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You might have seen a lot of talk in solar energy news recently about the decreasing solar rebate. Yet, it can be difficult to make proper sense of what this all means. After all, calling it a rebate is actually a little bit of a misnomer on its own. While called an Australian Solar Rebate, this, in reality, refers to the number of STCs the installer will receive upon installation of the system, STC meaning Small-scale Technology Certificate. Generally, installers (Solargain included) will deduct the total value of the STCs you will receive automatically as part of our prices, so you don’t

Christmas is a time for families and friends to come together, enjoy a special day of gift giving, great food and fantastic memories. But unfortunately Christmas time gift giving and dinners can also lead to a lot of wastage, with landfills the world over being filled with wrapping paper, discarded cardboard, food waste, and in some cases, unwanted presents. That’s why it’s important to do our part in making the day a little bit greener. So join us in dreaming of a green Christmas this holiday season. Give Green Gifts That might seem a little imposing, but don’t worry, a green gift doesn’t

Four years. Only four years have passed since we made the original edition of this article in 2016, but it feels like decades. Not only in the realm of solar power, the world has experienced massive changes in the last short few years that make 2016 seem like ancient history. But that’s not to say solar hasn’t also seen some drastic shifts, thankfully, all in the right direction. The statistics we have now make our bold claims in 2016 seem paltry in comparison. Check out the infographic below to see what we mean. As you can see, though the advancements from 2008 to 2016 were great, every

Safety is a paramount concern in all home electrical appliances. That applies especially so for Solar PV systems which generate dangerous high DC voltage.

Our offices in South Australia have been open for almost five years. But, ever since we opened our doors in Holden Hill, our focus in South Australia was exclusively upon the service arm of our business. This decision was made because of the rapid expansion of solar across South Australia several years before Solargain’s arrival there, due to fantastic feed-in tariffs. This was quickly followed by the foreclosure of many short-lived South Australian solar businesses that had arisen to take advantage of the boom, leaving their customers without anyone to support them in post-installation

Going off-grid is an appealing prospect for many people. With rising electricity prices, there are certainly obvious benefits to being able to produce and consume your own electricity. Especially in places with an unreliable connection to the grid, or areas so remote, there is no consistent grid available, there are definitely good reasons to consider a self-sufficient power system. But as appealing as it may sound, we would not advise this option to most people, unless you truly have no alternative. Generally, the only reason to go off-grid is if your home has no grid connection in the first

Solargain is a large company and uses both internal installers as well as contractors to give our team greater flexibility and make our services available to more homes across Australia. Why do we use both internal installers and contractors? All homes are different, with their own unique characteristics. Our cohort of installers have different skill-sets, some quite specialised and this allows us to schedule the most experienced team with the skill-set most suited to the system being installed on your home. Will my warranty or support be different if my solar is installed by a contractor? It

Solargains’ dedicated service department takes pride in helping all Australians make the most out of their solar investment every day. Local and knowledgeable, our Customer Liaison Officers are always eager to do whatever they can to improve a customers solar experience. This process starts with listening to the issues customers are facing. So, I asked our CLO’s ‘What are the common issues?” Here’s what they had to say. If you would like any further information on any of the issues below our service department are waiting to assist you on 1300 73 93 55. 5. Why is my inverter shutting down?

If you’ve been paying attention to any energy news networks lately, you might have seen a lot of discussion in WA about something called the DEBS, and how it will be replacing something else called the REBS. For the uninitiated, this can seem like just a hot mess of proper nouns and acronyms, so let us take a moment to explain what all this means and how you may be impacted or may be able to benefit from it. What is the REBS The Renewable Energy Buyback Scheme (or REBS) is the current scheme in place for West Australians utilising solar in their homes but not benefitting from an exclusive Feed

Renewable energy and specifically solar energy has been a hot topic of innovation for the last decade and more. Endlessly creative souls come up with new devices, new applications and new uses for solar energy, on top of improving the efficiency and manufacture of more traditional panels and inverters. Read on below to see some of the more recent exciting inventions that have come about. 7. Farming Robots The agricultural sector is one that has always had one of the keenest interests in both automation and renewable technologies. The solar robot is an application of both. All around the world

One of the most pervading questions in our culture today is how far renewable energies can really take us. After all, we’ve relied upon fossil fuels, oils and gas for so long, can renewable energies really meet our big wide world’s ever-growing demand for energy? Yes, it can. That is just an undeniable fact. Every year, the efficiency of panels and solar energy systems improves, and they are being integrated into networks on a larger and larger scale - look no further than Tesla’s giant solar farm in Hawaii for proof on that front - and they’re only set to keep on improving from here. But is

We were lucky enough to get to replace a historic solar energy system, this year. The very first solar energy system that was installed in Victoria, as well as being only the second system Australia-wide, and the second residential system to be grid-connected. It was installed in 1996 and lasted the owners an astonishing 23 years, but eventually, all good things come to an end, and when it came time to replace the system, it was the Solargain team that they turned to, putting their trust in our 20 years experience in the solar energy industry. The original system operated on only a 2 kW array