The Clean Energy Council Approved Solar Retailer program allows companies who sell solar and storage to demonstrate their commitment to ethical sales and marketing activities as well as industry best practices.

Consumers are increasingly seeking for Approved Solar Retailers to ensure they are acquiring solar and storage from a reputable firm.

The initiative, authorized by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC), intends to raise the bar higher than the minimum criteria set by government and legislation, resulting in a higher level of service in the solar and storage industries. Your company must satisfy the conditions outlined in the Solar Retailer Code of Conduct to become an Approved Solar Retailer.

Buying solar or storage may be a complicated and perplexing procedure. Consumers want to know that they are buying from a retailer that is dedicated to providing excellent service and adhering to industry best practices.

The Approved Solar Vendor program is rapidly becoming the basic foundation for consumers looking for a trustworthy retailer.

With that being said, Solaring is now proudly approved by the Clean Energy Council. The Australian government advisory body on Renewable Energy have given their stamp of trust and approval for Solaring.

From the Consumers’ perspective, this is a massive leap since you don’t have to worry about the legitimacy of anything in particular from Solaring. The Australian government recognizes the same wholeheartedly and you’ll be breathing a sigh of relief with utmost trust.

Now, purchasing from a CEC Approved Retailer like Solaring has a lot of prerequisites and benefits compared to purchasing the same Solar Energy Systems from a Non-CEC Approved Solar Retailer.

These are some of the points that should come in handy from a customers’ standpoint:

Pre-Sales – To safeguard you from deceptive and unscrupulous sales techniques, you are given all of the essential documentation so that you fully understand your purchase. Honor your legal protections regarding cooling-off intervals and provide you with the option to withdraw and receive a refund.

Installation Procedure – Be completely responsible for the activities of our professionals or suppliers – Provide you with the relevant documents after the solar energy system has been installed and authorized

Post-Sales – Thoroughly enlighten you from the system selection process through installation and activation of your solar system – In the event of a complaint, maintain a fair and transparent procedure and respond to you within 21 days.

With all this being said, this is possibly the best time for you to invest in Solar energy. Firstly, the prices of Solar systems will increase as days progress so you must get them as early as possible.

And secondly, with the Clean Energy Council approval, rest assured that your hard-earned money being invested in renewable means of energy won’t be jeopardized by any stretch of the imagination.

The national government of Australia is interested in clean energy technology, and it is financing $40 million in r&d to cut the price of generating energy from solar panels.

The Australian Renewable Energy Agency has dedicated $40 million of the $1.6 billion cash infusion it got last year to low-cost solar, which has been identified as one of six priority sectors under the national government’s low-emissions technology mission.

Solar power has already pushed coal and natural gas into the power system, but the government says even inexpensive alternative sources will help enable environmentally friendly aluminum and steel possibilities to push the backup energy storage and reduce the price of clean hydrogen, which is resource-intensive of energy to be produced.

Because the technique requires power to run compressors that pull carbon generated in industrial applications out of the air, affordable solar power is required to make carbon capture and storage financially feasible.

“Australian experts have been at the forefront of solar research and development across the world. “Today, an Australian-designed technology is used in 90% of solar panels throughout the world,” Energy and Emissions Reduction Minister Angus Taylor remarked.

He termed the line “Solar 30 30 30” to express the low-cost renewable energy unit, which targets a module efficiency of 30% to 30 cents per watt by 2030.

Mr. Taylor stated, “The Solar 30 30 30 aim is key to making solar energy reduced to less than $15 per megawatt-hour.”

Specialists at the University of New South Wales invented the solar photovoltaic cell, which has since become the industry norm and is utilized in over 80% of worldwide production.

In Sydney in 1983, Professor Martin Green of the University of New South Wales and his technical team developed the Passivated Emitter and Rear Cell Solar Technology, which generates more power than prior kinds of cells.

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You’re not the first if you’re already thinking about adding solar batteries to a new or current solar PV system. Many Australian homes have indicated an interest in purchasing solar batteries to minimize their reliance on conventional power corporations, which have maintained a stronghold on them for years.

Batteries, dubbed the “frontier of electricity,” enable solar energy produced throughout the day to be retained to be used at night or on overcast days when solar panels are unable to produce energy. Installing a battery to a domestic solar system may effectively quadruple the quantity of self-generated power used. Even though the advantages of solar batteries are obvious, the hefty initial cost has many people wondering if it is worth the investment now or awaits the value to drop.

