Solar Quotes Blog

Solar Power Forecast for 2012: More stability, better forecasts, fewer conspiracies?

solar to grow in 2012?

This year should be the year that renewables start to take off in Australia: We will have a carbon tax in place that will support renewable energy and overseas money is starting to flow in. Large scale solar is finding funding, following the trend from overseas. Chinese production of solar panels is bringing the cost […]

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13 Solar Questions You Must Ask To Weed Out The Shonks

13 questions to ask about solar power

One of the questions that lands in my inbox almost every day is this: “Hey Finn – I’ve been made a fantastic offer on a shiny new solar power system for my home. It is heaps cheaper than every one else on the market. Is it too good to be true or a genuine bargain???” […]

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The Problems With Thin Film Solar Panels

Thin Film Solar Panels in a solar farm

If you are looking to buy a solar power system and have done any kind of research on the web, then you have probably  come across lots of people  arguing over the pros and cons of Thin Film Solar Panels compared to the more common monocrystalline or polycrystalline solar panels. In a nutshell, there are […]

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Trust Solar Paints? Sure Can

Solar paint. Credit: University of Notre Dame

By Rich Bowden Honouring our commitment to keep readers informed of the pointy end of current solar research, this week’s column brings you the latest breakthrough on…..solar paint. Yes that’s right. Solar paint.

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Tiny Tokelau Takes on the World With Solar PV Plunge

Nukunonu_Lagoon, Tokelau

By Rich Bowden One of the least reported, though possibly one of the most important, announcements to come out of the recent climate change gabfest in Durban earlier this month was the one from tiny Tokelau, with a population 1,500 (and three cars as reported by the Guardian). The Pacific state said it is planning […]

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Don’t Make these 10 Mistakes When Buying a Solar Power System

1. Buying the cheapest – because it is the cheapest. If a solar system seems too cheap to be true, then it is probably is! Here are 4 ways they get the price so low: a) The solar company is buying absolute junk panels and inverters on the spot market in China

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ACT Charges out of the Solar Sheds With Large-scale FIT

Interesting announcement this week that the ACT Government has passed legislation that clears the way for the introduction of the country’s first large-scale feed-in tariff (FIT). The solar bonus schemes have received a great deal of negative coverage in the last year or so as various state governments have backed away from their versions faster […]

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AuSES-sponsored Conference Spins the Big Solar Wheel

Two of the key issues covered this week at the Solar 2011 conference have been (1) the growing affordability of solar systems for both domestic and commercial outlooks as prices plummet, and (2) the growth of international large-scale solar projects. The first has been made possible by the growth of the Chinese solar energy sector […]

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South Australia’s Solar Customers Step Up to the Plate

Well, South Australian solar customers can hold their heads high. A report released earlier this week by the Essential Services Commission of South Australia (ESCOSA) has found that around 80,000 electricity customers in the state will have installed rooftop solar systems by December of this year.

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Silex Solar Closes its Doors and Blames Usual Suspects

Sad Silex Solar

Somewhere in between the strenuous media frenzies that accorded the visit of The Windsors and later the Obamas, the Australian media managed to find time to report on the final demise of the (previously) only manufacturer of solar cells in this country. The Homebush, NSW-based SilexSolar company — previously associated with BP — finally closed […]

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