All things Solar (merged threads)

[poppa smurf]

MNM96 a big well done, very happy for you.......thanks for the praise but I'm only one cog amongst many here.....all of our contributors must share the praise

I know "the cave" we have two sons, the eldest had one set up which no-one was allowed to penetrate....walking in there was like walking into vegas...lights everywhere, game machines, computers, stereo's....power consumption through the roof

luckily we have ducted air so the load on the air con was shared

the thread did get a bit shaky from the start but luckily it was kept on track, I was, and still am, trying to simply keep getting the truth and a few facts about solar "out there"

I have little idea of interstate FIT'S but I do know a smidgeon about solar, thankfully we have enough input here to compensate for my many shortfalls

I really hope the information continues to get "out there" to help ease those damn bills just a little

knowledge = power = savings in this case

[fnm17]

Originally Posted by MNM96

My Solar Journey.

So, early in this thread, I was a heavier poster, until I saw some issues creeping in. I decided to pull back until I copuld add some data which I was confident was correct. Here today, we have had a 5kw system fitted for about 10 months.

The start.
My employer had a desire to add value to their employees without it costing them anything, or very little. They negotiated with a Solar Retailer a very good price, which was reliant upon 150 people taking up the offer. Over 1000 people did. So, I signed up for a 5kw system for $7990, which was about $5k less than retail at the time. At the time I didn't know anything at all, not even which way the panels had to go on the roof. I disliked the idea of them being visable from the streetfront, and would have knocked them back if they had to.
My system was installed on 18 April, and was wired to my house on the 20th. At this time, the power generated was simply turning the meter backwards, effectively just paying back what I had used. Next bill, about 1 month later, was sub $20.

Next step, was for the electricity retailer to come and upgrade my meter, to a smartmeter. This would allow the FIT to come along, and allow me to earn .44c per kw fed in. This occured about 2 weeks through the bill cycle, and not long after, the hot water packed it in. Sparky came and replaced the thermostat and heater coil, and billed me $200. Made no difference, so they returned a few days later and told me the Whipple?? Meter, which switched the tarrif for the hot water system. Apparently, this sparky had found fault with 30 of them in 6 weeks. So, he wired it up to draw full power, as required. Ergon finally fixed it about a week before the next meter read. Bill comes, $170. I am gutted!

Sit waiting thru the next bill cycle, worried that I have got stiffed all along. I did the maths prior to committing, and worked out I should be produce double what I use. Frustrated!
Anyhow, bill comes in. Has been a lot of overcat days through Jan and Feb, so I wasn't sure what to expect. Add to that a teenage daughter with an Air Cond. in her ""Cave"" and at least 1, sometimes2 other ac's going most days, I figured, given the run I had enjoyed since install I was hoping for a break even result. Power produced, nearly $1000, power used, $340 odd, credit, $651.


Over the moon. Power gen was as I expected when I started.

My advice to anyone. Look into it and ensure you know what you are getting into, don't go halfarsed like me.
Oh, and I thank Poppa Smurf. He doesn't claim to be the all knowing, all seeing guru of Solar, but offers very good, solid advice. Cheers Mate, I, and many others, appreciate your input.

I am in the same area as MNM96 and my first feedback rate with a 5 kW Solar system was near on $500 at the start of Dec, so waiting to see what my next rebate will be, as most days in Decemeber my 5Kw system was producing 30~31Kws per day.

[sgt_doofey]

Next step is to get a single bill for gas and electricity if you have both and have that solar credit paying for your gas bill also!

