All things Solar (merged threads)

[rjk74]

The Missus just signed up to have a 5.0kw system installed next month, on the installation diagram it shows the inverter to be fixed next to the meter box at the side of our house. Just wondering do these things get pinched very often or would it be to hard to steel once its attached to the brick wall.

[supershifty]

Originally Posted by rjk74

The Missus just signed up to have a 5.0kw system installed next month, on the installation diagram it shows the inverter to be fixed next to the meter box at the side of our house. Just wondering do these things get pinched very often or would it be to hard to steel once its attached to the brick wall.

I've never heard of inverters being stolen - they are hardwired in. That doesn't mean it's never happened before. I got my inverter installed inside my house, not because I was worried about theft, just because I wanted it out of the weather - at no extra cost. Your Mrs may have other ideas about interior decor though!

[XD 351 Ute]

Originally Posted by genebaby

The way I see it is I've prepaid my electricity for the four or five years it will take to pay the system back, and after that it's all sweet.

Then, when systems are so much cheaper/better I'll add on or replace it all.

That's pretty well how I looked at it.
I've had a few comments from people saying that I must be rich to be able to afford the solar.
My answer was that I'd worked out my power usage & paid for the next 20 years up front.
They still don't get it.....

Ed

[davenl5l]

yeah i said to my mate that the $400 a qtr that i pay for power now pays for my solar instead until its paid off then its all free his reply after the blank look on his face was...but you are still paying for it!! and this mate has an iq aproaching genius level

[poppa smurf]

Originally Posted by rjk74

The Missus just signed up to have a 5.0kw system installed next month, on the installation diagram it shows the inverter to be fixed next to the meter box at the side of our house. Just wondering do these things get pinched very often or would it be to hard to steel once its attached to the brick wall.

they can and do get stolen......panels as well......there was a spate just a bit further north of us and another in Port Lincoln where the whole systems were removed by persons unknown and sold onto the black market at a much reduced cost

the only thing to be done, and it is a small thing, is to look into non reversible screws or fastenings that, once in place, break off so that they cannot be undone

if you are in an area of high risk, wherever that may be

Originally Posted by XD 351 Ute

That's pretty well how I looked at it.
I've had a few comments from people saying that I must be rich to be able to afford the solar.
My answer was that I'd worked out my power usage & paid for the next 20 years up front.
They still don't get it.....

Ed

rather pay for solar than to continue paying overseas investors.....a lot of folks will actually blame you for power rises

I figure just let them think what they will as the bills continue to rise

Originally Posted by davenl5l

yeah i said to my mate that the $400 a qtr that i pay for power now pays for my solar instead until its paid off then its all free his reply after the blank look on his face was...but you are still paying for it!! and this mate has an iq aproaching genius level

hard to change a mind when it is set in one direction......I've changed a heap and still changing more but there is a lot of "misinformation" out there put in place by major corporations and government bodies

[rjk74]

Originally Posted by rjk74

The Missus just signed up to have a 5.0kw system installed next month, on the installation diagram it shows the inverter to be fixed next to the meter box at the side of our house. Just wondering do these things get pinched very often or would it be to hard to steel once its attached to the brick wall.

Thanks for the comments, might see if they'll put it in the garage or within our back yard.

[poppa smurf]

from memory I think the inverter must be placed on the same structure as the solar array

I.E. array on house roof then inverter must also be placed on house structure

I think that is correct!

[poppa smurf]

well I received the new rates from Lumo......some good news some bad

works out I will be paying roughly $0.32c compared to $0.23c last month

supply charge has gone from $0.51c per day to $0.72

(not a bad rise thanks Julia!!)

the only good thing to come from it is that my Feed in tariff has gone from $0.51c per kilowatt (or thereabouts) to $0.59

[xisled]

I thought the retailer I work for rates went up high. That a massive increase in S.A.

But the Feed in Tariff went up which is good.

[poppa smurf]

I'm still crunching the numbers but it looks like we will be losing a bit of our credit but still be in front

cant win with the mongrels.......I reckon what will end up happening is they will do the same as water here.....there will be a supply charge and a "minimum usage" charge

bluegen is looking more atractive

[davenl5l]

1st longer day with full sun here on spencer gulf made 18.75 kwh woo hoo very happy

[poppa smurf]

yep!.....gone from $2.00 per day down to $4.00 per day ahead.......

warmer nights mean no heater and long warm days mean plenty of generative solar

problem is we are now entering "BARBECUE SEASON" when all the bludgers come around and scoff my tucker

[davenl5l]

as long as they bring beer and lots of it

[comagutsa]

yeah my 3kw system has jump up from when it was fitted in the middle of june ...only doing about 10kwh a day to now doing just under 13kwh a day

bring on summer i want to see what peek will be

[poppa smurf]

my guess will be 20 kilowatts!

even 10 per day is not bad! .......given it was winter

[comagutsa]

Originally Posted by poppa smurf

my guess will be 20 kilowatts!

even 10 per day is not bad! .......given it was winter

dam really, that high
thought id be lucky to get 15kilowatts out of it thats how much i know

still waiting for my 1st bill with my excess selling for 7c a unit bloody joke synergy WA, but still been trying to use most of my power durning the day while im making it to bring my bill down ..time will tell

[poppa smurf]

no ......you can pretty much count on 6 hours per day as an average over the spring/summer/autumn

mid summer is the area where you will get 20kw's I reckon

7c is ludicrous.......unfair at the lowest level when they sell for the high rate

[irish2]

Originally Posted by poppa smurf

rather pay for solar than to continue paying overseas investors.....a lot of folks will actually blame you for power rises

I figure just let them think what they will as the bills continue to rise

They will be partly right too. The generators still have to run for the peak load time (5pm-9pm). Therefore during the day when all of this extra power is being generated, it is simply wasted.

