All things Solar (merged threads)

[Mack 6]

We recently chucked on a 5kw system on my shed roof. Hated the look of panels on house roof, and shed was prime candidate.

My Uncle and his 2 boys are all sparkies and one does gigs for a solar company so we lined him up (took 5 months as "real" customers got priority).

Basically paid a mates rates price for equipment and cousin did a cashie price with reciept and COC.

We were lucky enough to have all paperwork done prior to Sep 30, so we're getting the full rebate (44c + energy company).
We ran the aircond a fair bit for the little fella last period, and only had the panels up for only half of it, but we still reaped in 150 credit. Cant wait for the next one

[mickyyyy]

Originally Posted by 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)

Yeh they are very expensive piece of gear... and by the time you get your money back at that price is way too long...

I think well jump on the solar band wagon till this BlueGen prices get WAY DOWN!!!

[poppa smurf]

interesting in that it also heats your water....so savings made there as well

if it came down to half it would possibly be attractive

[LOCO XP]

Okay, navigate my bill and hopefully tell me I don't need lasercut billet solar panels on every external surafce of my home and each individual blade of grass with a dynamo attached to the EH and XP...tell me this isn't right:

All seriousness, Origin bill:

Average daily use: 64.0kWh (05 Jul 2011 to 29 Sep 2011)...this time last year 76.1kWh.....

I hear 8kW/h per day from other members??? Yeah, my house is big enough, older house, heater in 2 bedrooms and a split system. Not hardcore by any means, but yes, the bills hurt....lots. by the sounds of things I need a $1Trillion dollar nuclear generator to be self sufficient before our wellmeaning gov't (insert sarcastic mod dodge commentary) does something sustainable to ensure that Australian families can keep their kids warm and their rooms humidified whilst having sterile bottles etc instead of burdening the health system every other week cos we have the most expensive electricity in the world.... give it 12 months at this rate we'll be Priusforums.com

But yes, I am considering solar, but can't see any system being of any use sufficient to to anything but modestly reduce my bill....best optimise in$$$ulation, drink warm beer via shed fridge always turned off, live in the dark, etc.... Seriously though, focused to pay off the mortgage, cut down usage, struggle along and hope for the best. No system in an ideal orientation wrt. pitch, tracking sunlight, self-cleaning, ever-lasting (warranties...pffft)....I am weighing up the costs of forking over the cash to set up a system vs. the costs of owning my house as opposed to copping interest....

Just hope some of my fellow forum members can shed a light of hope to my single-income mortgage bearing high-energy-using predicament

Excuse the negativity, I'm reaching out lol

[Mack 6]

I wish i had my bill in front of me. I have 4br, 3phase shed, air cond and a heap of other stuff, and I don't think my useage is anywhere near that (anything growing in the roof that you don't know about!!)
I have 5kW, and according to solar sites that means I can produce an average of 20 odd kW a day, and we're in credit??

A lot of solar sites will have a calculator. Put in your useage/bill, pick a system and they will calculate roughly how much you should expect to save.
If you decide to go, get as much as you can, we'v heard about energy prices going up, if you can get to a self sufficient state, you'll be in good stead. You won't make money, but by not spending any you'll be better off.
Deciding that solar isn't the best option, go ahead and whack it on the mortgage, google energy efficient home and there are huundreds of sites with tip and tricks. I was spewing that my 2 new tv's and xbox were massive energy consumers, the missus is happy as I pay more attention to her now.

I hope this helps. I might look at my bill tonight and see my exact figures, I still thing 64 a day is massive. That works out to 23000 per year. SA governement site say an "average" 4 person house useage is 8700 to 11200 per year. Barring a hydro setup, you are well above that!

Good luck.

[poppa smurf]

76 to 64 Kw per day is huge.......electric heaters are killers.....reduction is the key for stage one......bottom line we really cant afford to be wasteful as in the old days unless we get another job

insulation stage two ......then look at solar sites to determine the size you need (as recommended above)

drafts are a mongrel and do you really need the second fridge...maybe a smaller more efficient one......my advice, try to reduce

power is a very expensive commodity nowadays and unless we do something about it then it will cripple us in the long run

5 kw should take care of a fair swathe of your bill if not all of it......certainly in summer it will

em solar have specials on at the moment and say they will honour that price even after the guvment withdraws it's funds

my meter was read a couple of days ago so I'm waiting with baited breath to find out how much they owe me now......by my calculations it should be around $500 in credit by now

have a look around and see what you come back with

[deesun]

The first question would have to be, not being too nosey of course, is how on earth do you you use so much electricity? Your bills mist be around $2000 a quarter. One of your problems will be that from what I've heard is getting more than a 5kw inverter approved is much harder, but not impossible. I think you will need a specialist operator rather than the mainstream ones who just want to sell you a package and run away. You are in fact a little lucky at this time because systems are comming down in price as more people are installing. try here http://www.solarquotes.com.au/?gclid...FcIlpAodJ2veLw for info and see what you can come up with. Good luck with it and keep us informed. Also what state are you in Loco?

