All things Solar (merged threads)

Stagg · 09-02-2012, 10:56 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Matty4

Without starting a new thread I thought I'd ask a couple of questions here.
Currently looking at a ~5kw system and one company (Energy Matters) as supplied a quote using REC235PE panels and a Sunny Boy SB5000TL inverter for around $13.5K.

Firstly, are these panels and inverters of sound quality?
Secondly, is this a fair price?

I have absolutely no idea when it comes to the technical side of solar, I just know that I need to try and reduce my bills. We currently average bills with between 35 - 40kWh average usage per day.

Cheers,
Matty

I know I'm dominating this thread a little this morning but still haha

As for Energy Matters, as a company they're certainly well-placed. I applied for a few jobs there before, and unless you know someone in the HR department or have a degree, you couldn't get a job there. That said, the founding directors are extremely environmental people with the most inquisitive minds and extremely useful people to know.

REC solar panels, which is their flagship module, is the only PV module in the world which has its manufacturing line entirely carbon neutral, and that's why they choose to sell it, because they're not here just to make money off rebates, they're actually here to help out the environment and be ethical about it.

It is a shame that they hire some pretty hopeless people, but I also blame their quoting system; it's all automated, and the consultants on the other end don't receive proper training on how to use it.

When installations take months at a time, it's quite commonly happened to a few people who bought systems, and sometimes it has been inevitable. In Perth, I had a few customers waiting for a few months because our supplier told us the panels were at the wharf, only to find out 6 weeks later that they just left the factory. No fault of ours, but surely enough I had to put out the fires because of what had happened.

It's a hard industry I'll tell everyone, a complicated, uneducated, and often disorganised industry...