Newsletter Archive

Federal Carbon Trading

As you are no doubt aware, the government’s 5% is a big disappointment in terms of setting a meaningful carbon reduction target. The news gets worse in that any effort you make to reduce your carbon footprint by installing a solar system, insulating your roof etc does not really make any difference to the ‘big’ picture because the target includes your personal effort and your electricity reduction means the utility needs less Renewable Energy Certificates to emit their pollution.

You can learn more about this and voice your concern by signing the Get Up! Online petition.

Feed-in Tariffs

Although no feed in tariff has been announced to date in NSW those for the other states are as follows:-
ACT 62c gross
VIC 60c nett with a 2kW cap
SA 44c nett
QLD 44c nett

We suggest you voice your concerns to the NSW Deputy Premier about the lack of progress on a NSW FIT. She originally announced in November that a FIT would be implemented by the end of January.

Power Usage of Solar Evacuated Tube Hot Water System

I recently had my ’30 tube, 250 litre’ hot water system installed. These have a small circulating pump in the system. Preliminary data for my 1 adult usage pattern indicate an average power usage of about 120Wh/day for the pump and controller which is pretty minimal. I will update this figure next month. If you have any data to share in this regard, please let me know.

Price Increases

Unfortunately prices continue to rise on imported goods because of our dollar devaluation. Johnson Pumps have just gone up substantially and Sundaya prices are about to go up in a month. Our web shop prices are always up to date. Trade customers should email our office for an up to date Price List when required. Upon request we can enable your Trade account in our web shop so you can see Trade prices on line.

Rebates

Don’t forget that the current rebate for grid feed systems is decreasing from about $9000 to $5000 after 30th June so lodge your application now!

Selectronic SP-PRO Range

Selectronic have released the 'stand alone' versions of their SP-PRO range in 24Volt (3.5kW) and 48Volt (4 and 6kW). Grid Feed/back up versions are coming soon. More information on SP-Pro Inverter.

The features include:

Interactive Inverter Charger with grid feed ability
Advanced thermal techniques provide excellent high temperature performance
63 amp AC transfer switch with anti-chatter protection
Grid feeds with excess renewable Grid Lockout setting can allow battery charging Off Peak
Automatic changeover when grid fails without using a second inverter
Five stage battery charging with dual float points and adjustable temperature compensation
Battery mid point monitoring with automatic equalisation
Plug and play or fully configurable via computer
Eighteen months of logged daily totals
Four months of sampled data at 30 minute sample rate
Adjustable 30/15/10/5/1 minute sample rate
Easy to use configuration/monitoring software supplied standard
Partial state of charge control can minimise generator run time
Superbly quiet
4 x addressable relay outputs and 2 x analogue inputs
2 x user definable shunt inputs
Low battery shutdown override in case of emergency
External solar regulator bypass function
2 x serial ports with power for accessories
Variable speed fan with service alert
Lifetime monitored capacitors with service alert
7 year warranty
100% Australian designed and manufactured
Field serviceable modular design