The ever-living question, “How much do batteries cost?” is difficult to answer since there are various elements at work when inserting a battery, which together might affect the expense.

Home solar battery energy storage costs are now hovering around $1,000 per kWh, with setup and GST. Evaluate the type and size of the battery, the solar installers employed to conduct the task, or whether extra work is required to make the battery compliant with your installation.

Typically, houses with solar power systems may sell their excess kilowatt-hours (kWh) to the energy provider — this is known as a feed-in tariff. This begs the question: why should you store surplus solar electricity if you’re getting paid for it? In truth, some businesses charge far more for what they purchase from a customer.

In this instance, each kWh saved in batteries for eventual use is worth more than sending it back to the grid. Based on the price differential, the savings connected with storing and using your power might soon pile up.

Solar batteries incentive programs at the federal and/or state levels

When local rebates and incentives are available, the financial case for batteries increases. These might range from upfront discounts on battery purchases to demand response schemes that compensate you for removing the load from the electricity grid.

In Australia, various active battery initiatives differ by state and territory:

• Solar battery incentives in Victoria are available at their present value of up to $4,174 until all rebates in 2020–21 are fully distributed. They will then cut the price to $3,500.
• Dwellers in New South Wales can get an interest-free loan of up to $14,000 if they establish a solar power system with batteries, and up to $9,000 if they include batteries to an already set up structure.
• South Australia provides a $3,000 battery reimbursement as well as the possibility to participate in a virtual power plant (VPP). When a battery owner joins a VPP, he or she agrees to allow the power company to utilize their battery capacity in exchange for power bill credits.
• The Australian Capital Territory (ACT) provides a battery reimbursement of $825 per kilowatt of electricity capacity, up to a maximum of 30 kW (up to $24,750).

Incentives may considerably increase the viability of employing batteries, either by lowering the initial cost or by improving long-term savings. When costly power is paired with battery incentives, as is the situation in many regions of Australia, the prognosis brightens even more.

The world is evolving. International agreements, global corporate attitudes, and public awareness are all moving us in the direction of a low-carbon economy. Knowing the influence our spending patterns have on the earth and the security of future generations, minimizing your dependency on the grid is a significant step toward lowering your carbon footprint.

Solar batteries are an attractive choice for Australians who have solar panels and wish to reduce their reliance on the grid. Solar battery prices in Australia, on the other hand, are now expensive.

A solar battery may not be worth the price for many Australians right now. When local power rates are high, however, the savings potential strengthens the case for solar panels with batteries.

Local incentives might also help them win the game. Finally, the benefits of battery storage aren’t only financial; as we progress toward a zero-carbon future, more Australians are looking to energy storage to attain energy independence and a low carbon footprint.

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Just as Tesla secretly increased the price of its Powerwall 2 home Solar battery in Australia by $800, a new domestic energy storage product has arrived on the market, giving about the same capacity for up to $5,000 less.

The new Alpha ESS product debuted in Australia in the first week of November, boasting 13.3kWh of storage capacity, a 10-year guarantee, and a solar battery design life of approximately 15 years thanks to an 8,000 cycle rating.

The cost of the lithium-ion phosphate battery, however, draws attention. An Alpha ESS Smile 5 13kWh battery may be installed in an Australian home for less than $10,000 ($9,900) – that’s also including installation.

The 13.5kWh Powerwall 2 costs $12,500 – up from $11,700 – from Tesla devoid of installation, which may range between $1,150 and $2,900 depending on region and installer.

The Impact of these Solar Battery Prices on the Australian Market

This is good news for those Australian households that have been holding off on investing in battery storage due to cost. Although it’s still a big splurge for most households, with certain state subsidies and VPP offerings, the payback can be brought to around the seven-year mark – which is where rooftop solar started to take off.

These, at least, are the numbers that ShineHub CEO Alex Georgiou has come up with, modeled on a typical house on the NSW Ausgrid network, and signed up to ShineHub’s Community Virtual Power Plant, which pays $0.45/kWh for any battery power used for the VPP.

“The most significant reason this solar battery is crucial is that it unlocks the market up for those who have panels, particularly the larger systems, as [feed-in tariffs] go down,” he told One Step in an interview on Wednesday.

“In Australia, people speak about $15,000 batteries.” This is no longer the case. With this release and the VPP combo, we now have a fiscal model that works for a huge percentage of Australian households.

“Adoption will accelerate, just as it has with solar.”

The interest is there; it’s simply a matter of making it profitable and straightforward.”