[LOCO XP]

Appreciate the input Mack and Poppa. Yep, gotta have a serious assessment of our energy use. Gotta find ways to bring it down, in a BIG way. I'll have a thorough trawl through the thread cos the one thing I like about AFF is you get honest advice. Electric heating no doubt is the killer, the beer fridge is turned off except for weekends.... Unused devices off at the switch, but heating is a necessary evil. HWS no doubt needs looking at too. Insulation definitely. I'll keep a thorough eye on our usage, winter is always the killer, summer usage is manageable. 4-5kW is what I've been looking at, just need to work on the way to finance it, utilise the rebates etc. Really only just starting on the adventure, certainly a lot of food for thought. Usage is without a doubt ridiculous, just gotta work on the most cost effective measures to take to cut down.

[LOCO XP]

bills been running anywhere from $600/quarter in summer up to astronomical bill last winter of $1400.... that was a wakeup call and a half... but we are exclusively electric.... no gas or wood fire etc.

[poppa smurf]

yeah! look to be brutally honest I think you have to have an honest look at your usage

cheaper alternatives to heating such as reverse cycle.......beer fridge for emergencies only

take a look at your temp setting in the electric water heat,er, expert advice needed there.....are all your delivery pipes insulated, is the run from the water heater to the shower overly long

as for panels a 5 kilowatt will not take care of all your bill at best it will produce 30 kilowatts per day in central australia, head east or south and this diminishes

given that, I assume, you have your hands full financially already I would not recommend a larger system solely due to cost

reduction plus a mid size system, I think, is the go here

......this will allow you to cut your bills by almost half which will give you a starting point to reduce and save

[LOCO XP]

thanks mate, lots of things to look at. shouldn't be too hard to make a dent in my bill just by being sensible. Not easy when the missus was born in the tropics and does not handle winter at all.... As I said to the missus, it would cost a small fortune to have a system big enough to negate our costs, the best we can do is reduce our expenses wrt usage, and consider a system sufficient to make a dent maybe cutting the bills in half. We don't have energy saver globes, no insulation in the main parts of the roof, HWS hasn't been dialled back, lots of standby appliances etc. Think we need a changed mindset, spend a little bit on upgrading some globes, insulating and just switching a few things off

[poppa smurf]

reduce is always the first and cheapest step.......don't dial the hot water down below 70 degrees.....

it needs this temp to kill bacteria (I think that is the temp that has to be achieved but I'm way open to being corrected here)

when going to energy efficient globes steer clear of the fluro type and go for the L.e.d. type.....they last longer and are not as dangerous if they burst (fluro globes contain mercury)

double insulate the roof space, don't run insulation over the wiring or it may overheat and catch fire and just be sensible with your energy usage......we all have limited finances and cant afford to give it away these days

I left a "1" out of my first response to you, it should read 15kw not "5kw".......my second response is more to the mark

also give your retailer a ring and see if you can get a better deal.....contact a couple of other retailers and compare prices

I saved 6c per kilowatt by doing this as well as a 15% early payment option and a large reduction in supply charge

it pays to shop around

[LOCO XP]

Cheers, yeah I've had a look at the other guys, offering some tempting discounts for paying early, but found this: on the whole I was better off with my current provider without a discount, simply becuase the peak and offpeak rates were better. A quick summary: current first 1000kWh @ 25.036c Balance 27.137...off peak 11.517c/kWh.... But as soon as I find a better deal, for sure, forget all loyalty haha....get this some other guys with their 10-15% early payment and their vouchers and whatnot, on average the first 1000kWh were about 15% higher, balance 20-22% higher, and off peak 25-30% higher (eg 11.517 vs. 14.674c/kWh).... so even if I pay early, my electricity costs more.... I'm sure they get a lot of customers via this deception....

[deesun]

Originally Posted by poppa smurf

don't dial the hot water down below 70 degrees.....

Our house had a Rheem heat bank installed before we bought it. Council are doing inspections of them and solar hot water and were here yesterday. When he checked the temp he said not allowed over 50deg. Ours was 48.8. But he found some very minor defects in the install which the plumber will have to come back and fix.

