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Australia’s Already Expensive Gas To Become Even More So

April 20, 2017 2024-07-03T13:38:26 by Leave a Comment
gas exports australia

LNG/Cash Carrier – Image: Pline, CC BY-SA 3.0, Link

A new report to be released today will state gas prices in Australia are set continue to increase for the foreseeable future.

The Climate Council’s “Pollution and Price: The Cost of Investing in Gas” will say a mad dash for cash in exporting Australia’s Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) has pushed up the price of gas power at the expense of Australian households and business. This is a result of gas prices within the country now being linked to world market prices.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: General Solar & Storage News

Australian-Built Solar Powered Nanosatellites Launched

April 19, 2017 2017-04-19T12:10:34 by Leave a Comment
University of Adelaide solar powered CubeSat

Dr Matthew Tetlow and the solar-powered CubeSat : University of Adelaide

Early this morning Australian time, the first Aussie-built satellites to be launched for 15 years left terra firma from Cape Canaveral in Florida.

One of the tiny nanosatellites, or CubeSats, was built at University of Adelaide and is being delivered along with two other locally-made devices by NASA on an Atlas V rocket bound for the International Space Station.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: General Solar & Storage News

Tesla Says Powerwall 2’s Return Will Be 8-15%. Really?

April 11, 2017 2024-10-01T10:41:42 by 55 Comments
powerwall spruiker

Is it reasonable to expect a “8-15% return on investment” on a Powerwall 2?

Last month, Lyndon Rive, Tesla’s Vice President for Energy Products, stood up in front of a large group of people, including me, and promised the Powerwall 2 will deliver a return between 8% and 15%. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Battery Storage Tagged With: , ,

Scheme To Donate Solar To The Sydney Opera House Is A Boondoggle

April 6, 2017 2024-01-25T15:35:21 by 8 Comments
sydney opera house

Sydney Opera House In Sustainability Scam Shocker! Photo Credit: Finn

This morning the Australian Financial Review reported on how the Sydney Opera House and Energy Australia, and apparently even the CSIRO, are teaming up to create a solar energy trading scheme that, on the face of it, is completely useless.  But, once you think it through, it clearly makes the world a worse place. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Solar Panels Tagged With:

Will it be illegal to install a single phase Powerwall 2 from Thursday?

March 26, 2017 2024-10-01T10:34:06 by 91 Comments

Unless your local electricity network provides a local variation to a new Australian Standard that becomes mandatory on Thursday, it may be illegal to install a Powerwall 2 plus solar on a single phase. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Battery Storage Tagged With: ,

A Reader’s Frustrations With The Enphase Enlighten Monitoring System

March 21, 2017 2017-04-18T14:34:57 by 204 Comments
enphase enlighten monitoring

Enphase panel monitoring is a great feature. But some Enphase installers flat out refuse to enable it.

There are many people in this world who enjoy monitoring the output of their rooftop solar systems.

But other people – not so much.  For example, I don’t think my parents have checked the output of their system since they got it.  My father just looks at the electricity bill every three months and grunts, “Power bill low.  Is good.” And then goes back to making stone tools.

But for those who enjoy the heady pleasures of solar system monitoring, modern technology can provide the fix you’re looking for. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Solar Inverters Tagged With: , ,

OneSolar Review. One Word: Avoid

March 17, 2017 2024-01-25T20:54:13 by 34 Comments
one solar solar panels

OneSolar make a lot a lot of claims on their website that just don’t stack up.

When it comes to choosing solar panels and inverters, we recommend sticking to well known brands.

Over the years we’ve seen lots of obscure panel brands hit Australian shores, often with slick websites, and almost always with dubious claims of being ‘engineered’ in anywhere-but-China.

Our experience is that the quality of these mysterious brands is often poor, and if they fail a few years down the line it can be very hard to find the company that originally imported or manufactured them. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Solar Panels Tagged With: ,

Billionaire’s Gambit – Why we should accept Musk’s offer.

March 14, 2017 2017-04-18T14:40:15 by 44 Comments

deal

Last Thursday in a trendy re-purposed Substation near Melbourne, Elon Musk’s cousin Lyndon Rive claimed he could solve SA’s energy woes in 100 days.

How?

By installing 100-300MWh of batteries.

Big Call.

A day later, via Twitter, Aussie tech billionaire Mike Cannon-Brookes asks Musk if he’s serious about “100MW1” of batteries in 100 days. Musk wagers he’ll deliver and install them in 100 days or it’s free. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Battery Storage Tagged With: ,

Tesla Powerwall 2 Vs Ampetus Super Lithium

February 16, 2017 2024-01-30T19:57:19 by 45 Comments
Ironman vs superman

Can Ampetus’ Super Lithium battery beat Elon’s Powerwall 2?

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Note: As of 29 May 2018 Ampetus Energy Pty Limited have been placed in liquidation

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A lot of attention has been paid to the Tesla Powerwall 2 lately on account of how it promises to dramatically cut the cost of home battery storage.  And when I wrote “promises” I chose that word carefully on account of how that’s all we got at the moment.  We won’t know what it’s capable of until next month when Tesla promises the first installations will be done. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Battery Storage Tagged With: ,

Blackouts In SA While Generators Stand Idle & Politicians Bicker

February 10, 2017 2017-04-18T14:53:51 by 15 Comments
Barnaby Joyce Coal Heatwave

Joyce titters, Weatherill gets mad, Australia cooks.

Late on Wednesday afternoon, in the middle of a heatwave, electricity was cut off to roughly 90,000 Adelaide properties for around 45 minutes.

Because I have access to a working TV at the moment1 I have seen an implausible number of people shitting bricks over this incident.  So many bricks I could use them to build a Great Wall of South Australia.  I’m sure it would be effective at keeping foreigners out.  After all, who’d want to enter a state surrounded by shitty bricks?

To all the people who are acting like this is some sort of unprecedented event2, I have to ask which bloody country do you live in?  Rolling blackouts during heatwaves in Australia are not uncommon and have occurred in every mainland state, including those that are almost entirely powered by coal.

But for those who are complaining for the right reasons, your anger is bloody well justified. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Electricity Prices Tagged With: ,
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