Georgiou is a great supporter of Alpha ESS – he’s had one of the latest Smiles put at his own Sydney house, which has 8kW of rooftop solar – and has collaborated with the battery maker for some years, building up the VPP community.

Alpha ESS is one of the worldwide solar battery manufacturers that established a presence in Adelaide in 2018 as part of the South Australian government’s home battery and virtual power plant program (VPP).

The agreement at the time required Alpha-ESS to manufacture more than 8,000 of its earlier model SMILE 5 home batteries in Adelaide each year in exchange for priority access to the government’s Home Battery Scheme.

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A new study addresses the subject, “Do solar home panels raise home rents in Australia?” – as well as by how much.

While much has been published (and probably overstated at times) about how solar panels improve property value in Australia, little has been written on how much they boost rental value in terms of what Australian renters pay.

Australian tenants are quite interested in living in a property that has a solar power system installed. According to research released earlier this year by The Australian Institute, two out of every three South Australian tenants do not have solar on their homes but would welcome their landlord adding it. 38 percent of those polled were prepared to contribute to the cost if it decreased their energy costs by at least the amount they donated to the solar system.

Recent research, conducted by Rohan Best, Senior Lecturer in the Department of Economics at Macquarie University in Sydney, investigated the association between solar panels and property rentals.

With an average rent increase of $19 per week and a payback period of around 5 years, the system would cost around $5,000 after subsidies.

So, what does $5,000 get you? In terms of how much tenants may save, a 5kW solar system installed in Brisbane could save roughly $1,200 per year on power bills. A bigger 6.6kW system might save renters roughly $1,500 per year.

Land Owners and Solar Home Incentives

Landlords can benefit from Australia’s solar rebate, and certain states have extra programs. For example, Victoria’s solar panel refund for rental homes provides an extra subsidy of up to $1,400, as well as the option of an interest-free loan. It’s important to note that both of these “rebates” are upfront discounts.

A rental house with solar home panels installed might appeal to more potential tenants — not that there appears to be a scarcity of renters in Australia right now. However, it may give a landlord a wider range of excellent renters.

To render a rental home even more appealing – especially in the case of bigger family homes – a 6.6kW solar home system is worth considering since it provides more bang for your buck and higher power bill savings. The most common system size at the moment, pricing in October revealed that a 6.6kW system was almost the same price as a 5kW system — the national average in October was $5,512.

However, much like with purchasing solar for an owner-occupied property, landlords should conduct extensive research before signing on the dotted line for a system to ensure they are obtaining a quality enhancement for their properties rather than future issues. Spending a little more on a high-quality system will help you get the most out of your solar home investment.

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A 1,200-hectare land in South Australia has been purchased by a developer who plans to utilize it to create a 300MW solar power plant with solar storage of 3.6GWh using a revolutionary technology solution.

Photon Energy, based in Europe, is attempting to expand the technology developed by RayGen, based in Australia. It combines a concentrating solar power (CSP) + solar photovoltaics (PV) combination called ‘PV Ultra’ from RayGen, with a long-duration energy storage technology called ‘thermal hydro.’

PV Ultra uses PV modules and angled mirror towers (heliostats) to create both power and heat. The thermal hydro part is so named because, unlike a pumped hydro plant, it employs reservoirs at different temperatures, one hot and one cold, to store energy: the PV and grid power cools one, while the CSP warms the other.

The temperature gradient is then used to create electricity using an Organic Rankine Cycle engine, which uses thermodynamic cycles to turn steam into mechanical energy with a throughput efficiency of over 70%.

Photon Energy – In-Depth with Solar Storage Prospects

Photon Electricity, which has constructed, operated, and maintained PV facilities in Europe and Australia, announced its strategic cooperation with RayGen in April 2020, tantalizing the potential grand-scale of their projects and the enabling of round-the-clock renewable energy.

The technique has previously been employed in a 1MWac demonstration plant in Victoria, Australia, which has been in operation for six years. Photon Energy is developing various potential sites for the “unique” technology, while RayGen concluded a Series C fundraising round earlier this year for another project in Victoria, this time of 4MW solar with 3MW / 50MWh energy storage.

Solar Storage Options

The AU$55 million fundraising round was completed after the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) provided AU$15 million, in addition to private investment, and followed ARENA’s assistance in sponsoring a feasibility study. AGL, an Australian energy retailer and generator, as well as Schlumberger New Energy, Chevron Technology Ventures, and Equinor Ventures, were among the round’s investors.

That project, in the Victorian township of Carwarp, is already in the works and is scheduled to open in the middle of next year.

