, 2016 2017-10-25T09:25:59 by 8 Comments
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Panasonic snatch the title for most efficient panel from Sunpower.

Well that didn’t take long! No sooner had we published our article on SunPower grabbing the unofficial prize of most efficient solar panel for commercial use, than Japanese manufacturer Panasonic surprises with a late sprint to the line.

The Japanese manufacturer has now jumped into the lead in the solar conversion Premier League with not one but two records. The new record, which was verified by the Japanese government-funded National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology, is an eye-catching photovoltaic module conversion efficiency of 23.8 percent. This leaves SunPower’s previous record in the dust by a full percentage point. [Read more…]

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Sunpower grabs lead in bid for most efficient solar panel

March 3, 2016 2017-10-25T09:26:24 by 1 Comment
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Sunpower – the ‘Rolls-Royce’ of solar panels regain the ‘Most Efficient Panel’ Trophy.

It’s on for young and old in the battle for the prestigious title of the most efficient solar panel. For a number of weeks we’ve brought you commentaries on the remarkable breakthroughs achieved by Trina (here and here). Now Sunpower — the French-owned, US-based solar panel manufacturer — has stepped up to the plate with an announcement they have achieved a module efficiency rating of 22.8 percent for its X-Series solar panel. Another world record. [Read more…]

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Trina Solar Panels take Tier 1 gong – but avoid the grey imports

February 22, 2016 2017-11-10T13:30:35 by 4 Comments
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Trina Solar Panels. They’re jolly good.

Trina solar panels took the stage this week as the solar manufacturing giant was named the most bankable PV producer in the world.

The survey, conducted by Bloomberg New Energy Finance (BNEF), asked banks, asset managers, engineering contractors, consultants and independent power producers from across the globe which “module manufacturers were most likely to obtain non-recourse debt financing by commercial banks”, according to a Feb 17 Trina press release. [Read more…]

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WA Solar Power: a template for the future of energy in Australia

January 22, 2016 2017-10-25T09:27:40 by 5 Comments
WA leads the way for solar power adoption

WA leads the way for solar power adoption

A recent study underlining the popularity of rooftop solar in WA has given Australians a glimpse into the country’s solar-driven energy future. For a survey conducted by Curtin University that has everyone talking is the one that shows power generated from rooftop solar systems in the state’s South-West Interconnected System (SWIS) produce as much energy as the state’s largest power station.

“We are in the extraordinary position of saying that Perth [SWIS] now has rooftop solar as the largest supplier of electricity, it’s the biggest power station in WA,” said Curtin University sustainability professor Peter Newman to the ABC AM program.

He added that the area currently has 20 percent coverage of solar panels, though this was just the beginning. [Read more…]

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