The solar power industry, like all industries, has its own jargon, as well as professional organisations and regulators. Reading about solar energy is like hacking through a strange forest populated with VPPs, STCs, kilowatt hours and gigawatts. Energy Matters’ Australian solar energy glossary is intended to help those looking for simple definitions of commonly used industry terms, policies and organisations.

If you own a solar panel and battery storage system, solar power monitoring questions like the following have probably crossed your mind:

‘Are the panels generating power right now? Is the battery charging? Did the home use mostly grid power or solar power last week? How would I know if it all stopped working?’

Under a program called the Small-scale Renewable Energy Scheme, some properties are eligible to claim for small-scale technology certificates, and this includes solar energy installations.

The current solar power boom is leading to a rise in complaints according to consumer advocate Choice. Solar installation problems may include low quality solar panels and components, and systems that do not work as promised.