[poppa smurf]

Originally Posted by deesun

Our house had a Rheem heat bank installed before we bought it. Council are doing inspections of them and solar hot water and were here yesterday. When he checked the temp he said not allowed over 50deg. Ours was 48.8. But he found some very minor defects in the install which the plumber will have to come back and fix.

yeah! not sure about it but from what I've heard 70 deg's were needed to kill the bugs......I reckon it was placed in here as well

our neighbour is a plumber, I'll ask him if I remember

[EgoFG]

Hey Loco
An important Q is What state are you in ?

Also, before I went solar I started to map WHEN I used electricity.
I did this by trying to read my meter every hour.

Some energy providers allow you to have things on "Off Peak" other than Hot Water, if say you heat your house mainly at night, then Off Peak Space heating might be an option.

In NSW, without the 66c feed in, it is more affordable now to get Solar than ever - I could not make the numbers work before the pre June competition from the installers started.

[poppa smurf]

asked the plumber and he put me onto this.....

http://www.actpla.act.gov.au/__data/.../2130/Pn18.pdf

but I don't know much about it......

[LOCO XP]

Originally Posted by EgoFG

Hey Loco
An important Q is What state are you in ?

Also, before I went solar I started to map WHEN I used electricity.
I did this by trying to read my meter every hour.

Some energy providers allow you to have things on "Off Peak" other than Hot Water, if say you heat your house mainly at night, then Off Peak Space heating might be an option.

In NSW, without the 66c feed in, it is more affordable now to get Solar than ever - I could not make the numbers work before the pre June competition from the installers started.

in Vic ego.... still throwing some ideas around. I reckon i can safely turn off the heaters and hot water service now since Julia has given us $104 and promised $2 next july, so we will run on with a warm fuzzy feeling

[deesun]

Originally Posted by poppa smurf

asked the plumber and he put me onto this.....

http://www.actpla.act.gov.au/__data/.../2130/Pn18.pdf

but I don't know much about it......

NSW and QLD,VIC, all abide by 60 in the storage and not more than 50 at the tap. Legionella seems to be the biggy for the 60deg mark. Kids burns for the 50deg mark.

[poppa smurf]

Originally Posted by LOCO XP

in Vic ego.... still throwing some ideas around. I reckon i can safely turn off the heaters and hot water service now since Julia has given us $104 and promised $2 next july, so we will run on with a warm fuzzy feeling

not easy but all you can do is to watch your usage, install insulation and possibly look at a system that will suit you

[sgt_doofey]

I'm thinking about putting in a 1.5kW system at some stage soon to help offset rising electricity costs in our house.
Which companies do people recommend going through? We're in SA.

[PepeLePew]

Originally Posted by sgt_doofey

I'm thinking about putting in a 1.5kW system at some stage soon to help offset rising electricity costs in our house.
Which companies do people recommend going through? We're in SA.

Ditto Sam for us in Gawler, the wife and I were just discussing this morning putting in a 5kW and there are so many ppl pushing this stuff it's hard to see the trees in that there forest.

[poppa smurf]

I used EM solar......busy as buggery when I had it installed so the sales team weren't up to it but apart from that they were very good

no complaints about the system or install whatsoever

[deesun]

Originally Posted by PepeLePew

Ditto Sam for us in Gawler, the wife and I were just discussing this morning putting in a 5kW and there are so many ppl pushing this stuff it's hard to see the trees in that there forest.

Originally Posted by sgt_doofey

I'm thinking about putting in a 1.5kW system at some stage soon to help offset rising electricity costs in our house.
Which companies do people recommend going through? We're in SA.

Good info here http://www.solarquotes.com.au/indexQ...FSRKpgodrzl7rA

[MNM96]

Ergon came yesterday to fit the Smart Meter, which enables me to start getting paid for the feed in.

Got my last ever electricity bill last week.

[DJL351]

Jebus Loco; that some serious usage....

In days gone by, we hit an average of 35 units a day.

Computers were on 24/7 (4 desktops and a lappy)
Clothes dyer twice a day.
2 fridges
Elect oven
400L Fish tank
Too many TVs, stereos, playstations etc.

We've stopped using the dyer.
Fridges where turned down as they were both set really high (stuff at the back was always freezing)
Computers are off when not being used.
All the house lights upgraded to low power versions (and switched off until really needed)
Minimal use of oven - if it is used, we make the most of it by cooking/baking as much and as quick as possible. (not used for warming and grill not used etc)

With all that we clawed back to just over 20 units average, even in summer with the Evap running.
With the solar now, our average is 10 units.
(Still two fridges and 4/5 computers, tvs etc)


On the other side of the coin, a very good friend with a 2/3 year old house - full reverse/recyled air, fancy downlights etc etc - is hitting over 40 units a day as an average.

