PV Gap

Tiffany Said:

solar power in Australia?

We Answered:

Hi Frog201

Well done on deciding to go solar, and you'll get excellent results up in Deniliquin (I'm in Portland on the Southwest coast of Vic).

I've voluntarily organised a couple of bulk solar deals on behalf of the Portland Sustainability Group, and as such got a chance to deal with quite a few companies. The first deal was for about 45 individuals,and the second was for 14 schools.

By the way as said above I'm a volunteer and don't get any commision from anyone, and that's the same for this advice. My goal is and always has been to just encourage and help people install solar because it's in all of our interests.

There was a range of companies looked at, from the VERY cheap no-brand type, to the most expensive I could find at the time, which was Origin Energy.

Most suppliers sell similar quality panels and inverters. Most have lots of good testimonials (and if you look close enough all will have a share of dissatisfied customers as well, but that's no different from any product seller/installer of course).

A lot of time the devil was/is in the detail, especially with the cheaper suppliers, and especially with remote/regional customers.

The two companies that stood out for me and the people/schools I represented are Solar Shop and Energy Matters. Both operate Nationally.

The household purchase group went with Solar Shop (including my own house), and most people had their systems up ahead of schedule and no 'hidden' costs.

The schools went mostly with Solar Shop (one went outside the group and used Energy Matters as Solar Shop don't do wind turbines, which was something that school wanted; and another school went with Solar Charge as they also had the capacity to install some external awnings on windows).

My advice to you would be to get in touch with both Solar Shop (Richard Inwood is excellent) and Energy Matters (the guy I delt with isn't working for them anymore...) for a quote.

Hope that helps, and all the best

Darlene Said:

Does Solar Power have any economic importance to Australia?

We Answered:

I don't know where you are from but my Aussie friend said people from the USA pay a lot less for gas than they did, so i would think it solar power probably does economic importance.