All things Solar (merged threads)

[poppa smurf]

Bwah hah! hah!......I'm still checking my meter and taking daily totals after almost 12 months....I get asked about my solar quite a few times a day

I started keeping a running record of how many "other installs" I have been involved in.....85 so far and still going...

surprising how much bulldust is out there with a lot of misinformation and simple lack of understandable information

makes me pleased to see the input in this very thread with all the informative info given out freely by some top folks

well done!

[paule11]

Originally Posted by supershifty

QLD: I hope this is not going to be the case. I originally went solar to save money, not make it - although the FIT made it very attractive! I was more than happy to pay $3600 for my system with a very generous govco rebate of around $3000. Without the rebate I could not have afforded it.

The FIT buy back means to me that the system would pay for itself in roughly 3 years. Well worth it IMO - all free after that.

I found it hard to reason how when I was paying 23c kWh, that I would get paid back 52c kWh by feeding unused energy into the grid - I still find it hard to nut that one out! Seemed to good to be true, maybe it is!

Like I have stated in a previous post, I got a guarantee on my system - not on the rebates.

Too late if things change now for me, but like 2011G6E - I think this will kill the solar industry in QLD. Ludicrous!

Cheers!

I hope so too we are getting our system installed next week . With what Campbell Newman has done to workers I would not be surprised if he does ruin the solar industry

[sgt_doofey]

Originally Posted by prydey

thanks. i understand all that. i was just wondering how retailers end up charging customers huge bills if the meter is starting from scratch when it goes on? i understand they note the meter reading and then change it to a import/export meter.

I think it's more to do when you have a smart meter that isn't calibrated for solar feed in and you put a solar system on where it can count the solar generation as your run of the mill power consumption.
The other thing you should watch out for is if you generate more power than you use with the old spinny disk one, the power companies have trouble with their billing when there is a negative usage on your system. Happened to my brother and he got charged too much.
I got a bill for $11,000 once at a different house as the meter was read incorrectly resulting in a negative usage figure and then a nice big positive usage figure.

[prydey]

Originally Posted by sgt_doofey

The other thing you should watch out for is if you generate more power than you use with the old spinny disk one, the power companies have trouble with their billing when there is a negative usage on your system. Happened to my brother and he got charged too much.

my meter reading was 26868 when system installed. at one point it did go back to 26865 but its currently 26885 so i've still used slightly more than i've produced, so i should be ok in that regard. by the time they are due to read it again the smart meter should be on.

[buggerlugs]

Originally Posted by prydey

my meter reading was 26868 when system installed. at one point it did go back to 26865 but its currently 26885 so i've still used slightly more than i've produced, so i should be ok in that regard. by the time they are due to read it again the smart meter should be on.

Do you get sun down there Prydey ?

[prydey]

Originally Posted by buggerlugs

Do you get sun down there Prydey ?

which state HASN'T flooded in the last few years?? brissie - underwater, sydney - floods, melb - floods, north qld - cyclones! oh wait, adelaide - nothing. even the weather can't be bothered in adelaide

dryest state in the driest continent in the world.

[buggerlugs]

Originally Posted by prydey

which state HASN'T flooded in the last few years?? brissie - underwater, sydney - floods, melb - floods, north qld - cyclones! oh wait, adelaide - nothing. even the weather can't be bothered in adelaide

dryest state in the driest continent in the world.

Well hopefully those panels will be a good investment for you. It has only rained once up here recently, thankyou. That was from November till June

[prydey]

Originally Posted by buggerlugs

Well hopefully those panels will be a good investment for you.

i hope so too

[Captain Stubing]

By comparison Prydey, my meter read 53891 nine days ago, it now shows 53881. There's only been a couple of overcast days in the last week, but on a sunny day my 3.02kw system has been getting about 27kw a day.

In a cruel twist, I got my quarterly electricity bill on Friday... even though they made an error with the reading (read at 53694) the bill was nearly 500 bucks! The price per kwh went up to 23 cents.

I hope this will be my last electricity bill to pay....

