Solar Choice

From the category archives:

Solar System Products

The ‘energy awareness factor’ and how it helps households save money

August 17, 2017

Thumbnail image for The ‘energy awareness factor’ and how it helps households save money

For most of us, for most of our lives, electricity bills and our consumption have both been something of a black box. We know that we get a bill every 1-3 months and get charged for the electricity that we use, but we don’t generally have access to data that would provide us with the […]

Read the full article →

I’m (finally) going to live in a solar-powered home

August 15, 2017

Thumbnail image for I’m (finally) going to live in a solar-powered home

After nearly a decade working in Australia’s solar industry, I’m finally getting in on the action on a personal level. From next week I’m moving to Newcastle and will be living in a home with solar panels on the roof. Moving into a house that’s already got solar is something that must happen a lot. […]

Read the full article →

What are the best cities for home solar battery storage? (August 2017 update)

August 7, 2017

Thumbnail image for What are the best cities for home solar battery storage? (August 2017 update)

Having just published an article on the state of Australia’s battery storage market at the beginning of 2017 (recently updated), we decided we would endeavour to shed a bit more light on payback period differences between each capital city. Which cities have the best conditions for home solar battery storage? We’ve ranked them below (with an […]

Read the full article →

Is home solar battery storage worth it in 2017? (August update)

August 7, 2017

Thumbnail image for Is home solar battery storage worth it in 2017? (August update)

Since 2015 Australians have been talking about home battery storage being on the cusp of financial viability. Are home batteries worth the investment in 2017? We’ve crunched the number for all of Australia’s capital cities to find out. This article was originally published in February 2017. It was last updated on 7 August 2017 to […]

Read the full article →

Battery safety standards decision looms large over industry

August 2, 2017

Tesla Powerwall 2

Standards Australia will soon decide whether to allow home lithium battery banks to be installed in a garage or external wall – or whether they’ll be required to live in ‘battery bunker’ in your back yard, accessible only to ‘authorised persons’. The consultation period for input on the proposed changes closes on 14 August, with […]

Read the full article →

Interested in batteries? NSW Government’s Home Solar Battery Guide is a must-read – no matter which state you live in

July 27, 2017

Thumbnail image for Interested in batteries? NSW Government’s Home Solar Battery Guide is a must-read – no matter which state you live in

Earlier this year the New South Wales Department of Planning and Environment commissioned Total Environment Centre, Alternative Technology Association and Zumio to produce a guidebook for state residents interested in battery storage for their home. The end product – the NSW Home Solar Battery Guide – was released earlier this month and is an essential […]

Read the full article →

Introducing our new Home Solar & Battery Storage Systems Guide

July 19, 2017

Over the years Solar Choice has published thousands of articles on the topic of solar power and (more recently) battery storage. Much of this knowledge is spread across various parts of our website (mainly our blog), so we’re recently taken some time to consolidate all the most relevant materials in one place. The result is […]

Read the full article →

Big improvements to our Solar & Battery Sizing & Payback Estimator tool

July 13, 2017

Thumbnail image for Big improvements to our Solar & Battery Sizing & Payback Estimator tool

It’s been well over a year since we first released our Solar & Battery Sizing & Payback Estimator tool in February 2016. Through its life so far, this handy tool has been visited by over 50,000 people trying to determine whether solar battery storage is worth the the money. As a first effort, this tool was […]

Read the full article →

Newly formed battery giant Fluence aims to take on Tesla

July 11, 2017

Thumbnail image for Newly formed battery giant Fluence aims to take on Tesla

Energy giants AES and Siemens have combined their energy storage divisions to take on upstarts like Tesla and other industry rivals, in an effort to dominate the soaring global battery storage market. The jointly owned entity, Fluence, will focus exclusively on grid-level storage, rather than in the household market, with a minimum size of 100kW. […]

Read the full article →

A guide to community microgrids

July 11, 2017

Sharing tomatoes

carbonTRACK Community microgrids are a way for neighbourhoods, villages, towns and cities to meet their energy needs locally. Increasingly, community microgrids are being eyed as an option even in areas where a larger grid already exists, mainly as a way to increase local energy independence and resilience. This article covers community microgrid basics, from the reasons […]

Read the full article →

Walnut Energy: Battery solutions for commercial, industrial & grid-scale applications

July 11, 2017

Thumbnail image for Walnut Energy: Battery solutions for commercial, industrial & grid-scale applications

