All things Solar (merged threads)

[xisled]

Originally Posted by supershifty

Also, by law with solar "grid interactive" systems - when you kill the main switch from your mains fed electricity in your meter box, the solar system must also shut down supply to the grid. In other words your solar panels will still supply DC current to the inverter, (in daylight) but no current will be fed from the inverter to your meter or house, regardless of your array isolator switch's position. This is common sense, that way emergency services can easily isolate your power without having access to your inverter or solar isolation switches if they are inside your house and inaccessible.

Nice and neat installation by the way!

This also is important when there is a fault in your suburban power grid. If the solar was still being feed into the grid during a black out. The linesman working on the line would get zapped, due to the solar making the lines live.

[supershifty]

I forgot about that xisled - wasn't thinking outside the box of my square yard!

Some folk think that in the event of a "blackout" that having solar will save them from the inconvenience during the day - not so by a long shot!

Cheers!

[poppa smurf]

Originally Posted by xisled

This also is important when there is a fault in your suburban power grid. If the solar was still being feed into the grid during a black out. The linesman working on the line would get zapped, due to the solar making the lines live.

nah! mate,... cant happen, ...solar inverters need to have a supply of power to "energise" the system unless they are "stand alone" they then use a sample from the batteries to "power up"

without an infeed of power from the grid there will be no production

http://www.solar-facts.com/inverters...rters-work.php

[supershifty]

Originally Posted by poppa smurf

nah! mate,... cant happen, ...solar inverters need to have a supply of power to "energise" the system unless they are "stand alone" they then use a sample from the batteries to "power up"

without an infeed of power from the grid there will be no production

http://www.solar-facts.com/inverters...rters-work.php

Poppa, you've lost me here mate. I clicked on your link, and from what I understand that is what xisled is alluding to. I may be missing something, and I'm not dissing you. In my previous post that xisled was answering to, I was referring to "grid interactive" systems.

Could you please explain?

Cheers mate!

[poppa smurf]

yep I understand completely however this is lifted from the bottom of the above link


quote............................"Grid Tied Inverters
If the above example were a grid tied inverter, ie able to feed power back into the national grid, it would need to use a sample of the mains voltage to then be amplified within the inverter, or to synchronise the oscilator with that sample.

Grid tied inverters will also sense if there is a "power cut" and disconnect themselves from the grid. If they did not have this facility, in the event of a power cut, your inverter would be attempting to power all your neighbours houses and would present an electrocution risk to anyone working on power lines that had supposedly been turned off.".......end quote


this shows that during a power failure the system will shut down and not feed power into the grid.......I have seen this a few times during power cuts with my system......bright sunlight and all I get is a little light blinking to say no power is being produced

if however it is a "stand alone" setup and also grid connected (if such a one exists) then it could theoretically repower a portion to the grid

[supershifty]

I think I follow now with what you're saying Poppa. "stand alone" systems are something I know SFA about - so I'll stay out of that one!

Cheers!

[poppa smurf]

into my 14th hour at work so I'm skimming......I just reread your posts and I think we are on the same page......no power, no solar

however theoretically possible with a partial grid connect stand alone unless there are safety systems in place

I've got 40 odd knives left to sharpen and about 30 saw-blades and numerous thicknesser blades and a pile of router bits that I haven't even looked at before I can knock off

santa is not the only one busy at this time of year poor old Rudolph and charlie will have to be quick this year.....whats that you haven't heard of charlie the brown nose reindeer

he's just as fast as Rudolph but doesn't stop as quick!!!

[prydey]

had my best output day today. to be expected i guess, as the days get longer and before the weather really heats up.

25.6kwh. system is 3.8kw although 9 of the 20 panels face west, so on average its probably closer to 3.2ish (<-thats a guess).

one thing i that i confirmed once again is that the highest figures i have seen (instant output, not daily output) have been on cloudy days when the sun isn't obstructed. on clear blue sky days, i rarely see the reading go above 3100w (normally always checking around 2-3pm) and yet on days with reasonable cloud cover but still sun shining through, i often see the reading north of 3500w. wed or thurs here i saw it go past 3600w. of course when the sun went behind a cloud it plummeted below 1800w but its interesting nonetheless.

since my smart meter has gone on, i've imported 335kwh and exported 505kwh, so even with my FIT about 8-10c less than what i'm buying it, i'm still managing to stay just in front. doesn't bode well for winter months but what can you do...