[mickyyyy]

Originally Posted by poppa smurf

Bwah hah! hah!......I'm still checking my meter and taking daily totals after almost 12 months....I get asked about my solar quite a few times a day

I started keeping a running record of how many "other installs" I have been involved in.....85 so far and still going...

surprising how much bulldust is out there with a lot of misinformation and simple lack of understandable information

makes me pleased to see the input in this very thread with all the informative info given out freely by some top folks

well done!

I love all this information but hate it when A current Affair comes up and bashes solar and shows one customer, with a 2kw system and now wishes he didnt install it since it dropped from 0.40 to 0.08 cents tariff.... Im like arent you happy for the fact your bill is cut in half you dosh bag, but A current Affair dont go into detail of it all...

Another bloke they show with solar now has bills $200.00 more than before, and of course no explanation of how it all happened...

I believe both people interviewed where both from NSW

[Captain Stubing]

It's not like A Current Affair to let the facts get in the way of a good story!

[prydey]

Originally Posted by swanny

There's only been a couple of overcast days in the last week, but on a sunny day my 3.02kw system has been getting about 27kw a day.

that is very impressive!!

[poppa smurf]

Originally Posted by mickyyyy

I love all this information but hate it when A current Affair comes up and bashes solar and shows one customer, with a 2kw system and now wishes he didnt install it since it dropped from 0.40 to 0.08 cents tariff.... Im like arent you happy for the fact your bill is cut in half you dosh bag, but A current Affair dont go into detail of it all...

Another bloke they show with solar now has bills $200.00 more than before, and of course no explanation of how it all happened...

I believe both people interviewed where both from NSW

this is what really irks me.....misinformation put about by people or programs who are not interested in doing a little bit of research to gain the knowledge to comment

the solar supporters through online forums such as whirlpool do actually send in many emails in an effort to get sensationalist programs such as a current affair to actually air the truth but of course it never happens

guvco do nothing about it (see truth in the media clause) simply because they prefer the status quo of tax income

all we can do is to keep on getting the truth "out there" through media like this and other online means

people are not stupid, far from it, despite the best efforts of govco, major power companies and the media ....solar is booming

already this morning there have been 4 blokes who have got gear sharpened by me, asked how my solar is going, looked at my figures and have ordered systems

I dont need to convince them

people are sick and tired of handing over their paycheque to large companies

[SmokinXR50]

All,
I only just came across this thread. I have read through a fair bit and have enjoyed reading everyone's contribution. Thought I would take the opportunity to contribute my Solar journey so far.

Around mid last year I had enquired and researched installing a solar system.
After meeting with several companies I found myself not entirely sure what to do. Soon afterwards I met with a Sales Rep from Solargain. To cut a long story short I appreciated his no BS approach and to top it off his pricing was as sharp as I had found at the time.

I am also a big believer in customer feedback. After reading through the heaps of positive comments on www.solarquotes.com.au I felt comfortable enough with my choice of installer.

Still I found myself sitting on the fence. I received another call from the same rep shortly afterwards advising me the PFiT was coming to a close and an announcement was due within a few weeks. With that I bit the bullet. I also had an added problem in that I had an interstate trip planned for most of September.

The Sales Rep (sorry his name escapes me, happy to dig out the paperwork if anyone is interested) met with me again and we worked out a plan. We decided to install the system on the 27th September 2011.

To cut a long story short my new system went in as planned, the inspector arrived the next day (as planned) and Solargain made absolutely sure my paperwork was submitted on time. My biggest concern was my retailer. Needles to say I was on the phone to LUMO Energy every day until I was satisfied I had ticked this last box.

I ended up installing a 3.990KW system (19 x 190W Suntech panels mated to an SMA Sunny Boy 4000TL).
I noted the comments in this thread regarding the Suntech Panels. I will have a chat with Solargain so I know where I stand. Having said this my system has not missed a beat.

I also agree with everyone's comments. Installing a Solar system also makes you look long and hard at your electricity usage. At first the shock of realising my consumption was ridiculously high really hit home. After going through everything methodically I managed to cut our consumption by 10-12kw per day. The best thing was it barely changed our lifestyle, just made me realise we were very wasteful.

