Image credit: Kdec on Instagram

Australia’s bushfires are now global news and aside from the immediate impact of the firefronts, there are now serious flow-on consequences as a result of the smoke.

Ironically, the smoke is so bad now, that solar installers, like Kdec Electrical and Solar in Albury Wodonga, are now limiting installations while the air quality is so bad.

Converting the energy generation of our homes to renewables is an important element of reducing our emissions. The smoke issue is two-fold. For those who already have solar on their roof, the blanket of smoke causes less energy to be collected and dirty rain causes the panels to be coated in a thin film that further reduces the capacity of the PV panels to collect power.

The other important issue is the air quality and understandably companies like Kdec have the health of their employees in mind and are limiting their exposure.

All of this works against the goals of the Victorian Government’s Solar Home Program, which provides homeowners assistance to get them to buy into solar.

With power prices set to rise again in Victoria, collecting free energy from the sun is an important opportunity to save money and the environment at the same time.

After building our family home around 3 years ago, then purchasing an EV last year (Tesla Model 3), its now time to focus on adding solar to the roof of our family home (would also love to add a Powerwall 2).

I requested quotes to put solar on our house in December. The demand at the time meant the earliest I could get a quote (from companies like Kdec) was January 10th.

While the quote will likely still go ahead as expected this Friday, I now expect the installation to be delayed. This is unfortunate given every house that can generate its own electricity, reduces demand on the grid and therefore reduces the emissions required to supply homes around the country.