[prydey]

http://www.news.com.au/money/cost-of...-1226518387688

not sure if its good news or bad news. if it will bring down the price, then it is good news, but you'd be a brave (foolish) person to predict a price drop!!

and the uptake of solar is driving UP prices???

[poppa smurf]

not bad, at least with a small overall "credit" your winter bills will be reduced

far better than having constant increases......have you worked out a daily average yet since install of your smart meter or is it still early days

just waiting on my account.....but I'm pumping out a consistent average of 20 kilowatts per day with a usage of around 6 kw per day

looked at my panels again this morning and even after the storm there is a fine dirty film on them, need cleaning again

[KIWI-1]

They probably needed to drop the rebates to cover the money they didn't get from the carbon tax. LOL.
Price tends to stay the same as the whole supply chain works to an end price. Look at LPG. When Howard introduced the rebate the gross price to the user went up. As the rebate was reduced the gross price to the user went down. The net price to the user stayed pretty much the same.

[paule11]

Have not even got our first bill and the government is going to drop what we are payed

[supershifty]

Originally Posted by prydey

one thing i that i confirmed once again is that the highest figures i have seen (instant output, not daily output) have been on cloudy days when the sun isn't obstructed. on clear blue sky days, i rarely see the reading go above 3100w (normally always checking around 2-3pm) and yet on days with reasonable cloud cover but still sun shining through, i often see the reading north of 3500w. wed or thurs here i saw it go past 3600w. of course when the sun went behind a cloud it plummeted below 1800w but its interesting nonetheless.

Rob, since you mentioned it some posts ago I have been keeping an eye on the inverter output on days when it's sunny and there's a lot of white fluffy clouds.

On a blue sky day it averages 12kW total. Add some white clouds and it'll average 13.5kW. Nice! (2.3kW of panels, 2kW inverter)

Cheers!

[supershifty]

Originally Posted by poppa smurf

not bad, at least with a small overall "credit" your winter bills will be reduced

far better than having constant increases......have you worked out a daily average yet since install of your smart meter or is it still early days

just waiting on my account.....but I'm pumping out a consistent average of 20 kilowatts per day with a usage of around 6 kw per day

Total output at the inverter averaged over 205 days: 9.65kW/day
Total consumption at the meter (bill) averaged over 91 days: 3.21kW/day

I'm happy with that, I did my math (+budget) before deciding what size system to aim for. My target was zero bills and system paying for itself within 3 years. Bingo!

Cheers!

[poppa smurf]

not bad at all!.....good to see it working for you!......

[DJR02]

Originally Posted by paule11

Wow how big is your system

I have 7kw's of panels and a 5kw inverter,could not be happier with my system

[xtremerus]

Originally Posted by prydey

http://www.news.com.au/money/cost-of...-1226518387688

not sure if its good news or bad news. if it will bring down the price, then it is good news, but you'd be a brave (foolish) person to predict a price drop!!

and the uptake of solar is driving UP prices???

Yes. If you are paid many times what the power is actually worth for solar generation, the Power Co. have to subsidise it.

The money has to come from somewhere.

They spread the cost of the solar subsidy across all power users.
Because the uptake of solar is well over their original estimate, retail prices have gone up far more than their antisipated.

e.g. You sell a product for $100/unit.
You buy that from a supplier for, say, $50
You sell thousands of these product every month.
Then suddenly you have a supplier that you MUST buy from.
But it is only a small % that you HAVE to buy off that supplier.
That supplier is billing you for $400/unit. But you still can only sell it for $100.
It is only a small %, so you just cover it is your costs.
Then that % of the supplier, that you MUST buy from, starts to increase.
You then have to increase your retail price of your product to everyone, to cover that subsidy that you are providing to that supplier.
Because you can't sell a product for less than it costs you, and still stay in business.

[flappist]

Well I have been holding off and the price has now dropped over $3000 so I amd getting mine installed next week.

