All things Solar (merged threads)

[poppa smurf]

Originally Posted by XD 351 Ute

Got my Ergon paperwork in the mail late last week, just gotta fill it out and send it back, and then it's install time.

Ed

details mate.....details.....you dont get away that easy!!

[supershifty]

I've recently had a 2.3kw system installed. I currently (bad pun!) use around 3.5kw per day, and the system generates 10kw on an average day. I haven't had my first power bill yet, but I think I'll be happy when I get it. The system cost me $3600 after govt rebate. I think the money outlaid will generate (another bad pun!) more than the interest gained sitting in my bank account. Still, it's a matter of horses for courses!

[poppa smurf]

hell 3.5 kw usage per day.....wish i could get the household down to that.....best I can get to is about 8 KW

how did you get on with your feed in tariff?.....what sort of cents per kilowatt are you receiving.....I assume you signed up after the september 2011 deadline

the only reason i ask is that I had a visit from an AGL salesman the other day....obviously seen my array and said he would pay me .52c per kilowatt......this offer was made without knowing how long my array had been up

this got me wondering if the retailers are still offering the deals that were present before the september cutoff

I know there is great competitiveness within the retailer industry just now......each one outbidding the other to gain the consumer dollar

oh! and welcome to the forum by the way!

[supershifty]

Hey Poppa, ta for the welcome brother. I'm only using that little power cos I live alone and run minimal appliances! Hot water & stove is natural gas though! (I'm a Nazi on power consumption) I'm in Brisbane and pay 21c/kw for power consumed (AGL). I think the feed back in to the grid pays me back 51c/kw. I purposely chose the 2.3kw system because it would hypothetically generate 3 times the power of what I use. That was my theory - I hope I'm right. 4 years ago I was paying around $40 per quarter for roughly the same power use, now I'm paying $110! (non solar) I bought what I could best afford when I went solar. I got a lot of my questions answered from this site: solarquotes.com.au This is a good site, but a little difficult to navigate around.

[poppa smurf]

well done.....you did everything right and will now reap the rewards

I know what you mean on being a "nazi" on power consumption......turning a bit that way myself

this day and age I can see no reason to give all our money to multinational company's

much better to conserve a little and have a few luxuries

there is a lot of info available on the interweb.....glad to see you did a bit of research!

[deesun]

Originally Posted by poppa smurf

this day and age I can see no reason to give all our money to multinational company's much better to conserve a little and have a few luxuries

Tell that to the Mrs will you. I come home at night and every light is on in the house, every room she has been in, GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR

[poppa smurf]

yeah! makes it a bit hard!........but we got to keep them happy or I find my life gets miserable......for some reason they are intertwined!

[JBomb3000]

I signed up on a 3.2kw system last week, not as big as i wanted to put on but space was the limiting factor. Still should help make a decent sized dent in my current power bill.

[DJR David]

Getting my new system installed tomorrow. Will post the results of $ when I get them

[deesun]

Originally Posted by DJR David

Getting my new system installed tomorrow. Will post the results of $ when I get them

Originally Posted by JBomb3000

I signed up on a 3.2kw system last week, not as big as i wanted to put on but space was the limiting factor. Still should help make a decent sized dent in my current power bill.

Keep us informed on your installs fellas. How long, did they tidy, on time etc and the company of course.

[poppa smurf]

Originally Posted by deesun

Keep us informed on your installs fellas. How long, did they tidy, on time etc and the company of course.

Originally Posted by DJR David

Getting my new system installed tomorrow. Will post the results of $ when I get them

yep!......happy days indeed.....

as stated please pass on the particulars......good info is good for all!

[XD 351 Ute]

Originally Posted by poppa smurf

details mate.....details.....you dont get away that easy!!

Hehe, not too much to tell really, not untl she goes up on the roof.
I just spoke to the man in charge of the group I'm dealing with, and sorted out payment etc.
He reckons I'll have my 5kw system paid off in about 2.5 years..
I don't use a lot of power, and the reason for getting the big system is quite simple.