Walnut Energy is an Australian developer of containerised battery storage solutions for medium to large-scale commercial and industrial premises – not to mention power plants and microgrids. Their battery storage products can be deployed in on-grid, edge-of-grid and off-grid applications to deliver a range of capabilities which include storing energy, providing black out protection, voltage […]

Read the full article →

Ampetus Super Lithium: Modular, cost-competitive battery bank for homes

July 10, 2017

Thumbnail image for Ampetus Super Lithium: Modular, cost-competitive battery bank for homes

Ampetus Energy is an Australian battery storage system developer offering one of the most cost-effective battery products currently available: the Ampetus Super Lithium battery. The battery comes with a 10 year warranty that is extendable to 15 years, and can be installed ‘loose’ or as part of a fully-integrated cabinet package. The company aims for […]

Read the full article →

sonnenFlat: sonnen’s ‘free’ / flat-rate electricity plan looks great. Is it worth it?

July 6, 2017

German battery system maker sonnen has launched its ground-breaking sonnenFlat package – a retail electricity offer available to anyone with at least a 5kW solar system and a sonnen battery system with a minimum of 8kWh of capacity. sonnenFlat customers pay only a single monthly fee (starting at $30) to sonnen instead of having a conventional […]

Read the full article →

Retrofitting battery storage in Sydney: Some example case studies

July 6, 2017

Thumbnail image for Retrofitting battery storage in Sydney: Some example case studies

You are a solar PV system owner who is now considering adding battery storage. The options you have depend on a number of factors, and there are a range of situations that warrant different approaches – and have different outcomes. In this article we take a look at some example situations that solar system owners […]

Read the full article →

sonnen launches battery-driven plan to take retailers ‘out of business’

July 5, 2017

Thumbnail image for sonnen launches battery-driven plan to take retailers ‘out of business’

German battery storage developer sonen has described this month’s near 20 per cent jump in the cost of grid power around Australia as “perfect” timing for the rollout of its new battery storage retail power plan. “It was perfect. We said: ‘Thankyou very much’,” sonnen CEO Christoph Ostermann told journalists at the launch of the […]

Read the full article →

7 good reasons to install battery storage now

June 28, 2017

Thumbnail image for 7 good reasons to install battery storage now

There are now dozens of home battery storage product options to choose from on the Australian market. Prices are coming down quickly, and as electricity prices rise (as they are set to do in most states) batteries are beginning to look quite attractive. As a counterweight to our article about reasons to wait to install […]

Read the full article →

Water heating on a timer vs solar diverter: A case study

June 22, 2017

Thumbnail image for Water heating on a timer vs solar diverter: A case study

The article below, written by Scott Young of CATCH Power, provides a look into the world of hot water diverters, which use excess solar energy to drive the element in electric storage-based water heaters. Hot water diverters are a great way to increase solar self-consumption and are significantly more affordable (albeit less versatile) than battery […]

Read the full article →

Energy Storage Conference & Exhibition 2017: Roundup

June 20, 2017

Thumbnail image for Energy Storage Conference & Exhibition 2017: Roundup

Every June for the last three years I’ve attended the Energy Storage Conference & Exhibition in Sydney. This year the event took place on 14-15th at Sydney’s new Convention and Exhibition Centre (ICC Sydney) in Darling Harbour. It was held concomitantly with the Renewable Cities conference. As in the style of previous years (e.g. 2015 […]

Read the full article →

Add more solar panels or get batteries? A customer case study

June 1, 2017

Thumbnail image for Add more solar panels or get batteries? A customer case study

Being a nation-wide advice & comparison service for rooftop solar, Solar Choice regularly receives enquiries from customers from people all over the country. We recently received a call from a NSW-based customer approaching retirement; her query was about whether it would make more sense for her to install a 3kWh battery bank for around $5,000, or […]

Read the full article →

Diversification the key to a resilient energy market

June 1, 2017

Thumbnail image for Diversification the key to a resilient energy market

Australia’s energy markets are becoming more complex due to battery storage and rooftop solar, and diversifying the mix of energy sources can ensure the grid remains resilient, according to Dr Michael Ottaviano, CEO and Managing Director of Carnegie Clean Energy. For the last ten years, Carnegie Energy has been developing utility-scale solar power, wave energy […]

Read the full article →

Peer-to-peer trading with solar & batteries: What to look for

May 31, 2017

Thumbnail image for Peer-to-peer trading with solar & batteries: What to look for

‘Peer-to-peer energy trading’ is a buzzword that is thrown around quite a bit in Australia as the number of solar & battery storage systems grows. What is peer-to-peer energy trading and how can it benefit you? We caught up with Localvolts founder Jitendra Tomar to gain a fuller understanding of the concept – and to […]

Read the full article →

Battery storage: Retrofit or new build with solar?

