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.

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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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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In September 2021, Australians in certain states were spending more on solar power systems, but they were still receiving a good deal given the benefits of solar energy.

Here’s how September compares to August, as well as September last year. After all discounts and credits, the average cost per watt is for fully installed installations (all system capacity).

And here’s a graph showing the nationwide cost-per-watt scenario since October 2019:

Prices for 6.6kW Solar Power systems, which are now considered starting grade, are as follows:

This data comes from the Australian Solar Price Index. It’s an engaging tool that displays typical pricing for rooftop solar power system installations in each Australian state/territory and nationwide over time, dating back a few years.

One of the tool’s most intriguing features is the ability to dig down and check prices on multiple system sizes, as well as systems with particular brands of solar panels and inverters.

Why Are Solar Power Prices Rising in Some States?

Prices appeared to remain fairly steady in QLD and NSW in September, but in the other states, they began to rise — and QLD and NSW are expected to follow suit. The Australian solar sector is now in a difficult situation due to a variety of difficulties that are producing a solar panel supply constraint.

Prices for silicon and other materials have risen dramatically, as have transportation expenses. Panel supply from China is tighter owing to local demand taking precedence and several areas encountering issues with electricity supply, creating production interruption.

We’ve heard that in China, panel price is now determined by the ‘spot rate’ which is when panels are picked up from the factory rather than when they are ordered. This may make pricing systems problematic, especially because many installers don’t have large margins, to begin with.

Not only is there increased pressure on panel prices, but there has also been some murmuring of price rises for solar inverters. And in both situations, it’s not only Chinese-made components.

Price rises are expected to persist while the supply chain is sorted out. High Solar Power prices won’t last forever, but how long is anyone’s guess given the numerous estimates.

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Due to challenges occurring beyond our borders, the availability of high-quality solar panels in Australia may become more restricted and expensive shortly.

PV-Tech reported late last week that top producers Longi, JinkoSolar, Trina Solar, JA Solar, and Risen Energy were warning that rising material and transportation prices were endangering the sector. Polysilicon, for example, remains expensive, and the cost of solar glass and adhesive films has also risen.

These cautions aren’t recent; JinkoSolar has been discussing the concerns for quite some time. However, with China being in the middle of what has been dubbed an energy crisis, the five major players have asked the enterprises they supply to postpone projects, which are presumed to be solar farm projects.

The crisis is now affecting both small-scale and commercial solar in Australia. We learned yesterday that a major Australian solar distributor had been informed during the previous few days that many of its scheduled shipments had been delayed or cancelled. This wasn’t occurring with just one or two of its main solar panel suppliers, but with all of them.

Intermediate Report on Solar Panel Prices in Australia

So, what’s been going on with solar system prices in Australia recently?

As we indicated in our September Australian Solar Prices analysis, while system costs have usually held up well over the prior 12 months considering the conditions, this wasn’t guaranteed to continue.

As the month progressed into October and the Index was updated to cover September, the following is what we’re seeing right now. After any discounts and grants, this is the mean installed cost per watt for all solar power system sizes in all states.

• The cost per watt increased somewhat in August and has since proceeded to grow sharply for systems acquired in September, returning to levels observed in August 2020.
• However, because the Index is updated in real-time and it is still early in the month, the situation may alter when more information regarding September purchases becomes available.

It will also differ from state to state; for example, current NSW numbers indicate a modest drop in cost per watt. But, at this point, what the Index’s national number indicates, together with what is being reported elsewhere, indicates that it’s a situation worth keeping an eye on.

Even if the price of solar panels continues to grow, they will remain an excellent investment. However, for Australians contemplating solar power, this may be a good time to investigate the concept and take advantage of any stock installers that may have to remain at lower pricing.

Pay close attention to the solar panels mentioned in a system quotation and do your homework, since some installers may use lower-quality panels owing to cost and supply difficulties.

It’s also worth noting that the national subsidy (also known as the “solar panel rebate”) will be reduced again at the start of next year.

As they say, a bad wind blows no good, and if the situation in China persists, it might give a tremendous chance for Tindo Solar – the only Australian producer of solar panels.

Tindo said around this time last month that decommissioning of its present production site in Adelaide had begun, and that the business was awaiting the arrival of equipment for the new facility, which would be located close to the old factory. At the time of publication, it was unclear how this was proceeding. Without a doubt, the corporation is eager to have it up and running as quickly as possible, if it is not already.

Solaring urges everyone to get in touch and set up a discussion of sorts. If not for today, later on, we will have to move to Solar Energy. We strive to make things easier for you.

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IRecco has received inquiries seeking clarification of job offers received in unsolicited fashion. These job offers appear to come from organisations falsely pretending to recruit on behalf, or by people…