At Gold Coast Solar Power Solutions we use only the highest quality solar inverters, namely SMA (Sunnyboy Inverters) and Fronius inverters. We understand that if a problem was to develop with your grid connect inverter that you need it rectified as soon as possible. To make this happen Gold Coast Solar Power Solutions has partnered with Fronius International, so in the unlikely event that your Fronius inverter should develop a fault, we can have your inverter fully repaired under warranty so you can be producing power again in no time.

Gold Coast Solar Power Solutions – your local Fronius service partner.

Panel Data
All solar panels have different characteristics. Are these available? If not it is probably due to the fact that this information is not good. Be very wary if this is the case, this is like buying a car with no engine specifications at all. The following is a list of specifications that all solar panels will have, but the values can differ greatly.

Test Conditions (STC) All solar panels are tested in a laboratory under what is called STC (Standard Test Conditions).  STC conditions are taken at an Irradiance (light) level of 1000W/m² with a cell temperature of 25ºC.  Now the main thing to consider here is this is how the solar panel performs in laboratory conditions.  In the real world up on your roof these conditions are constantly changing, which is where the following information is very helpful.

Nominal Operating Cell Temperature (NOCT) The NOCT is given because of the fact that in the real world solar panels are usually operating in hotter conditions and at lower irradiance levels than what the STC of the panel is.  NOCT is defined as the temperature reached by open circuited cells in a solar module under the following conditions:

• Irradiance (light) falling on the solar panel at 800W/m²
• Air temperature of 20ºC
• Wind speed at 1m/s
• The panel is mounted with an open back (air can circulate behind panel)

For a quality solar panel you can expect the NOCT to be 47ºC or lower. This means that the panel will be running cooler in real world conditions than a panel with a higher NOCT, and a cooler panel means a more efficient panel.  

Temperature Coefficient (Pmax) The temperature coefficient is very important, please click here to read a seperate article all about it.

Tolerance or Performance Deviation When you purchase a solar panel which is rated at say 175W, do you expect it to produce 175W? If you do expect 175W, check the solar panels tolerance. Quite often it will be ±5%. This means that your 175W solar panel could be producing 5% less than 175W, or only 166W straight from the factory, something to keep in mind.

Warranty Solar panels are designed to operate in a very harsh environment dealing with ultra-violet radiation, heat, cold, wind and hail for 25 years plus and they are usually warranted for that whole time.  This is a very long time.  Is the manufacturer of your  solar panels going to be around to honour the warranty they offer? If they start having warranty issues will they change names and totally void your warranty?  This is not really an option for reputable companies such as Sharp or Sanyo.  If you sell your property, will the solar panel warranty pass to the next owner? With Sanyo, Sharp, Solarfun & Suntech panels it will.

Keep this information in mind and you should see right through the lemons and you hopefully won’t make a purchase that you will later regret!

The Temperature Coefficient (Pmax)
The temperature coefficient is a characteristic of solar panels that can differ greatly, especially between cheap panels and quality panels.  This characteristic however, should not be overlooked. For example on a hot summers day the temperature of your solar panels may be around 75°C, this will equate to a power loss according to the solar panels temperature coefficient.

With Sanyo Hybrid panels from Gold Coast Solar Power Solutions the temperature coefficient is -0.30% per °C above 25°C. This would equate to a loss of 157W at 75°C just from heat on a 1.05kW solar power system.
However with some cheaper panels offered by other companies the temperature coefficient can be greater than -0.52% per °C above 25°C. This equates to a loss of 273W at 75°C on a 1.05kW solar power system!

So with this cheaper, so called “cost effective” panel this loss alone equates to 116W of  a 1.05kW system that you have paid for which is lost compared to the higher quality Sanyo panel on a good summers day!  Imagine the extra power loss on a larger system! That is more than a 10% loss in output over a higher quality solar panel, add to that the piece of mind that comes with purchasing from a reputable brand and knowing that they will be around in the years to come to honour their product warranties.. suddenly the quality solar panels look a lot more appealing.

But what about the electricity retailers? Do they actually support your investment in solar power? Most of the energy retailers offer energy from renewable sources for you to buy at a higher rate, but won’t actually put their money where their mouth is and reward you for your renewable energy. AGL and Origin are the only retailers currently that reward your solar power production more than the Queensland Government feed in tariff, they will actually pay you extra on top of the government rebate, so you can sell your surplus electricity for more than $0.44 per kWh. Hopefully the other energy retailers rise to this standard that AGL and Origin have set.