[poppa smurf]

I could do that now with origin and also use a part of my excess to pay off a solar hot water system.....we are speaking about FIT'S and discounts now....as it stands I would be behind a bit instead of being miles in front then when power rises again I would be behind a mile

so far they are streets behind the FIT that I'm receiving at the moment.....I want equal FIT before I shift across

[sgt_doofey]

It's 11am and I'm only generating 120w on my 1.5kW system. We have some quality weather here in SA at the moment. Drizzle and solid cloud cover. You almost wish it was sunny so you know your generating electricity these days

[poppa smurf]

well you're doing better than me.......98 watts at the moment.......(11.25) ....somehow I don't reckon I'll generate my $5 surplus today

rain is nice after close to 4 months with none though......sitting in the shed listening to it on the tin roof with a cuppa....rather pleasant

[deesun]

Well i find it rather strange that people are now actually anxiously waiting for their electricity account to arrive. Usually we are all hoping it never arrives but of course it always does.
Re the kids, of course now we get a credit its a bit hard to argue with the kids about the bill being too high. Now I get "you dont pay for the electricity so why are you complaining about how much we use". It was always a hard ask anyway as the Mrs was as bad as the kids.

[supershifty]

Originally Posted by deesun

Well i find it rather strange that people are now actually anxiously waiting for their electricity account to arrive.

I've gotten tighter since the install. Should be happy I'm not paying for power and getting a healthy rebate!

I'm a bit obsessed with gauges and meters - ok, a lot. I've got my grid consumption down to 2kW/day now, am generating an average of 11kW/day through summer.

Oh yeah!

[comagutsa]

just an update....my system is going great now .making 18units a day with a few days at 19units ...
not bad for getting less light now...wish i found the fault 7 months ago haha

[Stagg]

Originally Posted by supershifty

I've gotten tighter since the install. Should be happy I'm not paying for power and getting a healthy rebate!

I'm a bit obsessed with gauges and meters - ok, a lot. I've got my grid consumption down to 2kW/day now, am generating an average of 11kW/day through summer.

Oh yeah!

That's incredible!



Bit of a trick that as a Tenant instead of property owner.. because I cant get solar panels, bit annoying that I'll still get a bill..

When I leave for work I just turn off the main switch as for the fridge, I fill the fridge right up with bottles full of water, stays cold throughout the day.

My average daily kWh consumption as of late is 0.7kWh

[supershifty]

Cripes Stagg - 0.7kW/day is awesome!

There's no real secret to getting my grid consumption down to 2kW/day. I've got an advantage over most - I live alone and have gas hot water/stove.

The rest is just common sense, replaced all the lights with 11w fluoros, at night the only power used is the light in the room I'm in and the TV. I use the bulk of my power running appliances during the day. The only thing running continuously is a medium fridge/freezer.

Cheers!

[SPArKy_Dave]

Originally Posted by comagutsa

just an update....my system is going great now .making 18units a day with a few days at 19units ...
not bad for getting less light now...wish i found the fault 7 months ago haha

Now that's more like it.
It's amazing what an impact one missing panel, and the resulting un-even strings, can have.

Glad to help solve the issue.

[comagutsa]

Originally Posted by SPArKy_Dave

Now that's more like it.
It's amazing what an impact one missing panel, and the resulting un-even strings, can have.

Glad to help solve the issue.

yeah the bloke who sold it to me was over the moon to finally get it sorted ...but the installer was just a plain knob who didnt even care... glad the installer is now not fitting them for him anymore
thank thanks again to everyone for their help

i must say its like a new machine ... it even does 2500w not instead of a max 2150w like before

[DJR MAN]

On a slightly different aspect of solar, has anyone heard that if you are just once late to pay your bill, you lose your feed in rebate forever?

Any one experienced or heard of this?

[SPArKy_Dave]

Originally Posted by DJR MAN

On a slightly different aspect of solar, has anyone heard that if you are just once late to pay your bill, you lose your feed in rebate forever?

Any one experienced or heard of this?

Sounds weird, what about if your bill is in Credit, from the solar....
How can you be late paying that?

[DJR MAN]

Originally Posted by SPArKy_Dave

Sounds weird, what about if your bill is in Credit, from the solar....
How can you be late paying that?

I don't know, I guess if your system provides you with a saving on your standard bill , ie, not big enough to give you a credit, as would be the case in some instances.
This is in Qld by the way, we have been known to do things a little different up here.

[poppa smurf]

Originally Posted by DJR MAN

On a slightly different aspect of solar, has anyone heard that if you are just once late to pay your bill, you lose your feed in rebate forever?