Photon Energy stated that preliminary plans for the South Australia project call for 300MW of solar to a 150MW grid link. Although Photon and RayGen said in prior news releases that the technology is intended to provide up to 17 hours of storage, Photon stated this week that the South Australia project’s 3.6GWh solar storage capacity will correspond to more like 24 hours of storage time.

The licensing and grid connection procedure has already begun, and Photon Energy hopes to have its giga-plant ready to construct by the end of 2023.

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Solaring has been a contributor, not only in the field of installation and service of solar panels and inverters. But also in the sector of keeping things simple and clean as well.

Solaring is providing stainless steel solar panel meshes to everyone who has been getting their solar panel systems installed from us.

The main objective of this particular solar panel mesh is to keep stray leaves or sand or small birds from gathering underneath your solar panels.

Solar Panel Meshes in Depth

The most efficient technique to keep nuisance birds away from your solar panels is to install bird proofing materials. Keep Em out solar panel mesh is intended to safeguard your solar panels by keeping nuisance birds and pigeons from reaching the region beneath solar panels. Your solar panel must retain optimal efficiency.

Solar panel bird exclusion is necessary because nuisance birds will nest beneath the solar array, generating a massive mess, incurring damage, and requiring costly repairs and cleanup. The solar panel bird deterrent mesh protects wire systems, solar panels, and your roof.

The UV-coated solar clips included with the mesh attach the mesh to the solar panels without piercing them; the mechanism is intended to safeguard the integrity of solar panels. The solar panel bird deterrent mesh acts as a physical barrier, preventing birds from entering and nesting beneath the solar arrays.

Get your solar panel system installed by Solaring and gain primely secured panels on your premises, without the menace of birds.

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South Australia‘s grid has established yet another global first for a gigawatt-scale grid, with the local distribution network registering “negative demand” as a result of rooftop solar production for four hours on Sunday.

It’s not the first time the local network, controlled by SA Power Networks, has suffered negative netload, but it’s the deepest and longest to yet, indicating the quick transition from a one-way grid to a two-way network.

Rooftop Solar – The Gamechanger

It is critical to explain two aspects here. The same day, the Australian Energy Market Operator established a new “minimum need” of 188MW for the South Australian system.

However, that figure includes both the distribution (or local) network and the state’s primary transmission system, run by ElectraNet, which has direct clients such as BHP’s Olympic Dam and other large industrial users, adding to the overall load.

The SAPN encounter indicates a massive solar duck curve. In the half-hour ending at 1.30 pm local time, the highest negative load was – 69.4MW (1 pm grid, or eastern standard time)

The local grid suffered a negative load for the 4th straight in the month of October. It had occurred the previous weekend in late September for the very first time. Usually, the SAPN network has an average load of 1.5GW, with summer peaks reaching up to 3GW.

“Rooftop solar is helping to decarbonize our energy and cut energy prices,” said SAPN head of corporate affairs Paul Roberts in an emailed statement.

“In the not-too-distant future, we anticipate seeing South Australia’s energy demands (all of them) frequently provided 100 percent from rooftop solar throughout the middle sections of the day.” (According to AEMO, this might happen in spring, when temperatures are mild and demand is still relatively low.)

Electric vehicles that could charge during the day, according to Roberts, may help produce load and reduce the stress caused by negative demand.

“Longer term, we aspire to see a transportation system in which the majority of vehicles are powered by renewable-sourced electricity, including solar rooftop PV,” he added.

“It’s wonderful to think that South Australia is driving the globe in this shift, and there’s so much potential for us as a State to make it happen as soon as possible.”

It is one of a series of significant milestones accomplished in South Australia in recent months, that has maintained a world-leading 62 percent of wind and solar (percentage of local demand) over the past year.

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Buying a property with solar panels already installed might be a dream come true – or a nightmare. Here are some suggestions on what you should look for.

Lots of solar power systems have been put on the roofs of Australian homes too far.

This also means that green elements such as solar panels are increasingly being included in homes for sale. It’s a great concept that your new house may save you money on energy costs from the moment you walk in the door by gathering solar energy from its rooftop.

But, unfortunately, not all systems installed in Australia are of high quality, and when combined with age.

This can mean you may be on the hook for the cost of repairing the system sooner than you anticipated – or putting your family at risk owing to electrical safety concerns. It’s also possible that a solar system just isn’t matching your demands.

With that in mind, here are some topics to consider regarding the system as part of your due diligence before purchasing a home.