AGL are currently paying $0.52 per kWh for your surplus solar electricity.
Origin are currently paying $0.50 per kWh for your surplus solar electricity

We’ve waited long enough for the Australian Government to act decisively – it’s time to push the issue of national gross feed in tariffs; particularly after the recent Council Of Australian Governments (COAG) meeting where principles tabled were far removed from how a feed in tariff system should operate.

We’ve already let politicians such as Penny Wong, Kevin Rudd, Peter Garrett, Greg Hunt and Christine Milne know about the petition.

The more signatures and thoughtful comments on the petition, the greatly the likelihood policy makers in Australia will take our collective call seriously and Prime Minister Kevin Rudd will choose a solar future for our nation over filthy coal!

Click here to sign the gross solar feed in tariff petition

Standard plate glass can still be found on some cheaper brands of monocrystalline and polycrystalline panels made by small, unknown companies and on most brands of amorphous (thin film) solar panels, they can try and make it stronger by using thicker plate glass, but it is still nowhere near as strong as tempered glass. Also with plate glass it can cloud over time, which would greatly reduce the solar panels power output.

So in conclusion you do get what you pay for. When buying solar panels it should be clearly stated on the product specifications the type of glass used, if it is not, it is highly likely to be plate glass. Quality solar panels are made from tempered glass and designed to withstand hail, don’t be deceived with unknown brand solar panels at prices to good to be true, as the saying goes if it seems too good to be true it probably is!

So if you qualify for the current government rebate get in now, and get the maximum possible rebate before it disappears! Contact us through clicking the link on the right for your free site inspection and quotation, so we can help you maximise the return on your solar power investment.

The good news is that with the new rebate system, it will no longer be means tested (you don’t need to have an income below $100,000) and it will be open to everybody- home owners, community groups and businesses. So if you are interested in solar power and cannot currently make use of any government rebates, from July 09 you can!

The new government rebate will be slightly lower than the existing, $7500 being the maximum rebate available and that is for a 1.5 kilowatt system or larger. Therefore to receive the full rebate you will need to invest in a slightly larger solar power system.

If you have any questions please don’t hesitate to contact us at Gold Coast Solar Power Solutions and we will help you where ever we can!

In the January 2001 issue of Home Power magazine, there is a very detailed study about solar panel energy payback time.  This study, by Karl Knapp, PhD, and Teresa Jester, finds payback time for a standard module to be about 3.3 years, and 1.8 years on a thin-film panel.  The study factors in energy costs for ALL parts of the panel and manufacturing process.

Hopefully this research puts to rest this myth once and for all!

What you need to do is minimise the amount of power you use when your solar panels are generating power, so the renewable power you produce is going straight back into the grid, not being used up inside your home. To achieve this, use your power hungry appliances before mid morning or from late afternoon onwards, not during the middle of the day when your solar power output is at it’s highest. By putting this into practice you can be making 30c a kWh when you use power, not just saving yourself 14c a kWh, a much better strategy.

Germany is the world leader in the uptake of solar power and the amount of solar power they can actually harness with a solar panel is just over half of what we enjoy here. The reason they are the world leaders, even when they are not in the blessed position of being “the sunburnt country” as we are, is that the German government for years has had the foresight in seeing that renewable power is worth investing in. What they offer is for every kW of solar power produced the Government pays a premium price for, making the substantial investment in solar panels and solar technology not only a great choice from the clean power perspective but also from the financial investment side – the solar power system can be paid off within a few years!

Here in Australia the states are slowly catching on to the idea of feed in tariffs, for example Queensland has introduced a net metering feed in tariff. What this tariff means is that Energex puts a meter on your meter board which only reads the solar power you produce and are not using, so ONLY the power you actually feed back into the electricity grid will you receive the premium rate of 44c per kWh for, or up to 52c per kWh if your with AGL.

The Energy providers in Queensland still offer a gross metering option to customers producing solar power, but you are only paid your standard kWh rate for all this power – 17 to 19c a kWh. A pointless option really if you are in Queensland but great if you are in NSW, as they have just released a gross feed in tariff of 60c per kWh – this in layman’s terms means that you would be paid 60c per kWh for every bit of the solar power you produce, effectively saving you thousands!

Hopefully soon on the Gold Coast North of the NSW border our government will see the true benefits in following NSW and Germany’s approach in paying a premium rate for ALL renewable power produced through gross feed-in tariffs.