Do it once.

The way I see it is that I know I will use more power once I get my shed hooked up, and would LOVE to get that lounge air-conned.
So by getting in and getting it paid off as soon as I can will only make things easier down the track.

Thanks to all for posting in this thread, especially to you Poppa Smurf for your discussions, also to Dave in Miriam Vale for your help.

Forms are on their way to Ergon, and my system should be here and in by the end of the month.

Ed

[poppa smurf]

ah! no dramas......it's a good thread,.....plenty of info in here from a lot of folks......which is all good

paid off in 2.5 years.....gotta be happy with that!....

mine will take around 6 maybe 7.....doesn't matter...no more power bills for me

keep us up to date mate with all details!

[bartaxr8]

Well I just ordered my system. I am getting a 3.5kw system (14 X 250W panels), with a 5kw inverter. I live in West Gippsland, which is zone 4. I paid $6,500 with a 25 year performance warranty on the panels and a 10 year warranty on the inverter.

[poppa smurf]

good price mate.....basically the same system as mine (size wise) but half the price

[mickyyyy]

Does anyone know anything about BlueGen???

http://www.bluegen.info/

[poppa smurf]

supposed to be pretty good.....a bit of a write up about them in here back a few pages

I recall reading that the generation side cost about 20c per kilowatt or similar

if the pollies drop the subsidies it may be something that I would look into!

[Barnaby]

Interesting article for anyone who's a bit of a sceptic on the impact of renewable energy.

http://reneweconomy.com.au/2012/why-...of-solar-44279

[EgoFG]

Some updated Stats on my 11*190kw system in NW Sydney.
The panels are facing 30 degrees to the west of Due north, on a typical 1970's Tiled roof (23 degree pitch)
I have over the last 49 days generated 381,106 W/h which is just under 7.8 kWh per day.
Assuming these 49 days to be average I have about a 4year 10 month payback on investment. (I am realistically expecting payback in about 4 years).

There is an interesting notch in the generation graph at 8:45 where the generation plateaus for about 15 minutes - gotta look at this - is seems to be at a fairly constant time even though the sunrise time has varied over the time I have had it. It is only really discernible on clear days - it is not at a consistent output level either I have seen it happen at 500w and as high as 750.
I am looking for large Birds tmw morning !

[poppa smurf]

Originally Posted by Barnaby

Interesting article for anyone who's a bit of a sceptic on the impact of renewable energy.

http://reneweconomy.com.au/2012/why-...of-solar-44279

I've read a bit of this and have bookmarked it for later....a lot of info in there to digest......thanks for the link!

Originally Posted by EgoFG

Some updated Stats on my 11*190kw system in NW Sydney.
The panels are facing 30 degrees to the west of Due north, on a typical 1970's Tiled roof (23 degree pitch)
I have over the last 49 days generated 381,106 W/h which is just under 7.8 kWh per day.
Assuming these 49 days to be average I have about a 4year 10 month payback on investment. (I am realistically expecting payback in about 4 years).

There is an interesting notch in the generation graph at 8:45 where the generation plateaus for about 15 minutes - gotta look at this - is seems to be at a fairly constant time even though the sunrise time has varied over the time I have had it. It is only really discernible on clear days - it is not at a consistent output level either I have seen it happen at 500w and as high as 750.
I am looking for large Birds tmw morning !

pretty good figures there.......intriguing to find out what the "gap" would be.......your production will jump significantly in summer as the sun rises higher......mine doubles

four years is a very good payback time is this covering all your power bill or most of it?

[deesun]

Originally Posted by Barnaby

Interesting article for anyone who's a bit of a sceptic on the impact of renewable energy.

http://reneweconomy.com.au/2012/why-...of-solar-44279

Considering the number of posts there has been very little in the way of scepticism of solar power. If and when the FIT's finish most getting in now will probably have their system paid for. Strange for this forum not to have anyone arguing the point but the heading was asking for those who have gone solar as opposed to one which may ask for the cost benefits of same. The LPG forum is rife with doubters and when the price increased recently they all went na na ne na na but have since been a bit quiet as petrol increased and LPG decreased.
Anyway I am happy with my solar.