May 29, 2017

Thumbnail image for Battery storage: Retrofit or new build with solar?

If you’re considering installing battery storage for your grid-connected home, you probably find yourself in one of two situations: You’ve already got a solar PV system on your roof and want to add batteries to it (possibly with the addition of a few more solar panels), or You don’t have solar yet, so you’re going to install both […]

Read the full article →

Retrofitting battery storage to an existing solar PV system: What to consider

May 29, 2017

Thumbnail image for Retrofitting battery storage to an existing solar PV system: What to consider

Lots of Australian homes are expected to install battery storage in the coming years. Many of these homes will install brand new solar-plus-storage systems, but quite a few will be retrofitting batteries onto a pre-existing system. What do you need to keep in mind for a battery storage system retrofit? Considerations for retrofitting energy storage […]

Read the full article →

Beam Energy introduces a free ‘smart meter’ for solar & battery system size optimisation

May 26, 2017

When buying solar or batteries, most people would like to have an idea about how much money they would save with different capacity sizes before they go through with the purchase. Beam Energy has come out with a free, easy-to-install ‘smart meter’ and mobile app that promises just that. Installing solar or batteries is never a […]

Read the full article →

Empowered energy customers support the grid

May 24, 2017

Thumbnail image for Empowered energy customers support the grid

With the right technology, homeowners and businesses with solar and battery storage systems have the potential to play a vital role in stabilising a grid with high renewable generation, according to Luke Osborne, Chief Operations Officer for Reposit Power. By integrating innovative software with solar battery systems, Reposit Power helps customers who invest in these […]

Read the full article →

What is a “Tier 1” solar panel? Tier 2 or 3?

May 24, 2017

Thumbnail image for What is a “Tier 1” solar panel? Tier 2 or 3?

When purchasing a solar system, the quality of the components to be used is frequently a key consideration. However, differentiating one brand from another may not be so simple, especially in the case of solar panels, of which there are hundreds of brands on the Australian market. The terms ‘Tier 1’, ‘Tier 2’, and ‘Tier […]

Read the full article →

Levelised cost of storage: A better way to compare battery value

May 23, 2017

Thumbnail image for Levelised cost of storage: A better way to compare battery value

When it comes to choosing batteries for home or commercial battery storage, it can be difficult to sift through the multitude of options to find the IDEAL battery for your application. The options range from different operating voltages, amp-hour (Ah) storage capacities, sizes, weights, brands and – to make things even more complicated – different […]

Read the full article →

Could distributed battery systems ‘blackstart’ the grid?

May 17, 2017

Thumbnail image for Could distributed battery systems ‘blackstart’ the grid?

Solar Choice recently received a comment from a visitor to our site asking about whether distributed battery storage systems – using Reposit Power‘s battery management technology – could be used to restart the grid in the event of a blackout. We reached out to Reposit for a response, and they came back to us with […]

Read the full article →

Can you go off the grid with a 10kW solar system plus battery storage?

May 16, 2017

Thumbnail image for Can you go off the grid with a 10kW solar system plus battery storage?

We previously wrote an article about the feasibility of an Australian home going off-grid with a 3kW solar system – quite a small system size for such an ambitious endeavour. In this article, we’ll look at the case for going off-grid with a 10kW solar system – the unofficial upper limit for residential solar system […]

Read the full article →

Avoiding the boom and bust for a sustainable energy storage market

May 15, 2017

By studying the successes and challenges experienced by overseas projects and markets, and using them to inform better policy and decision-making, Australia’s energy market transformation could be the best-practice example that other countries seek to emulate, according to Mark Leslie, Asia Market Leader at AES Energy Storage. AES Energy Storage has been deploying utility-scale energy […]

Read the full article →

Solar-plus-storage: How much battery capacity do you need?

May 8, 2017

Thumbnail image for Solar-plus-storage: How much battery capacity do you need?

Lots of Solar Choice customers ask about battery storage for solar power, but not many have a clear idea of how much battery capacity they need. This article takes a look at the factors that come into play when considering how to choose the right amount of battery capacity for your solar-plus-storage system. How much energy independence […]

Read the full article →

← Previous Entries