CEC are concerned with the reliability of solar panels entering Australia, and are taking steps to address it.
On Thursday I attended the All Energy Conference and saw a presentation by Sandy Pulsford of the Clean Energy Council on solar panel quality. The gloomy skies above Melbourne that day well matched the bad news he gave about the quality of some solar panels in Australia. [Read more…]
Whatever you do, never expose a USG Universal Solar Panel to light.
I would like to humbly apologize to USG solar panels, or to give them their full name, Universal Solar Group. [Read more…]
You’ll Pay A High Price For Second Hand Solar Equipment
“Psssssst! Wanna buy some slightly used solar panels? They fell off the back of a truck. Or possibly off the back of a roof. Maybe they even fell off the back of a roof of a truck. We just don’t know. But what I do know is they are tier one panels in great condition – they didn’t fall far – and they’re cheap, so if you are looking to install rooftop solar you’d be a fool not to buy them, right?”
Wrong. [Read more…]
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…]
Sorry can be the hardest word.
I am writing this article to apologize to Australian Premium Solar, also known as APS.
On the 20th of January this year I wrote an article entitled, “Australian Premium Solar Turn A 30 Year Warranty Into A One Year Warranty.”
In the article I did the following:
I of course apologize for none of that, as I still believe it all to be true. [Read more…]
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…]
Caution – extremely cheap solar has a high cost
The best deal is very rarely the cheapest deal. This is something we all understand intuitively.
So why do we get so easily get seduced by unbelievably cheap solar deals that appear so totally believable?
Let me be totally up front with you. I did not set up SolarQuotes as a tool for people to find the absolute cheapest solar systems on the market. [Read more…]
Solar panel manufacturing uses about 2.8 million ounces of silver for every GW of solar panels manufactured. New technology hopes to reduce this to zero.
Ever considered how much the amount of silver in solar cells adds to their cost? What if silver were eliminated completely from the production of solar panels?
The price of solar cells has already reduced considerably in recent years due to improved production efficiencies, making solar cells affordable for many. However the elimination of the high cost silver from the production would realise a long term dream of producers and make solar energy even more cheaper than it has already become. [Read more…]
A good inverter is essential in the Australian sun.
Picking great inverters; Tier 1, 2 or 3?
Savvy solar customers are quickly realising that there is a very real difference between the quality of products and services you can find in the solar industry.
As a general rule, the old adage “you get what you pay for” generally holds true but the plethora of offers and solar companies can make selection tricky. Here at SolarQuotes I’ve helped make this choice a little easier by developing its own ranking system for installation companies.
But how do you choose a great inverter? [Read more…]
The Fairfax article published on 22 Feb 2015
The Fairfax papers’ coverage of the solar industry is usually spot on. But I think the latest article by Political Reporter Heath Aston is way off mark.
Greg Hunt must have salivated all over his iPad as he read the article yesterday morning. I can see him dribbling with delight at the rampant tales of rorted rebates and shonky solar systems. And surprise, surprise: within a few hours of the article going live, Hunt announced:
“The poor installation of solar PV or installation of substandard solar PV has the potential to lead to fires with risks to property and human life. I’m sure you would agree that it is absolutely imperative that all panels installed must be of high quality and pose absolutely no threat to safety.”
I would like to ask Hunt how he thinks that it is possible to mandate that a piece of electrical equipment must “pose absolutely no threat to safety”. [Read more…]
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