Between 2001 and 2009, around 85,100 small-scale solar power systems were deployed in Australia. In 2010, there had been 198,000 installations, while in 2011, there had been 360,745 installations.

This indicates that there are more than 500,000 units out there that are 10 years old or older. It’s a good idea to discover out how old the system is, as this knowledge influences other factors.

In a Nutshell: Solar Panels

Solar panels made by reputable companies should last for decades. However, Australia has a fair amount of non-compliant rooftop panels. It might be difficult to determine the brand of solar panels simply by looking at them as:

• They’re on the roof, which isn’t the safest place to be digging around.
• Brand identification will not be visible on the panel face; labelling will be located on the bottom.

Figure out what kind of panels were placed and then read evaluations of the company — not just to see whether the panels are excellent, but also to see if the firm is still in business and has an impact on The Australian economy to support them.

Determine the total capacity of the solar panels as well. Older solar power systems may be relatively modest, and upgrading them may be prohibitively expensive or impossible.

The same is true for solar inverters, however, this element should be much important to discern. The inverter will most likely have a logo on the face and a label on the side indicating the brand, model, and capacity. Acquire data and then research the inverter brand’s ratings.

The age of the solar inverter is also an essential consideration. Because it is the system’s mainstay, its lifespan will be lower than that of solar panels. If the inverter is more than 10 years old, a renewal may not be far away, and it might cost between $1,400 and $2,000, based on the manufacturer and capacity selected.

Warranties and Documentation

Determine what kind of paperwork will be offered to you – user instructions, electrical safety certifications, and any warranty papers are very crucial.

Many high-quality solar manufacturers enable the residual warranty on equipment to be handed to a new owner, as long as the components are not relocated. However, there is another thing to confirm.

However, the guarantee on the installation and configuration may not be transferrable – verify with the installer on this.

Purchasing a property may be a stressful time – there is a lot to think about and several questions to ask; nevertheless, make sure that getting specifics about the home’s solar system is on the agenda.

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A local wind farm has provided solar energy panels to several community facilities in Victoria’s Golden Plains Shire.

The Golden Plains Shire is in Western Victoria. It has a land area of 2,703 square kilometres and a population of roughly 23,000 people, 5,000 of whom live in Bannockburn, where solar panels are already a regular sight.

GPG Australia’s Berrybank Stage-1 Wind Farm, which began commercial operations in July this year, is likewise located in Golden Plains and the neighbouring Corangamite Shire.

• Stage 1 is made up of 43 turbines with a total installed capacity of 180 MW and is planned to generate 644,000 megawatt-hours of clean, renewable energy per year.
• Stage 2 of the project will involve the construction of up to 36 more turbines throughout the two shires.

In addition to removing additional fossil-fuel-based power from the grid and lowering emissions, the wind farm benefits the local population in a variety of ways.

Solar energy panels have already been put on a variety of Council- and community-owned institutions as part of the Berrybank Wind Farm’s Community Engagement and Benefit Sharing Plan, as part of a $170,500 solar power initiative.

As of now, 195 panels have been erected in seven different locations, along with the Bannockburn Family Services Centre and the Meredith Community Centre. PV installations on low-income houses in the Shire will also be part of the initiative.

“In addition to decreasing carbon emissions, the installation of rooftop solar systems at local community facilities and low-income homes would dramatically reduce their power costs,” said Nathan Micallef, Berrybank’s Community Engagement Officer.

Woady Yaloak Kindergarten, Northern Community Centre, Inverleigh Early Learning Centre, Haddon Kindergarten, and Teesdale Children’s Centre are among the other establishments that have systems installed as part of the initiative.

Large Renewables like Solar Energy Providing Long-Term Community Benefits

Large-scale renewables can provide a lot of benefit in the community further than the building period, which is frequently a sugar rush of jobs.

While it’s always wonderful to hear about large-scale wind and solar energy projects, even smaller systems like the ones mentioned above are also making a big and continuous beneficial effect in the lives of Australians.

Installing solar energy panels helps community organisations and councils free up monies that would otherwise be spent on electricity, which can then be allocated to other essential activities that benefit many people.

The community benefits package complementing the Stubbo Solar Farm project in New South Wales is just another example of large-scale renewables doing excellent.

This comprises a $100,000 upfront deposit to Mid-Western Regional Council, as well as about $120,000 in ongoing contributions for community improvement programmes. Bomen Solar Farm, also in New South Wales, is contributing $250,000 to an extensive replanting project, among other things.

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