If you are outside of this area, we may still be able to help you – check our service area description under Electrical Services for Central Coast, Hills District & Northern Sydney.

For on-site service, indicative over the phone quote for simple jobs, and emergency repairs, then call Greenforce Energy:

Mobile Service 0422 527 605 / Office 02 9557 1648

In addition to electrical work, we also provide solar installations in the Calga, Peats Ridge and Brooklyn areas. Because all of our staff have home solar systems, we know what you will get out of a solar panel in Calga & Peats Ridge.

Note the number for Central Coast Christmas electrical emergencies – 02 9557 1648

Greenforce Energy is an electrical contractor (244836C) providing both solar and general electrical services. We provide solar across Sydney, Central Coast & Lake Macquarie areas. Our electrical service is focused on Calga, Peats Ridge, Castle Hill, Berowra, Asquith, Hornsby, Castle Hill, Hills District, North Sydney, Marrickville, Gosford & Central Coast areas.

You can contact Greenforce for electrical jobs big and small, from fans in summer to garden lighting for spring BBQs. We specialise in providing low energy solutions whilst preserving lifestyle.

In the announcement from Q-Cells, the company advised that it had reached new conversion efficiency records for boy poly and ‘quasi-mono’ solar modules.   A traditional 60 cell poly module format, using Q-Cells own proprietary ‘Q.ANTUM’ cell concept has been verified externally as having reached 18.5% module efficiency, up from a high that Q-Cells claimed it had achieved of 18.1% in 2011.

Importantly, these acheivements are readily duplicated in the production-ready plant in Thalheim, Germany.

Large ‘name brand’ solar companies continue to dominate the research efforts of the solar industry.

Greenforce Energy retails the Q-Cells thin film modules, as well as Q-Cells cells within Tindo modules.

Frameless First Solar panels

Just over thirty days since Suntech Power announced it had passed 5 gigawatts (GW) of solar panel production, upstart First Solar announced it has also passed the benchmark.

First Solar reached the historic 5GW production tally on November 17, 2011. By way of reference, the five GW capacity is twice that of Bayswater power station in NSW.

Interestingly, it achieved the jump from 4GW to 5GW in just a few short months, having passed the 4GW point in early June. Beginning production in 2002, this rapid growth has seen the company grow into a solar industry behemoth that now boasts 36 production lines on three continents.

Whilst First Solar is finding it harder to compete with silicon panels now that the price of poly-silicon is at record lows, the company has many large utility scale orders on the books. The achievement of the benchmark by two companies shows just how far the industry has come in the last five years.

Whilst First Solar panels are not usually employed in residential settings, Greenforce Energy recommends Schott Solar ASI and Schuco panels as thin film alternatives.

We’re pleased to introduce our new, simpler solar quotations form in this post.

If you are looking to start saving money whilst helping the environment, you can use the form below to request a free solar site assessment.

You can ask our consultants any question you like about solar power – they’re not salespeople, but dedicated engineers and electricians, trained to put your needs first. You’ll also get a careful assessment of your home’s solar potential. Our privacy policy protects your personal data, which we treat carefully.

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Thankyou, we look forward to working with you.

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Schott Solar wins again!

Schott Solar killed the competition in the most recent PV+ Test. Find more details on the award winning solar panels at our Schott Solar page or contact us today to discuss moving your project forward with Schott solar modules.

Sanyo Solar Panels

Sanyo HIT are the leading solar panel on the market in terms of efficiency and temperature response, combined with compatibility. HIT panels are suitable for installations with space constraints, or where it is desired to showcase leading technology.

Dew collectors in the desert

With news today that Australian scientist Edward Linacre has one the Dyson award for innovation,  we embark on another short journey in our series on bio-mimicry.

Edward’s invention is unlike most previous ‘plant mimicking’ water collection efforts, in that his inspiration was a desert beetle that collects dew off its back with a unique cellular structure. Plant mimicking devices typically feature a large fan type funnel structure, such as illustrated in the picture on the left.

His inspiration, the Namib Desert Beetle lives in one of the driest places on earth – just 40mm of rain per year. When late evening due or early morning fog offers a hint of moisture, the beetle is in for a drink – thanks to the amazing surface on its back.