My first summer with the Solar System was great. Given that my wife is home during the day the solar system had us in credit in no time. It wasn't until late autumn where I saw the first electricity bill. For some reason LUMO switched me over to monthly billing (which I didn't mind). My worst monthly electricity bill during winter was $80 approx. For the first time that I can remember I was actually looking forward to my electricity bill, go figure.

The best part of my system is the inverter. After doing my homework early on the SMA inverter was at the top of my list. One if its best features is its Bluetooth Connectivity.

Within days of completing the install I whacked in a Bluetooth receiver into my PC and was able to communicate with the inverter. Best of all I was able to download the power generation information.

Soon afterwards I came across a site called pvoutput.org. I couldn't get over the sheer number of users who were using this site to report their daily generation statistics. It is a great site when it comes to comparing the performance of your system.

I also discovered a piece of software called PV Bean Counter. This software talks to my inverter, grabs the data and updates my setup on PVOutput.org. After a bit of mucking around I managed to configure this software to automatically fire up when I boot up my computer and update my power generation data to the site.

More recently I have been looking into changing retailers as I feel there are better deals out there. Right now I am in the process of transitioning across to Red Energy for both Electricity and Gas. They appear to be cheaper almost across the board, with the only exception being their daily supply charge. It will be interesting to see how this pans out.

I apologise if I have been ranting on. Please feel free to ask any questions, happy to help out where I can.


Many Thanks,



Chris

[prydey]

Originally Posted by SmokinXR6

I ended up installing a 3.990KW system (19 x 190W Suntech panels mated to an SMA Sunny Boy 4000TL).

19 x 190 = 3.610kw. sure you haven't got 21 panels up there?

as for lumo, i believe poppa smurf is a customer and seems happy enough, but my experience with them was enough for me to never go near them again and to tell everyone i know not to go near them.

[poppa smurf]

well done smokin.....a very good outcome and your experience pretty much mirrors mine

I am with Lumo...no comment on that but they "seem" to be the cheapest....I refuse to recommend one provider over another as each individual account can be and is negotiated by the home owner and varies from household to household

this depends greatly on the individuals negotiating skills......I am pushing the
do your homework thing....understand your usage and your needs then find a system that suits your needs then contact your retailer to negotiate terms

but one thing to watch with Lumo is that if you are on a monthly billing cycle they are not setup to read your meter on a monthly basis

so the answer would seem to be to place your own readings in to the space provided in their website

I did this but their "computer" does not recognise your input

the result of this is that your monthly account will be estimated......I had a gut full of this system a fair while ago

I would get two over estimates then a huge credit.....two over estimates than a huge credit.....this went on for a fair while

the only way to get true readings is to go to 3 monthly cycles

well done on the reduction in power usage....always the first step when considering solar.....simple things bring about substantial savings

the programs you mentioned are very good, I would love them on my computer but alas they don't play with mac

[poppa smurf]

listening to leon byner this morning talking about solar and the cost of power

apparently there is a mob going around offering long term finance for solar with low repayments and no deposit......sounds good?

well in the "fine print" of the financial contract there is a "caveat on your house" clause

meaning the finance company has an interest in your home for the term of the loan....some are financing solar for close to 20 years apparently

what the caveat means is that you cant borrow against the house nor sell it for the term of the loan

I hope no-one here does that

please read all fine print before signing anything

[XDV800]

Well, had solar installed for just over 3 months now, energex took ages to install smart meter (month and half after install), but in that time the old style meter wound back past its previous reading.

System generating 15-20kw/h per day, 2000 -3000w during the day, hopefully reaching full 4kw potential in summer.

Recieved first power bill which only had 60 days worth of solar generation.
375 in credit already, as opposed to 200-$300 bills without.

Should credit us $500 p/m meaning it will pay itself off in hopefully 4-5 years, then all free credit after that onto the house repayments!

Very happpy i made the choice now!

[poppa smurf]

Originally Posted by yzfr101

Well, had solar installed for just over 3 months now, energex took ages to install smart meter (month and half after install), but in that time the old style meter wound back past its previous reading.

System generating 15-20kw/h per day, 2000 -3000w during the day, hopefully reaching full 4kw potential in summer.