Have a look at the little things, not just the 'big' items.
Check the seals on the fridges, check your lights, use what natural light you can to light/heat during the day and then close it all down in the late afternoon to try and lock the warmth in.
Rug up as it starts to get cold, not when you feel like you are freezing - little stuff like that will help steal back some of those units from those greedy sods.

* I was born in Para and lived my youth in Newman, where a cold night was 19 deg so I completely understand the need to feel warm factor.
Now, I hate the heat.....

[LOCO XP]

Good advice there DJL351.... I'm hearing ya mate! Dredged the filing cabinet to look at the evolution of our power bill. Lowest daily use was 23.8kWh in Mar 2007 (although technically invalid as we weren't living in the house for the full billing period,).... so more accurate usage for Summer-Autumn looks to be around 28-32kWh, clearly Winter is our killer which cranks up anywhere from 57-78kWh per day.... July 2010 looked to be onto something but NFI how it was only 32.7kWh avg daily use.... Most recent bill says 33.85kWh for 1st Jan to 30th Mar....

...So over the last couple days did a quick energy audit. Shed: Mini-stereo is on 24/7, as too is the "jukebox" desktop PC....might need to farewell use of the 1950s Pope beer fridge to party use only....

Heating: winter sees us using 2000W NOBO panel heaters in 2 bedrooms on average 10 hours/night set at ~15degrees. LG split system gets a fair workout running at 22-24degrees and all during peak hour use....

Insulation: climbed in the roof, it is insulated but lots of gaps and only single layer. Corrugated iron roof, new sections have foil/mesh lining, but the insulation job is a little hit and miss.

Lighting: Kitchen has 10 50W halogen downlights for a start.... looking at LEDs but without being a lighting expert theres so many options, so more research needed there. Need to look at eficient globes for the rest of the house, and pretty certain those IXL tastics in the bathroom would chew more than a little bit but dont know if much can be done there....

So it looks to be a lot of little 1% changes needed, battle through this winter, at least until we can get our average use down. At this stage it's gonna be difficult to finance solar, no doubt it will help cut usage down, I just need to crunch some numbers and work out where my dollars make the most impact. I hate giving my money away to anybody as it gets in the way of spoiling the missus and buying toys for the kids and myself. But to be honest I hold the banks with the greatest contempt, interest on the mortgage is still the biggest hit to the back pocket, and we've got it pretty damn good at the moment.

Just don't know which way to hedge my bets, it has seriously got me stumped. Weighing up the fact that ridiculous power bills are hindering progress on the mortgage, and that paying off a system will add additional costs to our household budget....even though in the end it will pay itself off and offset the rising costs.... but what will interest rates do over the next 5-10 years, and that my intention at this stage is to knock as much off debt and not ad more debt before the going gets tough....

If nothing else this thread has certainly taught me a thing or two and I appreciate al the input, it has surely got me taking a hard look at our usage, I'm gonna be studying the meter a little more closely.

The number crunching, power saving and meter watching continues....

[poppa smurf]

you're doing well and if you can at least fathom where the power is going and start on reduction in areas of less importance then I think you may regain a little.....

I think at this stage of your life reduction is the only way to go.......as the funds free up a little in the future maybe then look into solar

the last thing you need right now is....as you say....another debt load.....

we raised two kiddies under a single income and my son is doing the same....his burdens are greater than mine ever were under the modern conditions

not easy but keep at it!

[ute83]

Are you paying for the neighbours electricity Loco? No extension cords going to next door? You really needed to be in the solar game mid last year as the feed in was 66 cents per kw, now 25 cents. Any system will help but won't be as good as last year.

[LOCO XP]

Originally Posted by ute83

Are you paying for the neighbours electricity Loco? No extension cords going to next door? You really needed to be in the solar game mid last year as the feed in was 66 cents per kw, now 25 cents. Any system will help but won't be as good as last year.

Haha, its possible, the neighbour is buying toys at a faster rate than I am.... new Hilux, WR450F.... but I think he likes debt more than me, so probably not...

With regard to the feed in tariffs, if you got in early, do you still get paid the 66c, or does everybody now get the 25c? I wouldn't say I really needed to be in last year, in simple terms my finances couldn't afford it, my usage would have made the exercise somewhat futile, but yes the 66c tariffs would have certainly expediated the pay-off time.

As for getting in last year, anecdotal evidence and a foggy memory seems to look like the setups were somewhat more expensive, now that there is an abundance of people setting up, even at a lower feed in rate, the setups look quite affordable, also theres no shortage of competition. I wonder how the prices will look after the rebates dry up? Looking at how LPG systems went through the roof when rebates kicked off, the price of LPG also going up, it all leaves me a bit skeptical.

But time will tell, my imagination pictures a lot of unsold systems once the rebates disappear, thats just my skeptical view on a government (de)-regulated sector....