Bifacial solar panels for commercial solar.

Posted on April 1, 2019 by Mike — No Comments ↓

Vicinity Centres, who will provide 31MW of clean energy to 22 shopping centres and their retailers by the end of the year, is trialling bifacial solar panels to see how that will affect their choices for stage 3 of Vicinity’s solar program.

Bifacial solar panels for commercial solar.

According to an article in PV Magazine, the first bifacial panels were installed at Kurralta Central Shopping Centre to get a better yield from their available roof space. Initial tests showed 6-8% to 16-18% increased output (they tried a bunch of different locations and coatings on the roof to maximise output).

“It’s early days,” said Renae Sambrooks, General Manager of Energy and Commercial Management for Vicinity, “but results from Kurralta made us feel confident enough to install bifacials in three more centres.

“Over the next few months results of those trials will help us make decisions around our Stage 3 solar program,” she said in comments quoted in PV Magazine.

We’ve reported fairly comprehensively about Vicinity Centres and solar investment in the past – we’re also taken a look at the Stockland shopping centres and their commercial solar investment.

“As of today,” Sambrooks said, “we’ve produced 2.5MWh of clean energy from 13MW of installed capacity and we’re in the process of constructing the next 18 MW, which will be completed by the end of 2019.”

There are a few other bifacial solar panels available:

An article in Green Tech Media notes that the bifacial PERC modules can boost performance by a staggering 27%.

The Bifacial Solar Panels at Kurralta are one of the first steps Vicinity Centres are making to end up with their 31MW of renewable energy output – Sambrooks discussed the long term goal:

“Our vision was to create intelligent energy destinations. We’re not just whacking solar panels on roofs. It’s a long-term investment and we’re always thinking how we can sweat the solar installations and all our other energy initiatives to make a return.”

Still very early days, so we’ll keep you updated how they go with the testing and what Vicinity decide to do with regards to commercial solar panels.

LG ESS Battery Launch – Residential Energy Storage

Posted on October 6, 2018 by Mike — No Comments ↓

LG have released a new LG ESS battery and inverter, and have upgraded their NeON solar panel range for 2019. Let’s take a look at some of the changes!

LG ESS battery and inverter

LG have consistently led the way with regards to high quality solar panels, so it’s great to see them foray into home energy storage. Let’s take a look at the product a little closer:

“Delivering high-quality energy solutions for homeowners is a top priority for us,” said Markus Lambert, General Manager Solar & Energy for LG Electronics Australia discussed what adding a residential ESS (Energy Storage Solution) will mean for the LG solar brand:

“The addition of the ESS to our energy portfolio will enable us to support Australian homeowners with a 3 phase electric power and their demand for greater control over their residential energy consumption.”

The LG ESS battery and inverter is also modular – it can store up to 12.8kWh by installing the 6.4kWh battery packs. All of the devices are covered by a 10 year Australian product warranty.

In addition to the ESS, LG Electronics also introduced their 2019 range of NeON^®R and NeON^®2 premium solar panels, which will have a performance upgrade to 370W and 380W as well as a 400W 72 cell panel. All NeON solar panels have a 25 year warranty. To be frank, these panels are quite expensive, but if space is a premium and/or you want to get the best result possible, they are highly recommended. Mr Lambert discussed the benefits of the new panels:

“Residential dwellings are constantly evolving, just like homeowners’ energy needs,” he said.

“These higher efficiency panels will benefit homeowners with limited roof space, as well as those looking to deploy energy-intense technologies, like electric vehicle charging stations.”

If you’re interested in learning more about LG’s new product range please click here to view their website or feel free to leave a comment below and we’d be happy to point you in the right direction!

LG MONO X plus and NeON 2 Warranty Increased.

Posted on December 18, 2017 by Mike — No Comments ↓

LG’s flagship NeON 2 and LG Mono X Plus solar panels are receiving an extended warranty (15 years) for those who install them from January 1, 2018. This is five years longer than the Australian industry standard, but not as long as the 25-year product warranty and 87% output warranty LG’s NeON R panels currently offer.

“From design and production to delivery, we follow stringent protocols to ensure the integrity of our solar panels,” said Russ Prendergast, Senior Marketing Manager Solar at LG. “This increase in warranty reflects our confidence that our products can go the distance.”

“We’re proud of our achievements in solar, and our consistent presence in the Intersolar Awards winners list confirms the industry feels the same. But we wanted to give our customers something that benefits them directly,” said Prendergast in a press release quoted by RenewEconomy, “With close to 70 per cent sales growth in the past year, our customers appear to recognise the quality our solar panels deliver.”

More good news for those looking to invest in solar but are concerned about the long term results!

LG Mono X Plus

The fifth generation LG Mono X Plus have long warranties, high efficiency, and as of next year boasts an impressive 25-year warranty.