The concept of this surface is simple: when mist or fog is blown across the desert beetle’s surface, miniature water droplets just 15-20 microns in diameter begin to condense on the tiny lumps on its back. Surrounding the tiny lumps are waxy water-repelling ridges (this type of coating is known as a hydrophobic coating – solar panels have this too!). When there is enough water to form droplet, it rolls down a ridge… right into the beetle’s thirsty mouth.

With Edward’s device, the Airdrop, water molecules are sucked from dry air, and then pumped through a network of underground pipes, subsequently chilling them in the process so the moisture condenses into water. From there, it settles at the roots of the plants above. 

Whilst Edward’s product is unique, he shares this source of inspiration with MIT scientists Robert Cohen and Michael Rubner, who were also were inspired the Namib Desert Beetle after reading a 2001 article in the journal Nature.  They have created a special material that can capture and control minuscule quantities of water. Their newly designed product combines a superhydrophilic (water-attracting) region with a surrounding superhydrophobic (water-repelling) surface (to allow the water to run-off, once condensed). 

Several other water saving devices are around, which use dew collecting ideas idea mentioned as long ago as 1965 in the classic Sci Fi Dune. Illustrated above is one such device used in Israel to collect moisture in the desert, and to concentrate that moisture locally around the plant.

See our related Greenforce Knowledge Base article answering the question why does dew form?

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Julia Gillard via news.com.au

Solar Power News Sydney – November 8, 2011

The federal parliament of Australia has passed historic carbon tax legislation, including a package of compensation measures for households to assist with the transition to a low carbon economy, such as by employing energy efficiency, wind, and solar power.

Speaking on the passing of the legislation, the Gillard Labor government declared a principled victory for a “historic economic reform” today after the upper house of the national parliament -the Senate –  eventually voted through the carbon tax package.

These laws and the commentary around them have created political havoc for nearly four years and have been a topic of discussion for more than a decade. Labor minority government won the historic Senate vote 36 to 32, after opposition attempts to delay passing of the laws.

Labor and the Australian Greens combined to pass the detailed package of 18 “Clean Energy Future” bills just after noon today, to standing applause from the packed public galleries.

Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/environment/climate-change/senate-passes-carbon-tax-20111108-1n4p1.html#ixzz1d4qLJYyf
 

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It’s no secret that the Greenforce Solar team have been solar cheerleaders for a long time, so it has been exciting to watch solar cell efficiency creep up bit by bit over the years. Simply put, the efficiency increase means less area is required, with lower associated costs like labour, transport and racks.

This time it is different – a quantum leap in solar cell efficiency

November 7 – The team at Sharp Solar now have a verified 36.9% efficiency for lab cells (tested by an independent team at Japan’s National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology).

This compares to the UNSW ‘factory’ record of 19.3 percent efficiency reached in May for a mass-produced, crystalline silicon solar cell – with most cells on the market as part of solar panels being much lower, between 13% ~ 18%. Clearly, these cells are orders of magnitude more efficient than cells on the market. Coal, we’re coming for you..

The efficiency record was reached using a proprietary triple-junction compound solar cell, in which the solar cell has a stacked three-layer structure. An example of a stacked panel on the market is the SANYO HIT, also available through Greenforce Energy. The challenge now becomes ‘how do we make these panels on an industrial scale’. Unfortunately, standard crystalline solar cells continue to dominate the market.

Where to from here ?

• Read the full press release on Sharp Solar Panels.
• Visit the Sharp HQ webpage
• Get a quote on a home solar power system using the latest technology

Now, we’re learning from the behaviour of bees in the wild (so-called independent swarm logic) to control air-conditioning ‘switch-on’ times. 

Left to their own devices, air-conditioning units, headers and blowers will turn on according to thermostat control – that is, a lot of units will turn on once it gets too hot or cold. Naturally, this causes a simultaneous peak in demand – and this has consequences for billing and the network.

Regen Energy has developed a system that can use swarm logic to reduce peak electrical demand by up to 30% in commercial properties and allow for effective scheduling of electrical loads. Like bees, its swarm logic centres on the idea that each unique point or node makes a decision based on what it knows about the actions of the group. Instead of the usual case of everything turning on at once, the units are aware of what the other units are doing and ‘choose’ to come on early or later in a kind of relay, to avoid high peaks. Read more at the Regen energy link above.