[poppa smurf]

I agree.....by the time my solar has paid itself off it will owe me nothing so I will lose nothing if I scrap it and replace it with "new" technology

there are many new generating systems waiting for power prices to go through the roof and cost of production to come down......one will suit my needs

time will tell which i choose but I will never go back to power companies again

[Barnaby]

For those wondering why our power bills are going up, why Australian state & federal governments are rolling back solar incentives, why off-peak is under pressure...its all there...the data from Europe has got generators running scared and they are lobbying HARD.

It doesn't help when your state is busted *** and they still own the power generation I suppose (NSW)

[xisled]

Originally Posted by Barnaby

For those wondering why our power bills are going up, why Australian state & federal governments are rolling back solar incentives, why off-peak is under pressure...its all there...the data from Europe has got generators running scared and they are lobbying HARD.

It doesn't help when your state is busted *** and they still own the power generation I suppose (NSW)

The reason why most Tariffs have now been reduced, is that when the Gov put these agreements into place they put a cap in place.

Most caps have now been reached. Hence the lower buy back for most states.

[poppa smurf]

just looking at the "bluegen" systems......

http://www.harveynormancommercial.co...rGenerator.pdf

hmmm! $40,000.00 for 2 kilowatts.....bit steep for me at the moment! they will come down ( I hope)

[MNM96]

Originally Posted by EgoFG

I am looking for large Birds tmw morning !

I don't know about the morning, but you may find some of an evening serving drinks at your local.

[EgoFG]

Originally Posted by poppa smurf

pretty good figures there.......intriguing to find out what the "gap" would be.......your production will jump significantly in summer as the sun rises higher......mine doubles

four years is a very good payback time is this covering all your power bill or most of it?

Yeah, my estimates based on the first week were under 4 years. But no averages are realistic until the first full year of operation.

At the moment this is covering about 40% of my energy cost.
This is because I have actually sold back 140kWh at 6cents - net metering is a learning thing.

The Watson Meter is helping me to decide when to put the dishwasher on and stuff like that so I expect I will be able to improve the payback as I learn when I am producing more than I use.

I would love some kind of a buffer battery system that holds the peaks, and feeds back later - If I could store everything over my consumption and use it at night I would be abe to turn that 140kWh sale at 6c into a saving of 26c.

Hopefully this shows my 8:45 bump

http://www.fordforums.com.au/photos/...hp?photo=59402

[Mad_Pom]

Do you have something that shadows one or more of the panels with the sun at that angle?

I went to a solar seminar a couple of days ago and apparently a shadow on one panel of a string of panels effects the output of all. If you have a stink pipe or tree that shadows the panels, then see what you can do to more it.

Just a suggestion, based on a little knowledge - no expert.

[EgoFG]

Yeah, Pom, I did consider that - I can see nothing. And it seems to be fixed in time, not tied to sunrise.

Some more figures and I might disprove my theory there.

I was guessing it might be more closely tied to the thermal efficiency of the panels, or the capacity efficiency of the inverter.
...or maybe the Qantas flight schedule ;-)

[poppa smurf]

Originally Posted by Mad_Pom

Do you have something that shadows one or more of the panels with the sun at that angle?

I went to a solar seminar a couple of days ago and apparently a shadow on one panel of a string of panels effects the output of all. If you have a stink pipe or tree that shadows the panels, then see what you can do to more it.

Just a suggestion, based on a little knowledge - no expert.

you are dead right there....one half of one panel in shadow takes out far more than it's equal in production

I was just doing a bit of research on how to ditch the grid and came up with a thing called a "router"

apparently takes the input from the panels and charges a set of batteries which then powers the house

the grid is used only as backup for bad production days

anyone know anything about these??