Here’s a statistic that will make Australian solar installers green with envy, or at least cry in frustration. The average margin for a rooftop solar installation in the United States market is 40 per cent. In Australia, some installers are struggle to get into double figures.

Spring has sprung. And with it comes the peak pollen season and a warning that Canberrans who own rooftop solar panels need to stay vigilant about cleaning them, an Australian National University expert says.

Two years ago, NSW solar installer Geoff Bragg had a vision. “Imagine a system where one customer could sell energy to another customer, via the Distribution Network Service Provider, who ‘clips the ticket’ for transferring the energy,” he wrote in an article published on RenewEconomy in March 2014.

There’s 1.5 million Australian households with solar PV on their roof, but how many actually understand what’s their, what it’s doing, and if it’s working. And how many understand the best way to get value from their investment.