They come in three different models:

Residential 60 Cell 300W – LG300S1C – ‘Entry Model’ – for those that want a great product without the ‘bells and whistles’ of the LG NeON range. (Brochure Here)
Residential 60 Cell 295W – LG295S1C-A5 – Fifth generation LG Mono X ® Plus – 25 Year performance warranty. (Brochure Here)
Commercial 72 Cell 360W – LG360S2W – Commercial grade, cost-effective module with great performance. (Brochure Here)

Read more about the LG Mono X Plus solar panel in Australia on the LG website.

LG NeON 2

We’ve written an article about the NeON 2 Solar Panel (LG330N1C) which was released earlier this year. The 330W panel is LG’s flagship solar panel and comes highly recommended by all who have tried it!

LG currently have 34 different solar panels for sale so there’s something for everyone – click here to have a look at what they offer and be sure to comment below or email us if you have any questions about a specific panel – we’d be happy to help!

If you’re interested in the production process i.e. how solar panels are made, LG have produced a video called ‘LG Solar Panel Production Line Tour’ you can view below:

Solar panel safety – product & installer guide.

Posted on July 20, 2017 by Mike — No Comments ↓

According to The West Australian, faulty panels/inverters or badly installed PV solar systems have caused fires at more than 20 residences in WA over the past 24 months. Solar panel safety is becoming a major issue as the huge rise in solar installations leads to quality concerns.

The Australian reports that in Queensland, which has one of Australia’s highest uptakes of solar, firefighters attended at least 64 premises where a fire was sparked by shoddy workmanship or cheap panels. Already in 2017 they have attended at least 16 solar panel fire incidents.

What can you do to minimise this risk?

Solar panel safety – what to look out for

The most important thing to keep in mind when choosing a solar system is that cheapest means that compromises in quality have been made, and that installation will probably also be sub standard.

Jay Cutler, board member of the National Electrical Contractors Association said that a solar panel fire is generally caused by poorly trained workers using cheap products.

“Quality product and quality installations by recognised and experienced installers, (and) the risk is minimal, that is the same for all electrical work,” Mr Cutler said.

“Start cutting corners and getting the cheap jobs and that’s when the risk increases enormously … Lithium-ion batteries are good products if they are manufactured well and if they are installed correctly. “But if you start getting down in the gutter at the lower end of the market the consequences are (large)…(because) the industry is fairly new it is clear that there are a lot of (installers) early on the learning curve.”

Quality modern solar power systems (like those that LG Energy sell) have multiple safety systems built in – cut offs witches and circuit breakers can be located on the roof next to the panel, alongside the inverter, and/or on the meter board itself. In addition to this any quality inverter will also have its own internal safety cutoffs.

Solar Panel Safety — Solar Panel Fire Safety (source: lgenergy.com.au)

We’ve previously reported on the fire risk of solar and the proposed solar battery storage laws – expect to hear plenty more of this as the industry grows and begins to mature.

LG announce the new NeON 2 Solar Panel (LG330N1C)

Posted on April 4, 2017 by Mike — No Comments ↓

First announced in late 2016, the new LG NeON 2 solar panel (LG330N1C) is now only a few weeks away from being available in Australia. Its predecessor, the LG320N1C (315w) is still available but for those in the research phase looking for cutting edge panels we suggest taking a look at the new NeON 2.

It boasts the following specs which really makes it stand out from some of the more conventional solar panels on the market:

330W (260w is standard, previous model was 315w)
12 Years Parts & Labour Product Warranty (was previously 10 years – now lengthened to help
Similar size to 260w (standard) panels – meaning 27% more electricity per square metre.
25 Year Performance guarantee – although all panels degrade slowly due to the nature of the cells, LG guarantee 83.6% warranted output after 25 years.
Power Tolerance 0/+3% – this means you can be guaranteed 330w as a minimum and up to 340w.
60 Cell Design
Durable design for rough weather – the NeON 2 can withstand a front load of 6000 pascals (5400 is standard) – and a rear/wind load of 5400 pascals (2400 is standard).
Bifacial (double-sided) panels are able to generate electricity from both sides which means the total output capacity has been raised due to the improved temperature co-efficient – and the Neon 2 panels will also produce more energy than normal solar panels under cloud cover – as much as 43%.

Markus Lambert, the MD of LG Solar Australia said that the development of bifacial cells in a translucent panel product had taken LG’s technology “to the next level”.

“The bifacial cells can generate more power within a consistently small area, helping to boost efficiency and reduce the overall cost of a PV system. The LG NeON 2 BiFacial module raises the bar for the solar industry once more taking competition to the next level,” Lambert said.

LG NeON 2 Solar Panel - LG330N1C — LG NeON 2 Solar Panel – LG330N1C

View the official spec sheet of the new LG NeON 2 (LG325/330N1C-A5) here – LG NeON 2 Spec Sheet.

Get a quote for installation by clicking here! Alternatively for product enquiries you can email [email protected]

View the installation manual by clicking here.

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Bifacial solar panels for commercial solar.