Search Results for: canberra

Optimal Orientation For Solar Panels In Australian Capitals: Directly North Isn’t Always Best

It is generally accepted the best direction to face solar panels to get the maximum possible output is directly north.  While this is not a bad direction, it is often possible to get a very small boost by having them face slightly away from due north.  Usually facing them a little to the east will improve output, but in some locations a small nudge to the west is best. [Read more…]

By Dr. Nick Engerer

Note from Finn: This is a guest post by Dr Nick Engerer – Solcast is a super handy, free, quick and accurate way to check what your solar power system should have produced in the last 7 days. [Read more…]

If you bought a solar power system and your bills are still high, then either your system is not working or you haven’t considered the big picture of energy-efficiency, hot water heating and system size.

In this post you will discover:

• Why – if you want tiny bills – buying a solar power system is about more than buying a good system from a reputable installer.
• How to quickly estimate if any solar panel array is working well in 3 minutes, with or without monitoring.
• How to work out if your electricity retailer is billing you correctly or ripping you off.
• Just how hard-to-use most inverter manufacturer monitoring software is – and why you should always buy a good third party monitoring system such as Solar Analytics to go over the top.
• How following the 7 steps in my book – The Good Solar Guide – virtually guarantees tiny bills and no surprises.
• And how to read The Good Solar Guide for free.

So let’s get started shall we… [Read more…]