Solar Choice: Many Australian households talk about ‘going off-grid’. Could the Enphase system help them achieve this goal? What are your thoughts on this desire to cut ties with utilities […]
Category: Solar System Products
Solar Choice blog articles and reviews about components for solar power systems, including solar inverters, solar cells, solar modules, and solar batteries.
The evolving role of the solar home on the electricity grid (Interview with Enphase cofounder Raghu Belur – Part 1)
I had the opportunity to catch up with Enphase Energy co-founder Raghu Belur at Australian Utility Week following a panel discussion about distributed renewable energy integration in which he took […]
Australia’s Redback aims to sell 28,000 home battery systems by 2019
Australian home energy storage technology developer Redback has signed an exclusive distribution agreement that will see 28,000 of the company’s SH4600 Smart Hybrid System units sold in Australia and New […]
Reposit Power’s GridCredits: Trade your home’s energy on the grid – and get paid for it
No feed-in tariff? No problem: Reposit Power’s GridCredits software lets solar-plus-storage system owners sell power into the grid – at a premium. Reposit Power is an Australian company whose goal […]
carbonTRACK: Aussie-based startup delivers smarter solar, storage & energy use
carbonTRACK is an Australian company whose energy management platform promises to deliver up to 30% savings on electricity bills for solar-powered homes and 10% in businesses, not only by maximising […]
Approaches to grid-connected energy storage systems: Q&A with Supply Partners
Home battery energy storage is on track to become commonplace in Australia by the end of the decade, just as rooftop solar power is now. The industry is still young, […]
[WATCH] Home solar battery storage in the mainstream media
The topic of home energy storage has made its way into some of the biggest media outlets in Australia, with The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald running identical pieces in their respective “Money” sections, along […]
Energy Storage Australia 2015 – Conference roundup
Energy Storage Australia 2015, held at Double Bay’s InterContinental Hotel on November 18-19 and organised by the Australian Solar & Energy Storage Councils, captured in both atmosphere and specifics the […]
Battery storage systems to be allowed to export energy in WA from December
The Australian electricity industry is being “Uber’d” by battery storage technology, according to comments from West Australian energy minister Mike Nahan, a process he predicts will fundamentally change the nature […]
Magellan Power supplies 100kWh battery storage system for Variable Speed Drive (VSD) application in Sydney
Magellan Power, an Australian developer of energy storage and other power technology solutions, has recently provided a 100kWh commercial-scale DC energy storage system for a water pumping application in NSW in […]
Australian Energy Market Operator network planning document anticipates mass uptake of solar + storage
The Australian Energy Market Operator has adapted its network planning to take into account a rapid uptake of rooftop solar, battery storage and electric vehicles. In its 2015 National Transmission […]
Brisbane’s Redflow pitches flow batteries to mining operations
Brisbane-based battery maker Redflow has called on miners to ditch diesel generation in favour of increasingly competitive renewable energy and large-scale energy storage, as part of a campaign targeting Australia’s […]
Check out Solar Choice’s new energy storage resource
Solar Choice has published a new resource for those interested in battery-based energy storage systems. Our new page, “Batteries & Home Energy Storage: Learn the Basics“, collects many of the […]
NEXTracker’s self-powered, horizontal axis solar tracking system
NEXTracker is a California-based developer of an innovative self-power, horizontal single-axis solar tracking system which has been deployed in solar farms across the globe. NEXTracker now has over 500MW of […]
Enphase Energy’s ‘AC Battery’: A modular, expandable energy storage solution for Australian homes
Enphase Energy, a US-based energy technology company and the world’s largest manufacturer of microinverters, has recently announced that Australia will be the launching pad for its groundbeaking AC Battery, which […]
WA’s energy minister to roll back anti-battery regulations “within the month”
An energy market regulation that effectively bans homes in Western Australia with battery storage from feeding power back into the grid will be removed within a month, the state’s energy […]
Adelaide-based thermal energy storage developer wins $400k federal grant
The Adelaide-based company behind a patented, sand-based thermal energy storage system has won a $400,000 federal government grant to help launch it onto the international market. Latent Heat Storage (LHS) […]
SolarEdge’s StorEdge energy storage solution to be compatible with Powerwall
Israeli inverter company SolarEdge has targeted Australia as a key market for solar and storage technologies, thanks to its world-leading rooftop PV penetration, reduction in feed-in tariffs and high electricity […]
Ecoult’s CSIRO-developed lead acid ‘UltraBattery’ to compete with lithium-ion
Sydney-based battery storage developer Ecoult believes its Australia-made, CSIRO-developed lead acid battery can fight off competition from lithium-ion rivals. Ecoult, whose so-called UltraBattery is described was a supercharged lead-acid battery hybrid, on […]
Home solar battery storage in Adelaide, SA
South Australia has a higher percentage of solar homes than any other state in Australia – and in the Adelaide area, roughly 1 in every 3 homes has a solar PV […]
New device from Latronics makes solar storage retrofits quick and easy
Australian inverter and power electronics maker Latronic Sunpower has introduced a device that will make it easy for homes and businesses to retroactively install battery storage onto most existing grid-connected solar PV […]
Lead acid batteries for home solar energy storage: Q&A with Giant Power
Lead acid batteries have been used in various off-grid and stand alone power systems for decades, and are one of the most commonly offered product options in home solar energy […]
Intelligent, flexible all-in-one home energy storage from Alpha ESS
Alpha-ESS is a global developer of energy storage systems for the home. The company was founded in 2012 as a collaboration between companies from three continents and is looking to […]
AllGrid Energy’s Aussie-made residential & off-grid battery storage devices
Note: Solar Choice is not a solar installer and has no financial or other incentives to promote any product brand over another. Background on Aoboet – Company History AllGrid Energy […]
Solar Analytics independent monitoring
Although there are now well over 1 million households in Australia with solar PV systems, only around 1% of them have any sort of performance monitoring equipment in place. This […]
Battery storage options are growing: What products are out there?
In this article we take a look at some of the product options that are available here in Australia as well as elsewhere globally. With a list of all of […]
Robotic solar tracker startup QBotix closes shop
A US startup that promised to revolutionise the solar tracking industry with a robot-controlled sun-tracking system has apparently shuttered its operations. According to Greentech Media. QBotix CEO Mike Miskovsky confirmed that […]
Could Aussie homes find it more economical to go off-grid? New analysis suggests ‘yes’
In the emerging new energy landscape, the idea that a large number of households could quit the grid altogether, using rooftop solar and battery storage, is still considered an unlikely […]
Aquion’s saltwater batteries compete with lead acid & lithium ion on cost, performance
Aquion Energy is the first company in the world to commercialise a modern saltwater battery for residential, commercial and industrial applications. Aqueon’s aqueous hybrid ion (AHI) technology is one of […]
SMA’s residential energy storage solutions in Australia
SMA is one of the largest inverter manufacturers in the world and have more inverters installed in Australia than any other brand. The company currently offers two energy storage solutions […]
Tesla fast-tracks Powerwall for Aussie market – first delivieries in late 2015
The arrival of Tesla’s Powerwall battery storage unit in Australia over the next few months will herald the biggest challenge to Australia’s electricity industry for decades. Tesla announced last Thursday […]