Any one experienced or heard of this?

never heard of that one......the main subsidy of .44c per kilowatt (I think from memory?...in south Aust.) is paid by the government, the rest is made up by the retailer

the FIT is a contract between you, ETSA and your retailer

the most the retailer could do, but would be stupid to do so as it would mean an immediate walk to another supplier, would be to cut their input to the FIT

my supplier provides a top up of .08c per kilowatt......so hardly a big deal

there are many other companies that are willing to do the same to gain your business

I'm thinking of sending my suppliers a "final notice" though LOL!.......the buggers read the bill 3 weeks ago and still haven't given me my account

I just want to know how much the leaches owe me now!

[Rastus]

Finally got my first full bill after having my smart meter installed in August last year. (3 months late!) This is after I rang and chased it up over 6 weeks ago. (Red Energy)
Billing period is mid August to Mid November. Averaged 8.48kwh import/11.15kwh export. Ok for that time of year I guess. We were buying over 16 kwh a day the same time last year.
End result, I would've been in credit to the tune of $119.64, but after having to pay for the new meter's installation ($355.45), subsidised partly by a loyalty credit, I'm only out of pocket $146. Of course I have to pay by the 15th of March, giving me 2 weeks to pay.
Now the silly thing is, I bet I'll get another bill in the mail very soon, for the 3 months ending mid February. That one will be in massive credit I'm sure.

[poppa smurf]

yeah! they get at you in every way but once all the rubbish is sorted you should be free and clear from power bills

cost me a lot to get to this stage but I'm thumbing my nose at the power moguls now

[poppa smurf]

I've had a few questions regarding the angle of rooflines and how to determine them

I use a template such as this one http://www.ossmann.com/protractor/co...protractor.pdf print it out then paste it to square piece of plywood

nail a pointer to the bottom centre of the protractor, then using the opposite side of the plywood, the side of the protractor with the arc you can find the angle of your roof and or your panels

make sure the base of the protractor is level with the bottom of the plywood it will of course be upside down but that doesn't matter when you read it

just a little bit more useless information for you to play with

[xisled]

Originally Posted by DJR MAN

On a slightly different aspect of solar, has anyone heard that if you are just once late to pay your bill, you lose your feed in rebate forever?

Any one experienced or heard of this?

Who ever told you that is talking rubish.

[stevejg33]

Originally Posted by poppa smurf

I'm thinking of sending my suppliers a "final notice" though LOL!.......the buggers read the bill 3 weeks ago and still haven't given me my account

I just want to know how much the leaches owe me now!

When we first put the solar on it took 6 months to get our first bill & then we got 2 bills in 3 days for the 2 different quarters, then they were sent about 2 months after the read, last July's read, I got the bill within 2 weeks of the read.

I still haven't received my bill from last October's meter read, then the meter was read again in January & it's due to be read AGAIN in another 5 weeks.

Got a text from EnergyAustralia apologising for the lateness of the bills, I just don't bother worrying about the bills now.
Looks like if you are making credits there is no hurry for the bill but if you are eating into your credits over winter or owe them money then possibly sending a bill may be a little more urgent for the power company.

[poppa smurf]

yep! you're right.....when they owe you money there is no rush but put it the other way and you'll have final notices and threat threat threat!

doesn't bother me if the account is late, I'm just curious as to whether I've busted the $1,000 mark as yet

I'm sitting out in the mulga at the moment so I don't know if my solar is working or if someone has pinched it LOL!

wont be home for a little while yet

[Stagg]

Originally Posted by poppa smurf

yep! you're right.....when they owe you money there is no rush but put it the other way and you'll have final notices and threat threat threat!

doesn't bother me if the account is late, I'm just curious as to whether I've busted the $1,000 mark as yet

I'm sitting out in the mulga at the moment so I don't know if my solar is working or if someone has pinched it LOL!

wont be home for a little while yet

You know its interesting that those premium tariffs that everyone gets (which is pretty much anything over that 12c per kWh mark) is not actually paid by the retailers, they are reimbursed by the respective state governments as it is them who contribute those higher tariffs over the wholesale rate of electricity.


