Search Results for: canberra

How GST On Solar Is Calculated

March 31, 2017 2024-01-01T21:02:51 by 8 Comments
get on solar

How to charge GST on solar is not obvious. Read on to discover why…

Let’s say you have just been quoted a nice round $7,000 for a brand spanking new rooftop solar system with 5 kilowatts of panels.  With Australia’s 10% Goods and Services Tax, you might expect the GST portion of that quote to come to $700.

Or, if you didn’t go to school in Toowoomba like I did, you might actually think GST would be $636.36 because that would be 10% of $6,363.64 which would then add up to a nice round $7,000.  (Remember kids, always pay attention in math class if you don’t want to end up as a lowly solar blogger.) [Read more…]

Filed Under: Economics Of Solar Tagged With: ,

Solar Panel Maintenance: How often should they be inspected?

February 20, 2017 2024-01-25T07:05:50 by 31 Comments

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…]

Filed Under: Solar Installation Tagged With: , ,

Reposit Power Review: Does It Really Halve The Payback Time Of Your Battery?

November 18, 2016 2024-01-25T12:36:33 by 25 Comments
Reposit pokie

Do you feel lucky? Maybe you can make a great return with Reposit by selling electricity to the grid, and maybe you can’t. Find out with our Reposit Power review.

Reposit is a Canberra based startup. They make software which optimizes the performance of a home battery system. The software is installed on a controller the size of a circuit breaker that sits in your switchboard. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Battery Storage Tagged With:

Standard Tariffs Vs Time Of Use Pricing. Which Goes Best With Solar?

July 8, 2016 2021-08-09T15:46:56 by 25 Comments
time of use meter

What will give you the lowest bill, a standard or time of use tariff? What if you add solar? What about batteries?

Australians pay for grid electricity in two ways.  The most common way is a standard tariff. But you can also choose a time-of-use tariff.

What is a standard tariff?

This is where you pay a fixed rate for each kilowatt-hour used, plus a hefty supply charge.  Australians have been paying for electricity this way since the the electricity meter, invented in 1888, was developed into the ‘spinning dial’ type in 1914. So Australians have been using standard tariffs for over  a century. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Electricity Prices Tagged With: , ,

SMA Sunny Boy Storage: Easily retrofit battery storage to your existing solar

June 15, 2016 2016-06-18T14:29:23 by 18 Comments
sunny boy storage

The Sunny Boy Storage. A low(ish) cost way to add a Powerwall and other batteries to your existing solar system. Image: SMA

The SMA Sunny Boy Storage is a battery-inverter that you can use to add battery storage to your existing rooftop solar system.

It does not store energy itself, but integrates modern battery packs, such as the Tesla Powerwall, into your home’s electricity supply. It is exciting because it is the cheapest and simplest way to add a battery such as the Powerwall to your existing system. This is because it can re-use your existing inverter – no need to replace it. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Battery Storage Tagged With: , , ,

ZCell Battery Review: Better Than Lithium-ion?

June 1, 2016 2023-06-05T08:00:03 by 104 Comments
redflow zcell vs powerwall etc

How does the Aussie Redflow ZCell compare to lithium ion batteries?

Note: the Cell battery has been superseded as Redflow continuously improves its product. The latest version of Redflow’s battery is called the ZBM3.

The Australian company Redflow is accepting pre-orders for its new home energy storage system, the ZCell battery.  It has a 10 kilowatt-hour usable storage capacity, can provide 3 kilowatts of continuous power, and is suitable for on-grid and off-grid use.  Deliveries will begin in August 2016.

In this Z-Cell battery review I go deep into the zinc bromide technology’s pros and cons compared to its main challenger: lithium ion batteries.

While there are many lithium-ion storage systems on the market, the Redflow ZCell stands out as the only zinc bromide flow battery.  Its unique chemistry gives it several advantages over lithium-ion systems.  One is it can lie dormant for long periods at any level of charge without suffering from deterioration.  And another is its storage capacity will never decline over its over its entire lifespan.  [Read more…]

Filed Under: Battery Storage Tagged With: , , ,

Enphase Battery Is Impressive But Very Unlikely To Save You Money

May 26, 2016 2024-07-19T17:30:52 by 57 Comments
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…]

Filed Under: Battery Storage Tagged With: , , ,

GCL’s E-KwBe Battery, Or Something Similar, Will Change The World

May 17, 2016 2024-06-04T15:38:47 by 22 Comments
gcl e-kwbe battery

The GCL E-Kwbe battery may be unpronounceable – but it may also save the world. Kind of.

GCL, a large Chinese company, has unveiled a new lithium-ion energy storage system at a price point that some consider to be shocking. Called the EKwBe, it has a seven year warranty, a ten year expected lifespan, and comes in two varieties. A 2.5 kilowatt-hour system that wholesales excluding GST for $1,499 and a larger 5.6 kilowatt-hour system that wholesales for $2,999.  This is the lowest price that has been offered for any comparable energy storage system and I believe that it, or something similar, has the potential to change the world.

Update: 1st December 20016.  The GCL EKWBE battery currently appears to be retailing for around $3,600 inc GST.  This doesn’t give it a cost per warranted kilowatt-hour as low as the announced Tesla Powerwall 2, but it will be interesting to see if GCL will cut its price further in response once the Powerwall 2 is actually available for installation.

[wpdtable id=”5918″] [Read more…]

Filed Under: Battery Storage Tagged With: , , ,

Solar Panel Rebate To Be Phased Out From 1st of January 2017

May 11, 2016 2017-10-19T10:01:44 by 16 Comments
solar rebate ending

The projected solar rebate for a 5kW system in Zone 3 with a $37 STC price.

The solar rebate which currently reduces the cost of rooftop solar in Australia will be phased out with the first reduction starting in less than 8 months on the 1st of January 2017. The rebate will reduce by one fifteenth of its current amount on the first day of each new year until 2030 and will end on the 31st of December that year. At the start of 2017, the rebate of $3,990 that most Australians would receive at the moment for a 5 kilowatt rooftop solar system will fall by around $266 down to $3,724. The phase out encourages Australians to install rooftop solar sooner rather than later. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Solar Policy Tagged With: , , , ,

Trina Breaks Black Silicon Efficiency Record

April 28, 2016 2017-04-19T14:00:25 by 10 Comments
Solar Cell Efficiency

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…]

Filed Under: Solar Panels Tagged With: ,
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