Recieved first power bill which only had 60 days worth of solar generation.
375 in credit already, as opposed to 200-$300 bills without.

Should credit us $500 p/m meaning it will pay itself off in hopefully 4-5 years, then all free credit after that onto the house repayments!

Very happpy i made the choice now!

well done.....a good ending.....4-5 years is a pretty good time frame

[deesun]

After 7 months I can finally say I did good with my system. I am not someone who does daily readings and knows the ins and outs of solar I'm just Joe Bloggs who did some research, mostly through the www.solarquotes.com.au site and chose a system and installer and hoped for the best.
Back in January I started looking, did the usual research and got some quotes. The quoting had one of all types of quoters, the pushy, the big co and the smaller co with the real nice informative bloke. Mr Pushy was the first to go only quoted over the phone and only had packages and wasn't interested in a what I wanted. True value came to the house and were informative but still shied away from what I wanted but quoted me for it. Third was GoSolar, local company and real nice bloke, Peter Bell, came to house got on roof explained everything, happy to do what I wanted. So it was, 24 Hyunai 260w panels which is about 6.24kw with a SMA5000TL inverter. $11990. I consider myself extremely lucky that I can pay for the system without a loan. Original quote was for 250w panels but he was able to get 260s for same price. They are probably much cheaper now. A date was set, paperwork to Energex all go. The installers turned up about 10am and were gone about 5 leaving nothing behind all cleaned up. My roof is about 25 deg and faces due north without any trees or buildings beside so its sun on all day. All 24 panels on one roof section, 3 x 8. Almost invisible from the street.
We changed supplier from AGP to AGL for an extra 2c FIT. AGL wouldnt change half way through a reading cycle for some reason so we were stuck with AGP for the first billing period. Our first bill came and it was $700+, no not a credit, WTF??? lol. Rang them up and after a week or two we recieved new bill $900 credit. WOOOOOOOOO HOOOOOOOOOOOOO. This week our first bill came from AGL. So there isnt as much generation in winter and we use an electric heater in winter, wife doesnt like the aircon. Our pool filter was off for most of the time also while we had some work done. Brand newy in now only on for about 4 weeks @ 4hrs a day. Our daughter has also moved back in which was only a little on the 1st bill.
I cant compare properly from our previous bills because we have only just moved into the house. Now in QLD, was in NSW. Our bills in NSW were in the region of 700-850, all electric, pool, old appliances and a wife and kids who didnt give a **** how much we used. As a late night worker I would come home and 80% of the lights would be on in the house. GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR.
The house in QLD has all new appliances but is bigger, gas stove and wife still leaves on every light and they havent made any changes to how they use appliances. If you want to come around and tell them to use less then you can, I give up. Bring your body armour.
So thats pretty much my story, I am not a technophile, I know where the meter is and that when it is up around 5000 thats good and when its down to 700 thats bad. In summer I saw it over 5000 a couple of times but not often and probably wont. But its not unusual to see it at 4500+ in the middle of the day.
So my bills are gone saving 750ish average, I am getting a credit or cheque (well the wife is) for 850ish thats a saving of 1600 a quarter, gotta be happy with that.
To those who have changed to solar I hope you all have happy stories to tell too, just getting rid of your bill is a saving. Sunny days to everyone.
One more thing I would like to thank PappaSmurf for being the technophile and the backbone of this very informative thread, onya matey.

[Stagg]

