Search Results for: council

Solar Panel Maintenance: How often should they be inspected?

Some defects found when inspecting badly installed solar. If you suspect your system was shoddily installed, you should book an inspection ASAP. But how often should your system be maintained/inspected if you used a reputable installer?

Is getting your panels inspected worth the expense? In the end, it comes down to how safe you really consider your rooftop solar to be. [Read more…]

An Apology To Australian Premium Solar

Sorry can be the hardest word.

I am writing this article to apologize to Australian Premium Solar, also known as APS.

On the 20th of January this year I wrote an article entitled, “Australian Premium Solar Turn A 30 Year Warranty Into A One Year Warranty.”

In the article I did the following:

  • I described the APS warranty as “horrible”.
  • I said that unnecessary and expensive inspections are required to maintain the APS warranty.
  • I advised people not to use APS panels.

I of course apologize for none of that, as I still believe it all to be true. [Read more…]

Despite What The Coalition Says Or Doesn’t Say, The “Solar Rebate” Won’t End Soon

Will they scrap the Renewable Energy Target (and by extension the ‘Solar Rebate’) or won’t they?

The Australian newspaper has reported that a couple of Coalition MPs have said Australia should scrap its Renewable Energy Target (RET) if Donald Trump dumps the United States’ commitment to the Paris climate agreement. [Read more…]

NSW Feed In Tariff Changes – Channel 9 Adds To The Confusion

Last night Channel Nine News in Sydney ran a short segment on how NSW’s high gross solar feed-in tariffs are ending in a few days time.

Many of the details in this segment were not correct. [Read more…]

The Tesla Powerwall 2: Batteries Can Finally Pay For Themselves

Elon Musk proclaims the coronation of Powerwall 2.0

Elon Musk proclaims the coronation of Powerwall 2.0

Today at 12:15 Eastern Standard Time, Elon Musk announced the arrival of the Tesla Powerwall 2.

Some people were enthusiastically looking forward to this announcement, but I was not. I fully expected to be underwhelmed, and as soon as Musk finished his two or three sentences on the actual system, I felt a near fatal lack of enthusiasm sweeping over me. [Read more…]

Why Oversizing Solar Panel Arrays Is A Smart Move

house with lots of solar panels

Did you know you can add panels up to 133% of your inverter capacity? Read on to discover why oversizing solar is a smart move (as long as your roof is big enough – unlike this guy’s).

Installing rooftop solar systems with a total panel capacity greater than the inverter capacity is usually a very good idea.  It will certainly save you money, but it can also help get around the restrictions many Australians face on the size of inverter they can connect to the grid. [Read more…]

How To Keep Your Bills Down When The NSW 60c Feed-In Tariff Ends

new gross meter

If you are on the 60c Feed In Tariff in NSW (AKA the Solar Bonus Scheme) you really need to get a new meter by January 1.

Across NSW there are 146,000 homes and businesses receiving a gross feed-in tariff for the electricity their rooftop solar generates.

This tariff ends on the 31st of December 2016.

If those 146,000 homes and businesses don’t get new import/export meters installed by the end of the year, their owners (or tenants) will be in the financially painful position of not just losing their generous 60-66c feed-in tariff, but also receiving nothing for the solar electricity they export into the grid.

At the start of this year there was a lot of confusion about just what people would have to do to get new meters installed. It became clear there were not enough specialist metering electricians in the state to get the job done – even if they worked on nothing else for the rest of the year.  Fortunately, the rules have been changed and the pool of people permitted to replace meters is expanding. [Read more…]

Election 2016 — renewables roundup week #6

wind energy worker

What’s been going on in Week #6 of the election campaign?

If jobs and growth are really the cornerstones of the Coalition’s election campaign, they’d be well served by promoting a more pro-clean energy platform, according to a report released by the Clean Energy Council. [Read more…]

Election renewables roundup Week #3

pollution from coal power station

As the polling gap closes, climate and renewables are conspicuously absent from the mainstream debate.

Our election renewables roundup for week 3 sees the polling gap between the two major parties to be the width of a cigarette paper with Bouncing Billy Shorten closing the preferred prime minister margin.

The closeness of the campaign shows a single issue cuts across party and demographic lines, is popular amongst the majority of voters and may be the difference between winning, losing or a hung parliament. [Read more…]

Enphase Battery Is Impressive But Very Unlikely To Save You Money

Enphase AC Battery

The Enphase AC battery. image: Enphase

Until now, if you have been one of the highly intelligent and undoubtedly good looking people with a grid connect solar system and you wanted to add batteries, you were looking at spending at least $10,000.

But that will no longer be the case in August when the teeny tiny $2,000 Enphase AC Battery becomes available in Australia. [Read more…]

Get the latest solar, battery and EV charger news straight to your inbox every Tuesday