Solar Quotes Blog

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

electricity tariff comparison tool

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 […]

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ABB and Sungrow Join Forces To Make Big-Ass Inverters

Five suited men are cutting a ribbon at ABB headquarters Australia.

Sungrow, China’s largest manufacturer of inverters, and ABB, a Swiss based company that is one of the largest engineering conglomerates in the world, have joined forces to create a strategic alliance which is expected to benefit both companies far more than a non-strategic alliance would. On the 2nd of June they signed an agreement to work […]

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Why NASA Chose Solar Power Over Nuclear For The Juno Space Probe

juno solar panel

Juno, the first solar powered space probe to be sent to Jupiter, entered orbit around the gas giant planet yesterday. Its mission is to probe Jupiter in ways it has never been probed before to discover clues about its formation, internal structure, water content, and weather. Part of its mission is the investigate the Great […]

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Election 2016. Solar is safe only if Nick Xenophon’s Team supports it.

senate calculator

Ah yes. Turnbull’s big gamble of calling a double dissolution election to regain control of policy looks like it’s failed. And failed miserably. Not only has the Coalition been stymied in its attempt to gain control of the Senate, it hasn’t yet been confirmed as having enough seats to govern in its own right in […]

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SunPower X-Series Panels Set New Efficiency Record Of 24.1%

Words fail me when it comes to describing this picture

I have previously mentioned SunPower makes excellent solar panels. This definitely includes their uncanny X-Series, which are a high efficiency, high reliability, line of monocrystalline panels. In January they broke the record for most efficient solar panel with a figure of 22.8%. And now, less than six months later, they have increased that by an […]

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Keith De Lacy Is Not Right About Solar And Wind Power – Not Here, Not Anywhere

article

The Australian recently published an opinion piece by the Director of an oil shale company and former Chairman of Macarthur Coal, entitled, “Solar And Wind Power Simply Don’t Work – Not Here, Not Anywhere“. This was surprising because the solar panels above my head are producing electricity right now.  And since I know exactly how […]

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Election 2016: renewables roundup week #7 – the Brexit Edition

brexit text on solar

Well that was interesting wasn’t it folks? Just as the Australian election was drifting off into the sunset, we get hit by the arrival of an enormous, loud and dangerous elephant in the room. I’m talking of course of the surprise Brexit result where Brits voted to exit the European Union, a result that sent […]

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

new gross meter

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 […]

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Hanwha Q Cells Q.ANTUM Solar Panels Smash Record For Polysilicon Efficiency

q-cells q.antum panels

Hanwha Q Cells has smashed the record for polysilicon solar panel efficiency like a robot driving a steel fist through a fragile silicon wafer. They have achieved an efficiency of 19.5% with a standard sized panel, 1.67m by 1m in size. The module is 301 watts and Hanwha claims it was produced using standard processes […]

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How Australia Ended Up With A Renewable Energy Target

A picture of three survivors of a world wide environmental disaster from the movie Waterworld.

Australia’s Renewable Energy Target, or RET, was first introduced in 2001 by Liberal PM John Howard. It has been almost entirely responsible for getting Australia’s graceful collection of wind turbines erected and getting solar panels on the roofs of 19% of our homes. However, despite all its success, not many of us know very much […]

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