[DJR02]

Gotta love these long sunny days in Queensland, my 7kw's of panels and 5kw inverter are currently making 38-39kwh per day.

[deesun]

Originally Posted by DJR02

Gotta love these long sunny days in Queensland, my 7kw's of panels and 5kw inverter are currently making 38-39kwh per day.

Your meter must be on 5 almost all day. Mine is 6 on a 5 inv and mine is on 4.3 most days.

[EgoFG]

Originally Posted by irish2

....Therefore during the day when all of this extra power is being generated, it is simply wasted.

Unless there is some magical way for the electricity manufacturers to figure out the demand, and the solar production, and then reduce the generation during the day - saving the coal for the night time generation.


Interestingly the March 2010 NSW figures from AEMO give a fairly flat peak from about 9-5 - Solar would be a very good match for meeting much of that need.

[poppa smurf]

theres been a lot of debate and number crunching from deep thinkers about whether solar is driving up power prices.....the consensus has been a resounding no

the figures show that savings made during the daylight hours resulting in shutting down or at least idling mainstream generators more than make up for "peak" times......there is absolutely no valid reason for power companies to hike up the cost of supplying electricity based on a solar argument

there has "supposedly" been many studies made into the cost of power, particularly in south australia, that consistently show the actual charges made do NOT reflect the actual cost of power generation

I am yet to see ANY of these findings put into practice

anyone "north of the border" would have to love solar wouldn't they.....all that sunshine

we do pretty well here but you would tack another hour or so on ours....lucky buggers

[davenl5l]

in the paper today they said consumpsion in sa is down 10% in the last 12 months and they estimate 5years before they need to build more gennerative capacity the say it is because of the popularity of solar( i think it was 10% could be more i gave my paper away) because its sa you can bet that (a) poor pensioners are not using heaters is part of the reason and (b) if they need capacity in 5 years they will start to build in 7 or 8 years

[poppa smurf]

my wife works in the health industry......she sees everyday where pensioners and those unable to pay are going cold just to save a quid

Joy Baluch (spelling, sorry Joy!)......is pushing for a solar thermal system for Port Augusta to replace the knackered coal fired playford power station

it would be good to see but I bet the powers that be go with gas fired

[irish2]

Originally Posted by EgoFG

Unless there is some magical way for the electricity manufacturers to figure out the demand, and the solar production, and then reduce the generation during the day - saving the coal for the night time generation.


Interestingly the March 2010 NSW figures from AEMO give a fairly flat peak from about 9-5 - Solar would be a very good match for meeting much of that need.

If you actually understood the sheer size of the generators, then you would understand it can take weeks to speed them up and slow them down. It isn't a backyard honda 4 stroke.

[Tha Jack]

Great Thread Guys with heaps of useful info. I spent the last few hours reading it from the beginning.
I just got a quote for a 4kw system with 16 x 195w panels from United Energy in VIC using Blueline Solar MI Inverter and panels for $21985
Just about fell out me chair when he quoted that!!!
Will definitely be doing a bit more shopping around.

Cheers Jack

[poppa smurf]

Hah! what's the infamous quote from an australian classic

"tell him he's dreamin!"........let your fingers do the walking and save thousands

when the system is installed you can quote once again from the immortals......."how's the serenity!"

[sgt_doofey]

Is that price before the RECS have been taken off?

[EgoFG]

Originally Posted by irish2

If you actually understood the sheer size of the generators, then you would understand it can take weeks to speed them up and slow them down. It isn't a backyard honda 4 stroke.

On your advice I just took the time to "Understand the sheer size of the generators".

Approximately 65% of NSW capacity for non solar power generation is the "weeks to speed them up" kind - known in the industry as Base Load power plants.
The remaining 35% is peak load or load following.
Peak Load is typically operating on a two hour startup time.

Also in NSW likely over 80% of Solar generation is during the 9-5 peak.

So in my books, given the above, as long NSW solar generation remains below the 80% of the total of Peak Load and Load following Power generation then there will be no dramatic increase of oversupply situations.

The figures I crunched were from Wikipaedia - and so may not be exactly correct: NSW Base Load generation is about 12032 Mw and Load Following plus Peak Load is about 6470.

The current NSW goal is for 20% renewable, this will be 60% of the Peak plus load following generation - which is less than 80% so we are safe until we are about 28% renewable - but not all renewable is time of day generation (like Solar) .... so much more than that.

And when we do get there, we need THEN to look at reducing the Base Load Generation - we will have plenty of time for that two week wind down.

(If I had done this 20 years ago it would have been a HSC school assignment)

[davenl5l]

Originally Posted by Tha Jack

Great Thread Guys with heaps of useful info. I spent the last few hours reading it from the beginning.
I just got a quote for a 4kw system with 16 x 195w panels from United Energy in VIC using Blueline Solar MI Inverter and panels for $21985
Just about fell out me chair when he quoted that!!!
Will definitely be doing a bit more shopping around.

Cheers Jack

try eurosolar i got a 4kw system with a 5kw inverter 16 x 250 kw panels installed in country sa (220 klms from adelaide ) 2 story house $7000 insatalled they did a good job and on time