Interesting News from Down Under

Issue 64 - December 2009 Systems


Greetings everyone and welcome to the last issue of our newsletter for 2009!
Victoria's feed in tariff - credit to cash

The big story over the last week has been developments in Victoria regarding the state's feed in tariff.

Under the current legislation, Victoria's electricity retailers are only obliged to offer a 60c per kWh time-limited credit rather than a payment to solar power system owners.

However, market forces are seeing quite a few retailers instead offering cash payments - and some higher than the mandated 60c per kWh!

You can learn more about the credit to cash trend here and view a list of companies offering cash here.

This competition between electricity companies is making solar power an even more attractive proposition for people in Victoria. If you have been hesitating on ordering your system, now is the time to grab a no-obligation, instant online quote!

Thank you!

Energy Matters would like to take this opportunity to wish you a joyous, safe and peaceful festive season.

We sincerely thank all our valued customers for making 2009 the brightest year for our company yet and we look forward to a continuing partnership with you in Australia's renewable energy revolution in 2010.

Trading hours

Please note our offices will be closed from Thursday, December 24 2009; reopening on Monday, January 4, 2010.

If you wanted to take advantage of any current special offers or to move forward on a solar power or solar hot water system quote, you'll need to get in quick!



Solar credits special
A top quality grid connect system at a tiny price - check out our solar credits maximiser deal!


Renewable energy news

REC Achieves 17% Polycrystalline Efficiency
REC and ECN have together made the world's first polycrystalline solar panels with 17.0 percent efficiency.

1.3 Million Panel Solar Farm For Canada
The Sarnia Solar Project in Canada will be expanded from 20 megawatts of capacity to 80 megawatts (MW), making it the largest solar panel based solar farm in North America.

Self Cleaning Solar Panels Coming Soon?
Research from Tel Aviv University that originally focused on a cure for Alzheimer's disease has stumbled across an innovation for solar panels that could see what little maintenance is required reduced further.

Solar Powered Rover Still Mired In Mars Muck
Many people who have followed the adventures of the solar powered Mars rover duo Spirit and Opportunity have become quite attached to the contraptions and have enthusiastically cheered them on - but a sense of doom hangs in the air for Spirit.

Thailand Sets Sights On A Solar Power Future
The largest energy producing country in South-East Asia is Thailand, but the nation also has a high dependency on imported energy.

The Paper Battery
A new battery that uses paper as a substrate material may be ready for market in a short time.

U.S. Solar Panel Demand Grows in 2009
It may have been a tough year economically speaking, but U.S. grid connect solar power demand will reach at least 440 MW in 2009, up from 320 MW in 2008.

Victoria's Feed In Tariff - From Credit To Cash
Market forces have come into play that are seeing many Victorian households getting a far better deal for the clean energy they create from their home solar power systems.

Hot Water Systems As Wind Power Batteries
A recent study outlines the possibility of off-peak water heating programs to generate demand for renewable energy sources such as wind power.

Save on hot water!
Save a bundle on this Apricus solar hot water system! (VIC, SA, TAS and NSW Metro areas)


From the EM community

The Energy Matters forums is a place for everyone from newbies to knowbies to discuss all things renewable energy related, to ask questions and share tips - plus we have new categories on alternative vehicles, green building and general green living tips!

Combined wind and solar power
Susbility has 6 solar panels and a 2200W inverter and asks if it is possible to set up a 1kw wind turbine and feed the power in to the existing inverter.

Reasonable losses?
Boccas recently installed a 2.04kw solar power system supplied by another provider. The system rarely produces more than 1.4kw and Boccas is curious if this is an acceptable output, or is there some problem within the system?

Connect 3 X MPPT regulators in parallel?
Rana asks, would this work? If the connections are good then will the current divide up equally between the regulators? Has anyone else tried paralleling up similar regulators into their system to increase the current capacity in their setup?

Inverter claims
ltilley09 had a 1kw solar power installed this year and paid extra to upgrade to a 2kw inverter. It turns out that while the inverter can accept a 2kw input its maximum output is 1.5 kW. To ltilley09, this is only a 1.5 kW inverter. The supplier and manufacturer insist it is technically a 2 kW inverter. Any views anyone?

Energy efficient fridges
GeoffHammond asks - "Am I the only one that spends a week deciding which particular whitegoods to buy?" An interesting thread on choosing fridges for use in conjunction with a very important product - beer.

Australian solar manufacturing
Heliox is evaluating the solar market in Australia from a producer's perspective and would like to get some input from any party interested in the subject of photovoltaic solar power; and asks, why is there no production in a country with such a high
potential?

This is just a small sample of the recent activity in the Energy Matters forum - join our rapidly growing community and tap into a treasure trove of wind and solar power knowledge today - it's free!



News archives

You can catch up on all the renewable energy news we've published in our news section!


Solarfun Special!

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