Search Results for: nsw

Are “Munchen Solar Panels” Actually German? And Are They Any Good?

September 18, 2013 2014-01-05T18:11:39 by 8 Comments
A German and Chinese Dude

Are Munchen Panels German or Chinese or Both?

Recently I’ve been getting a lot of emails along the lines of:

Hey Finn, Have you ever heard of Munchen Solar Panels? Are they any good? I really want “German Engineered” Panels and these look better than any of that Chinese engineered rubbish!

Well, the short answer is this: “Munchen Solar? Never heard of them. (and btw there are some great Chinese panels out there..)”

But after the quadzillionth email asking the same thing, I thought I’d do some digging to try and discover why there is a sudden spike in interest for these I’ve-never-heard-of-them-before German sounding solar panels. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Solar Panels Tagged With: ,

Revealed: The Top (and Bottom) Rated Solar Companies across Australia

September 2, 2013 2023-07-05T17:13:50 by 120 Comments
Customer ratings from over 11,000 reviews revealed!

Customer ratings from over 11,000 reviews revealed!

Since I started this humble website back in 2009 (when solar panels cost $1000 each!), over 11,000 solar powered Aussies have kindly left reviews of their solar installation experience online for all to see.

At the time of writing SolarQuotes.com.au has 11,341 reviews of 875 different solar companies online.

So I thought it was about time we had some fun, and do some analysis to discover the top-rated solar companies (as rated by their customers).

 

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Solar Installation Tagged With:

Can Solar and Mining be Best Of Frenemies?

August 26, 2013 2017-10-25T10:12:34 by 2 Comments
A happy compromise or supping with the devil?

A happy compromise or supping with the devil?

Whenever we hear of the future of the battle for the future of Australian energy, the picture we get in our press and from Canberra and the state capitals is one of conflict. One of subsidies for renewables such as solar power systems — whether utility scale solar or domestic PV — versus continued monetary support for fossil fuel-powered industries such as mining.

But is there a middle path readers? One that sees a future for sectors such as mining to use solar power systems to help offset rising energy costs? An absorbing article in Australian Mining this week appears to point in this direction. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Solar Installation Tagged With:

Solar Farms: Re-election chance sees government invest in ‘very, very large’ projects

August 5, 2013 2017-10-25T10:13:05 by 3 Comments
solar farming

Clearing the land for a solar farm!

Never underestimate the power of an election to get our pollies moving on environmental issues folks. Thanks to opinion polls showing the Ruddslide bringing both major parties neck-and-neck in the latest “Most Important Election Since the War” even solar farm policy is on the move. Or so it seems. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Big Solar Tagged With: , ,

Australia’s capital leads country in commercial solar

July 8, 2013 2018-03-23T15:27:46 by Leave a Comment
Canberra sign

Stop The Press! Something positive out of Canberra!

The feverish activity in Canberra continues. Kevin Rudd (aka The Milky Bar Kid) is PM this week apparently. But we thought we’d pop down the road to the seat of the far more interesting ACT territory government for this week’s solar news. For it is here that Australian commercial solar history is being made. (See our previous rant on the development of this solar farm).

Overshadowed by the shenanigans of their Fed cousins, the ACT government recently passed legislation which will see the country’s largest commercial solar farm built at Royalla. The facility, just outside the nation’s capital, has been the subject of bitter debate but the ACT’s Minister for the Environment and Sustainable Development Simon “Solar” Corbell, in standing his ground against well-organised protests, pointed out the many benefits the farm will bring to the territory. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Big Solar Tagged With: , ,

South Australia Feed In Tariff Ends In September. What you need to know.

July 3, 2013 2024-01-30T19:59:44 by 59 Comments

If you’ve opened any South Australian newspapers recently you’ve probably seen adverts from solar power installers screaming about the “IMMINENT REDUCTION IN THE SOUTH AUSTRALIA FEED IN TARIFF!!!”.

Regular readers of this blog will know that I’m not one to bombard you with pushy sales spiel, or use impending rebate cuts to pressure anyone into buying solar.

But what I will do is calmly go through the facts about the looming SA Feed In tariff reduction, and crunch a few numbers, so you can decide if you want to get in on the SA solar action before the 30 September 2013 deadline that a lot of solar companies are getting all worked up about.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Solar Installation Tagged With: ,

Can Solar Trade Wars Save The West’s Solar Manufacturing Industry?

June 24, 2013 2017-10-25T10:14:21 by Leave a Comment

 

EU fighting China

Solar trade wars, what are they good for? Absolutely nuthin! Say it again! Uh! (RIP Edwin Starr)

While the ongoing dispute (AKA solar trade war) between Europe and China continues apace, an article caught your correspondent’s eye this week (and was posted in our popular Facebook Page if you’d like to comment). Perhaps the most interesting part of the article is what it hints at: the inevitable change in focus of solar power production from the West to the East.

Business Spectator covered the demise of the Israeli company Solel, which was written off by owner German industrial giant Siemens when no sellers (mugs?) could be found to take the company off Siemen’s hands. Incredibly (or maybe not so given the Chinese solar panel charge on world markets) the solar company has incurred debts of around US$1.4 billion since its acquisition by Siemens in 2009, according to the article.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Economics Of Solar Tagged With: ,

Is community solar a way forward for the Australian solar industry?

June 17, 2013 2024-07-03T11:18:12 by 2 Comments
community owned solar system

Why not pitch in and buy a community solar system with your mates?

While our recent articles on big Aussie banks and respected mining services companies picking up the solar baton have been a huge encouragement for solar fans, news has been not as good lately in what passes for government (and alternative government) policy. Should we therefore be thinking of the burgeoning grass roots community solar movement as another way forward to the Promised Land of a renewable energy Australia?

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Solar Policy Tagged With: ,

The Shocking Truth About Commercial Solar

June 5, 2013 2014-01-05T18:17:38 by 175 Comments
solar install

Why don’t more SMEs have solar on their roof?

OK, I admit it –  that was a headline designed to get your attention if you own or operate a small or medium sized business (I’m also a sucker for bad puns).

But it’s just that I feel the need to shout from the rooftops about the insane returns that SMEs can get from commercial solar right now due to the combination of:

  • plummeting solar panel prices,
  • rocketing commercial electricity tariffs
  • and the typical electricity use profile of most SMEs.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Solar Installation Tagged With: ,

Solar Inverter Sizing: Don’t violate the new CEC guidelines!

May 28, 2013 2019-06-19T10:38:41 by 64 Comments
solar inverter and panels

How many panels can you connect to your inverter?

It is common practice, when designing a solar system, to ‘undersize’ the solar inverter, by connecting more panels than the inverter appears to be rated for.

This can freak out some solar customers when they see, for example 3.25kW of panels proposed to be connected to a 3kW inverter in their solar quote.

Confused?

Let me explain the nuances of solar inverter sizing… [Read more…]

Filed Under: Solar Inverters
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