Solar Electricity
Is It Time To Get A Battery?
I got my Electricity Bill the other day which set me wondering if I should invest in a battery for our house. Our Situation We live in a retirement unit which is reasonably compact. As a result our 3.25 kW…
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Solar Power – Reasons for Low Output
For each kw of installed capacity of solar panels on average you can expect to generate 3.5kwhrs per day. This can however vary considerably for a variety of reasons. Monthly Variation On a peak summer day you may be able…
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Winter Sun
If you are going to get as much winter sun inside your house you want to minimise shading. That could be from neighbour’s houses or even and boundary fences/hedges. Here is how to check………………….. Ideally you should be aiming for…
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Curb Your Power
We are currently customers of Powershop, and have decided to get involved with an interesting program they are running. The idea is that they will tell us by SMS when they are expecting very high demand. If we can reduce…
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The Value of West Facing Solar Panels
Its almost 2 years since I installed a solar power system on my current house. The installation is 8 x 250 watt panels facing North and these 5 x 250 watt panels facing West. Over the time they have been…
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Busting some Myths about Solar
I have been hearing a few discussions about Solar power where people are repeating myths. . . . . So here are four commonly heard myths and the truth. MYTH You must have a battery with a solar system TRUTH…
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Will Your Roof Take Solar Panels?
Plenty of people are thinking about solar panels as they can save a lot of money. But is your roof strong enough? In the old days a house roof had a good factor of safety so they could take the…
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Don’t Get Fooled by the Inverter Rating
I have seen quite a few solar power advertisements that try to fool you! They say something like: 5kw Inverter 16 x 260 watt Panels Free Installation You might think you are getting a 5kW System The Truth What…
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Solar For Free?
But Is It Worth It? I recently came across a scheme by AGL called the ‘Solar Smart Plan’ The Plan You sign a 7 year contract. AGL install panels on your roof for free. You are able to buy…
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Solar Power Revisited – We Are Carbon Positive
At the start of this year I decided to install solar panels on my roof. I posted about how I arrived at the decision HERE Now I have around 6 months data, and the Feed In Rate (FIR) has increased…
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