Originally Posted by deesun

After 7 months I can finally say I did good with my system. I am not someone who does daily readings and knows the ins and outs of solar I'm just Joe Bloggs who did some research, mostly through the www.solarquotes.com.au site and chose a system and installer and hoped for the best.
Back in January I started looking, did the usual research and got some quotes. The quoting had one of all types of quoters, the pushy, the big co and the smaller co with the real nice informative bloke. Mr Pushy was the first to go only quoted over the phone and only had packages and wasn't interested in a what I wanted. True value came to the house and were informative but still shied away from what I wanted but quoted me for it. Third was GoSolar, local company and real nice bloke, Peter Bell, came to house got on roof explained everything, happy to do what I wanted. So it was, 24 Hyunai 260w panels which is about 6.24kw with a SMA5000TL inverter. $11990. I consider myself extremely lucky that I can pay for the system without a loan. Original quote was for 250w panels but he was able to get 260s for same price. They are probably much cheaper now. A date was set, paperwork to Energex all go. The installers turned up about 10am and were gone about 5 leaving nothing behind all cleaned up. My roof is about 25 deg and faces due north without any trees or buildings beside so its sun on all day. All 24 panels on one roof section, 3 x 8. Almost invisible from the street.
We changed supplier from AGP to AGL for an extra 2c FIT. AGL wouldnt change half way through a reading cycle for some reason so we were stuck with AGP for the first billing period. Our first bill came and it was $700+, no not a credit, WTF??? lol. Rang them up and after a week or two we recieved new bill $900 credit. WOOOOOOOOO HOOOOOOOOOOOOO. This week our first bill came from AGL. So there isnt as much generation in winter and we use an electric heater in winter, wife doesnt like the aircon. Our pool filter was off for most of the time also while we had some work done. Brand newy in now only on for about 4 weeks @ 4hrs a day. Our daughter has also moved back in which was only a little on the 1st bill.
I cant compare properly from our previous bills because we have only just moved into the house. Now in QLD, was in NSW. Our bills in NSW were in the region of 700-850, all electric, pool, old appliances and a wife and kids who didnt give a **** how much we used. As a late night worker I would come home and 80% of the lights would be on in the house. GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR.
The house in QLD has all new appliances but is bigger, gas stove and wife still leaves on every light and they havent made any changes to how they use appliances. If you want to come around and tell them to use less then you can, I give up. Bring your body armour.
So thats pretty much my story, I am not a technophile, I know where the meter is and that when it is up around 5000 thats good and when its down to 700 thats bad. In summer I saw it over 5000 a couple of times but not often and probably wont. But its not unusual to see it at 4500+ in the middle of the day.
So my bills are gone saving 750ish average, I am getting a credit or cheque (well the wife is) for 850ish thats a saving of 1600 a quarter, gotta be happy with that.
To those who have changed to solar I hope you all have happy stories to tell too, just getting rid of your bill is a saving. Sunny days to everyone.

Sounds like wifey and the kids are like my housemates, don't really caer about leaving appliances running or wasting electricity (funnily enough a recent study showed that 94% of all solar customers were male, our office room full of males had a good laugh and got in trouble for inappropriate jokes of course )

But that said if they can't change their habits, maybe LED lighting is the next step now that you have solar? LED lights are now advanced enough that installing LED lighting is quite literally changing a light bulb. That goes for most downlight replacements and in my small albert park victorian apartment we have LED bulbs that fit into existing bayonet sockets.

FYI everyone here I don't own a home and I rent, so I can't actually have solar panels because the landlord doesnt want them... Anyway my last bill came through 2 weeks ago, daily consumption was at 0.8kWh daily!!

- Installed LED lighting all through the apartment @ $20 a bulb
- Housemates were using fan heaters, bought them both a snuggie @ $20 each
- Gave the TV to a mate
- Leave a small portable solar charger outside my window every day that charges a battery, which then charges my computer, personal mobile and work mobile overnight

Pretty hardcore stuff, but then again... .8kWh is pretty low and I only had to pay pennies

[deesun]

^^^^^^ You must be like Attilla the Hun to live with, hahahahaha. I am sitting in the lounge/dinning room with an open kitchen. From where I sit I can see 13 downlights 3 bulbs in lampstands and a 100w circular fluro. That would be a min $320 to change lol. I would like to shoot the electrician who fitted this house out. Dumb switching, stupid switch placement and more. Kitchen has 2 switches, one for 5 downlights kitch/dining and 1 for the fluro. Funnily enough the 1 x 100w fluro uses more than the 5 downies lol.

[Franco Cozzo]

I've got 16 downlights in my house, is it worth changing them to LED? some of those are MR16 12V ones though.

If so, what can you suggest?

[Stagg]

Originally Posted by Big Damo

I've got 16 downlights in my house, is it worth changing them to LED? some of those are MR16 12V ones though.