I wonder how many did not survive the weekend in SEQ. It is skyrock season again.......

[buggerlugs]

Mine are still on the roof, thakfully with no damage from the hail...........

[supershifty]

Originally Posted by flappist

Well I have been holding off and the price has now dropped over $3000 so I amd getting mine installed next week.

I wonder how many did not survive the weekend in SEQ. It is skyrock season again.......

What size system are you going for?

I only got about 5 minutes of hail no larger than 1cm from the SW direction - at a near horizontal angle though. When it started hailing I had visions of it getting much worse after hearing that there was hail the size of cricket balls earlier on near Toowoomba.

Just a few branches blew down around here. Felt sorry for what some other folk copped though. Solar panels and windows are cheap compared to cars and rooves.

[poppa smurf]

hell I feel sorry for all the folks in Queensland.....hail the size of softballs......on the news it showed them coming through the house windows and roof.....trees going over, cars destroyed

what size system are you going for there flappist?

just on another point there is a scheme going around with door knockers approaching solar owners stating the records show that they have such and such panels and that they should be upgraded......just be aware of this one and inform any susceptible neighbours of the schemes presence....some may be duped

[pursuit57]

Hi guys, great thread..
I'm a semi retired sparky but not accrediated for solar install's - wasn't in position unfortunately to fit solar before rebates etc changed but looking at now.
Any members on NSW mid nth coast (say..newcastle to taree/port macq) that can recommend an installer that they were happy with overall & turns up !
Thanks

[poppa smurf]

Gday mate......boy would I love to have you in my region, damned if I can get my sparky back to finish off his side of the upgrade to my power supply to the shed

"I'll do that on the weekend" he said.......yeah right, that was 12 months ago, simple upgrade to my supply to shed and a 15 amp power point in the meter box

anyhow ....plenty of folks here who can point you in the right direction as far as installers go

[pursuit57]

Thanks Dave, hopefully I will hear from someone near me.
Pity I wasn't closer as would help you out.
You tried luring him with a bbq n beer - always worked on me, still does !
Cheers..

[flappist]

Mine is just the usual 5kW widget. I have been sitting here waiting for the prices to drop and they have dropped about a third from when I first looked.

Skyrocks and cyclones are not uncommon here so I think I will have to increase my insurance.

[nstg8a]

Must be some big system sales coming up, we've had about 9 b double loads turn up at work in the last week, and no orders for them as yet.
Heap of container loads on the way too.
So much for reducing the subsidy would kill the market theories.

[prydey]

Originally Posted by nstg8a

So much for reducing the subsidy would kill the market theories.

as the subsidies reduce, so does the price, so the outlay for the consumer isn't that different.

even in the 6 months since i paid for mine, the prices have come down substantially.

[flappist]

Originally Posted by prydey

as the subsidies reduce, so does the price, so the outlay for the consumer isn't that different.

even in the 6 months since i paid for mine, the prices have come down substantially.

Yeh I stitched up the 44c subsidy yonks ago but have until January to get it running. It goes in on Wednesday next week.

[SB076]

I currently have a 2.1Kw system (had it for a for years and I get the $0.60 per KW feed in tarriff, but I was thinking about adding another system (its seems cheaper to add another system rather than upgrade my current system)

I have noticed the costs of going solar are dropping (no doubt with current interest levels the price will be stable but come next year I suspect the cost of solar to drop further - as demand reduces) If I was to get another system but feed through the same meter will I still get the feed in rates?

[xisled]

Originally Posted by SB076

I currently have a 2.1Kw system (had it for a for years and I get the $0.60 per KW feed in tarriff, but I was thinking about adding another system (its seems cheaper to add another system rather than upgrade my current system)

I have noticed the costs of going solar are dropping (no doubt with current interest levels the price will be stable but come next year I suspect the cost of solar to drop further - as demand reduces) If I was to get another system but feed through the same meter will I still get the feed in rates?

It depends on what state you are in.

In NSW you will drop to a 0 cent buy back, or the buyback your retailer offers.

In VIC you will drop to 8 cents.

Adding another system is classed as an upgrade.

For people in Victoria, no more TFIT is going to be raised. Everyone who is getting a system installed will be on 8 cents buy back.