Search Results for: nsw

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: ,

Despite What The Coalition Says Or Doesn’t Say, The “Solar Rebate” Won’t End Soon

January 27, 2017 2017-07-06T11:23:12 by 9 Comments

Will they scrap the Renewable Energy Target (and by extension the ‘Solar Rebate’) or won’t they?

The Australian newspaper has reported that a couple of Coalition MPs have said Australia should scrap its Renewable Energy Target (RET) if Donald Trump dumps the United States’ commitment to the Paris climate agreement. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Solar Policy Tagged With: , ,

Australian Premium Solar Turn A 30 Year Warranty Into A One Year Warranty

January 20, 2017 2017-04-18T15:02:07 by 8 Comments
ASP Australian Premium Solar

Australian Premium Solar. Not made in Australia and not Premium. (Screenshot from now-deleted APS Youtube video: Caution-tape is mine)

Australian Premium Solar is a company that sells solar panels with a warranty that is truly exceptional and sets them apart from all other panels on the market. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Solar Panels Tagged With: ,

SVTC Solar Scorecard: A Great Idea Badly Executed

January 4, 2017 2018-05-09T08:30:15 by 5 Comments
svtc logo and pollution

The Silicon Valley Toxics Coalition should be a really useful tool for solar buyers. Unfortunately it isn’t.

The Silicon Valley Toxics Coalition, or SVTC to its friends, is an organisation that has been working hard for over 32 years to protect this life encrusted blob of nickel and iron spinning in space that we call Earth.

SVTC campaigns to promote both safe environmental practices and ethical behavior in high tech industries.  Each year since 2009 they have released a report called the SVTC Solar Scorecard that ranks solar panel manufacturers on both their environmental sustainability and ethical behavior. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Solar and the Environment Tagged With:

How many solar panels should you install with a Powerwall 2?

December 14, 2016 2024-01-25T07:16:23 by 83 Comments
powerwall and solar mix up

Installing more rooftop solar is a better investment than a Powerwall 2, so always rack up as much solar on your roof as you reasonably can first. Unlike this guy.

The Tesla Powerwall 2 is going to be big.  Really big.  I mean that literally and not figuratively.  It’s going to be big as in 13.5 kilowatt-hours of storage big.  From the point of view of most Australian households that is huge.

This large capacity presents households with two main problems:

  1.  It is more than the average Australian household uses at night.
  2. Those that do use that much electricity overnight may not have a rooftop solar system large enough to fully charge it.

So if the average Australian home buys a Powerwall 2 they will use it at less than its full capacity. As Tesla’s warranty is fixed at a maximum of 10 years, this increases the cost of each warranted kilowatt-hour substantially.

The obvious solutions are:

  1. Don’t install a Powerwall 2 unless your household regularly uses 12+ kilowatt-hours of electricity overnight.
  2. Don’t install a Powerwall 2 unless your solar system normally produces enough surplus electricity to fully charge it on a mostly clear day.  Normally this will require at least 5 kilowatts of solar panels.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Battery Storage Tagged With: , ,

Solar Rebate Ending?

November 29, 2016 2017-09-20T11:17:10 by 8 Comments

dont-panic

Have you heard the news?  The solar rebate is ending!  It’s all over the internet.  Or at least all over the parts of the internet that run ads from shonky solar companies.  According to them, if you don’t rush out right now to get rooftop solar installed before the first of January you’ll end up paying a fortune for it!  If you don’t buy now, the price of a typical 5 kilowatt rooftop solar system will rise by…

…just a second… let me work it out…

Around $263 which is about a 4% increase. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Solar Panels Tagged With: ,

Powerwall 2 Full Spec Released: Low cost but ‘unlimited cycles’ warranty has limits.

November 25, 2016 2018-05-09T08:52:20 by 79 Comments
powerwall 2 spec

The full spec and warranty of the Powerwall 2 reveal a cost per warranted kWh almost half that of its nearest rival.

[Update March 13: Tesla has cancelled sales of the DC Powerwall 2 in Australia and the first installations of the AC version of the Powerwall 2 will now apparently be done in April.]

Yesterday, Tesla kindly sent me the Powerwall 2’s full data sheet and warranty. We already knew the headline specs:

Storage: 13.5kWh

Power: 5kW steady, 7kW Peak

Price: AUD$8,000 + GST and Installation

But there were lots of questions over the exact configuration and warranty details that could make or break Tesla’s shiny new battery. Most of these questions have now been answered.

Here’s what the new specs reveal: [Read more…]

Filed Under: Battery Storage Tagged With: , ,

Congratulations! Your 10 Year Solar Panel Product Warranty Is Probably 25 Thanks To Australian Consumer Law

November 15, 2016 2017-07-06T11:11:15 by 4 Comments
magician turning a 10 year warranty in to 25 year warranty

Has your solar panel’s ‘product warranty’ has been magically transformed from 10 to 25 years thanks to Australian Consumer Law?

When people ask me about solar panel warranties, I tell them to look at the product warranty.  This is usually for 10 or 12 years.

I tell them not to worry about the performance warranty, which is normally for 25 years or sometimes 30.  You see, while most manufacturers are happy to honor their product warranties, not all of them expect to replace solar panels that fail while they are only covered by their performance warranty. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Solar Panels Tagged With: ,

Is Tesla’s Solar Roof Fair Dinkum?

November 8, 2016 2024-01-25T10:47:38 by 7 Comments
elon musk on tv

Tesla’s solar roof tile announcement raises more questions than it answers.

On Saturday the 29th of October, Elon Musk made an announcement that thousands of Australians were waiting to hear.

He spent 37 seconds making that announcement.

Then he spent most of the rest of the time spruiking Tesla’s new solar tiles. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Solar Innovations Tagged With: ,
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