If so, what can you suggest?

The best downlight replacements for LED lights I have seen is the Phillips DR700 downlight replacements, they give off the same colour as Halogen downlights, same lumens as a downlight, but have a life of 50,000 hours and they are 10W each. They cost $49 per light and generally save about $49 of electricity in 18 months (per light).

The next after that would be an Ecofire 5W MR16, thye are $25 and are also an MR16 downlight replacement. If you actually want a light that is going to give the same quality brightness and colour as a downlight, expect to pay about $50 per light.

Originally Posted by deesun

^^^^^^ You must be like Attilla the Hun to live with, hahahahaha. I am sitting in the lounge/dinning room with an open kitchen. From where I sit I can see 13 downlights 3 bulbs in lampstands and a 100w circular fluro. That would be a min $320 to change lol. I would like to shoot the electrician who fitted this house out. Dumb switching, stupid switch placement and more. Kitchen has 2 switches, one for 5 downlights kitch/dining and 1 for the fluro. Funnily enough the 1 x 100w fluro uses more than the 5 downies lol.

See above, DR700 is my favourite LED its literally an LED downlight and you don't have to compromise with quality of light if you buy the right ones.




Also a bit of a myth floating around about LED lights is that you cannot use Ironcore transformers, truth is that you can use Ironcore transformers with LED lights, but it is not as efficient as when you use more modern transformers.


LED lights also operate a lot cooler so there are no hazards for fires, which are pretty common with cheap new homes with a bazillion downlights everywhere

[poppa smurf]

deesun you're more than welcome....only too glad that someone got some benefit from this thread......

I also thank you for placing your experience with solar so that others may gain a little insight and hopefully help to make a decision

I took a look at the Ilight/Iglobe cant remember exactly the name, supposed to be the ants pants....um $17.99 each, seems a bit rich.....whatcha reckon stagg

[Stagg]

Originally Posted by poppa smurf

deesun you're more than welcome....only too glad that someone got some benefit from this thread......

I also thank you for placing your experience with solar so that others may gain a little insight and hopefully help to make a decision

I took a look at the Ilight/Iglobe cant remember exactly the name, supposed to be the ants pants....um $17.99 each, seems a bit rich.....whatcha reckon stagg

Had a quick look at their website and $17.99 each is without shipping, it comes out to about $28 per globe including shipping. Also their wattage and lumens matches the Ecofire Econo 5W globes, which are pretty much the same LED except Ecofire is $20 off the shelf and an Australian LED company.

LED lights are a bit rich regardless, but because they operate a lot cooler, it is commonly expected that even a pretty standard LED will last at least 20 years. Same principle for purchasing LED goes for solar, that its an investment and spending $20 per light will save you spending $100 for standard bulbs over the time the LED light will be running for.

Like I posted before I have the Ecofire Econo 5W bulbs all over my apartment and the quality of light is a lot higher than any other bulb, no UV light at all, much nicer to be living with.

[poppa smurf]

never thought about shipping....makes them pretty pricey....but the eco fire looks like the go

may take a trip to see our sparky supplier tomorrow if I can get some time

[deesun]

5w start at 1590 and upwards to 2120 which have free post. I guess you could ask for combined postage for the 5w ones. Found them here http://stores.ebay.com.au/Green-Conc...=p4634.c0.m322. Good 'ol fleabay.

[paule11]

5kw system installed yesterday looks like 26.9kwh generated today half the day was cloudy .I will have to read the invertor manual

[prydey]

Originally Posted by yzfr101

Recieved first power bill which only had 60 days worth of solar generation.
375 in credit already, as opposed to 200-$300 bills without.

Should credit us $500 p/m meaning it will pay itself off in hopefully 4-5 years,

solar systems don't have to generate credit to start paying themselves off. if they are covering your usage, then they are paying for themselves. anything on top of that is a bonus, so if you are $500 in credit/month, + what you would normally pay on a bill, that is how much you are paying off your system, so the payback would probably be less than 4-5yrs.

my quarterly bills were over $500, so even if my system only covers my usage, it will still be paying itself off in 3 years even if it makes no credit. that means it would make its money back in 3 years.