When it comes to Australian solar installations, conventional string inverters tower over the competition like a current converting colossus. But microinverters, which are tiny in both physical size and market share, are shaping up to beat string inverters on both price and reliability. Enphase, the world’s largest producer of microinverters, plans to beat conventional inverters on price within two years. If they meet their goal of cutting micro inverter costs in half, it will change the way Australians install solar power. [Read more…]
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Enphase’s Cunning Plan: Make Micro Inverters Cheaper than String Inverters.
The race is on as Panasonic snatches lead as most efficient solar panel
Panasonic snatch the title for most efficient panel from Sunpower.
Well that didn’t take long! No sooner had we published our article on SunPower grabbing the unofficial prize of most efficient solar panel for commercial use, than Japanese manufacturer Panasonic surprises with a late sprint to the line.
The Japanese manufacturer has now jumped into the lead in the solar conversion Premier League with not one but two records. The new record, which was verified by the Japanese government-funded National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology, is an eye-catching photovoltaic module conversion efficiency of 23.8 percent. This leaves SunPower’s previous record in the dust by a full percentage point. [Read more…]
Trina Solar Panels deliver (yet another) efficiency record
Trina Solar Panel Efficiencies Keep On Rising,
Trina Solar panels look set for a big 2016 with news that the company has achieved yet another solar cell efficiency record.
Fresh from trouncing its previous record for efficiency for a p-type polycrystalline silicon solar cell, Trina Solar announced last week they had achieved an efficiency of 22.13 percent for a 156 x 156mm² solar cell for a mono-crystalline silicon (c-Si) solar cell. This beats the company’s previous record of 21.40 percent, set in November 2014. [Read more…]
Do Electrolytic Capacitors Cripple Microinverter Reliability?
Part 1 of an interview with Enphase VP of Quality & Reliability: Ciaran Fox
In my experience solar installers either really love microinverters, or are incredibly wary of them. There seems to be very little middle ground.
Those who love them talk about their ease of installation, increased power output, flexibility of panel layout, panel level monitoring and shade performance.
Those who are wary of them generally worry about their reliability.
A microinverter is a box of sophisticated electronics that sits on your roof (under each solar panel). In Australia your roof gets hot! And if a microinverter fails, replacing it means climbing on the roof and removing the panel. So installers’ concerns are understandable.
A microinverter. You generally use one per solar panel instead of a single large central inverter. They are about as big as an iPad mini
To get some authoritative answers, I asked installers that I know to send me their toughest questions about microinverter reliability.
I then put those questions to Ciaran Fox who is the Vice President of Quality & Reliability at the world’s biggest microinverter manufacturer, Enphase. [Read more…]
We ask five experts: Will battery storage change the way we live?
In the first of a series from SolarQuotes, we ask five eminent experts in the clean energy field to discuss four questions on a selected topic. This month we’ve selected “battery storage” as the launching pad for some fascinating discussion and advice.
Solar and battery storage has been one of the clean energy talking points of 2015 following the dramatic unveiling of the Powerwall by Tesla’s Elon Musk. However as we’ve seen, the Powerwall isn’t the only option out there in the marketplace and the best battery storage option will differ depending on your situation whether on-grid, off-grid or hybrid solar.
With this in mind we’ve asked our experts what these solar battery storage breakthroughs mean for Australian households and small businesses and what the future holds for energy independence. [Read more…]
Will Turnbull Practice What He Has Preached about Solar?
Malcolm Turnbull talks the talk but has consistently voted strongly against increasing investment in renewable energy.
The quote above comes from a video of Malcolm Turnbull giving a speech to launch the Beyond Zero Emissions Stationary Energy Plan in Sydney in 2010. The plan was (and still is) a blueprint to affordably go to 100% renewables in Australia within 10 years. [Read more…]
Climate Institute poll finds Australians support renewables
Renewables appear to be a vote winner. Someone may want to tell our government.
Banish any questions you may have had about whether or not Australians support renewables. If you listen to certain, unnamed cash-for-comment shock jocks, certainly in NSW anyway, you’d be of the opinion that Aussies generally find solar power and wind farms completely objectionable.
Of course nothing is further from the truth as a poll released by The Climate Institute last week to coincide with the unveiling (dare we say unravelling?) of the government’s emissions reduction target. The poll shows the extent to which Aussies prefer solar and wind energy over that of fossil fuel. [Read more…]
Interview: Finn Peacock talks solar battery storage in Australia (and more)
Finn Peacock talks shop with Rich Bowden
It’s been a big year for news on solar battery storage in Australia. With the imminent release of Tesla’s Powerwall onto the market and influential reports predicting a new way of accessing energy, the trend has not been “if” but “when” renewables will end up dominating new energy takeup in the country.
But how much of this is kosher and how much wishful thinking? Are we on the cusp of a solar battery storage revolution? Can we start tearing up our electricity bills? To find out the answers we asked Finn Peacock, SolarQuotes founder (and professional cutter through bullshit), his opinion on exactly what has made 2015 so important in solar power and what his predictions are for the near future.
His frank analysis is fascinating, sometimes controversial and may surprise some. [Read more…]
Microinverters Vs. Dc Optimisers: Which option is best?
If you’ve decided on panel-level optimisation, which is the better choice, microinverters or optimisers?
Good grief this article is going to get me into trouble with some solar installers. Why? Because by the end of it I will give my humble opinion on whether microinverters (e.g. Enphase) are better than DC optimisers (e.g. SolarEdge or Tigo). [Read more…]
Solar Systems in ACT to increase by $400 from 1 July 2015
$400 extra from July 1. Ouch.
ACTEW AGL have just announced that they are increasing the cost of installing a solar compatible, import export meter from July 1 2015.
Basically – if your application to connect is received after 30 June, instead of paying $66, you will be charged $500 for a new meter.
So if you live in ACT and have decided to go solar, it makes sense to sign up as soon as possible. You can get quick quotes from up to 3 ACT installers here.
ActewAGL General Manager Asset Management Stephen Devlin said:
“Charges for meter installation will be increasing. This change has occurred because of new National Electricity Rules that have been introduced that restructure the provision of metering in the industry.
As part of the Australian Energy Regulator’s final decision released on 30 April 2015, ActewAGL Distribution is required to move to full cost recovery for metering services from 1 July 2015.
Therefore, from 1 July 2015 ActewAGL customers will be required to pay the full up-front cost for new meters, including installation. Applications for any connection received before 30 June 2015 will be treated under the old pricing regime, where customers only pay for installation.
For solar customers, the cost of a new meter and installation would change from about $66 to $500.”
Solar meter charges will also be increasing by around $200 in NSW if you are on the Ausgrid network from July 1 thanks to the AER’s decision.
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