Solar as of late has become such an absolutely exhausting exercise. Absolutely no one can see any reason to go for solar at todays tariffs, even though the STCs may be reducing early within the next few months making for a higher upfront cost again.

What has kind of acted as the straw that broke the camels back the other day for me was I had three appointments in one day, and this is what these customers said:

"I couldn't give a flying **** about the environment, just tell me what the bottom line is and get rid of my power bills" - This man was a local politician.

"What is the point in going solar if we're only getting 8c for our power? I know we're still saving but we're not saving as much as I want to be" - This man was a university lecturer.

"Mate you're only a young guy, you clearly know your stuff but at least get a degree before you go out and tell people how to spend their money" - This man was a landscaper.

Yes this was their professions as we spoke about work during the initial conversation when I arrived. Now I for one am feeling more and more exhausted every day trying to convince people to buy solar for the sake of future generations, but just after this one day last week with these comments and the attitude that almost every single one of these people have of solar, just leads me to believe that climate change and saving the environment has absolutely nothing to do with solar anymore in peoples minds. It really has got to the point that I am probably not going to stay in the industry if I do lose my job, as it has just completely discouraged me so much and after four years I just don't think people want to even think about those environmental benefits anymore :(

[stevejg33]

When we put our solar on, the main reason was to eliminate or reduce our power bills, of which we have pretty well eliminated them altogether, the environment was a distant second on our list (being honest here).
We, in S.A. are just getting bent over & pounded by electricity prices, I think we are paying the highest prices in the world, & don't get me started on the price of water.
I paid a premium for my 6kw system, at that point in time everyone was but we also got the higher FIT rates, we get 44 cents + 10 cents from the retailer, the 44 cent FIT in SA is locked in till around 2026?
But getting back to the people you saw, obviously these people have no common courtesy, there's no need to be rude about it.

[poppa smurf]

yep you're right I must admit that when I went solar my priority was and is selfish, get the bills down, but the "feel good factor" is also there

unfortunately we remember the "nasty" people long after we forget the hundreds of great folk we meet during our day

way more good folk out there than there are drongos......stagg just whistle on your way out of their premises and forget them

I'll bet a dollar to a dog biscuit that during your day you would meet at least 20 damn good folks to one mongrel.....save the good ones in memory and pity the fools for they know not what they do!

[Stagg]

Originally Posted by poppa smurf

yep you're right I must admit that when I went solar my priority was and is selfish, get the bills down, but the "feel good factor" is also there

unfortunately we remember the "nasty" people long after we forget the hundreds of great folk we meet during our day

way more good folk out there than there are drongos......stagg just whistle on your way out of their premises and forget them

I'll bet a dollar to a dog biscuit that during your day you would meet at least 20 damn good folks to one mongrel.....save the good ones in memory and pity the fools for they know not what they do!

Yeh I mean that's the thing... I have a hunch that hypothetically if all FiT were eliminated completely tomorrow, and all STC rebates disappeared tomorrow as well, the environmental benefits are still all there exactly as they are with rebates however I don't believe that anyone would buy any more solar panels, kinda makes me pretty sad :(

[poppa smurf]

yep as sure as god made little green apples the solar industry for the masses would be gone

theres a lot in this world that makes me sad, solar or the lack of is not one of them

cruelty and the inhumanity to children is a big one of mine..... solar is way down

but we cant dwell on things that make us sad or we all end up on Zoloft.......been there, aint going back

its another fantastic day in paradise........lets all enjoy it hey

[supershifty]

I didn't go solar to save the world either, I was trying to save my hip pocket nerve from all the aggravation it gets. You'd be hard pressed to find many people that can afford and will spend $3k upwards to help save the planet. I make a conscious effort to recycle, minimise waste and conserve materials/energy, but not to the point where it hammers my bank account.

stevejg33 summed up pretty well summed up my situation (and no doubt many others) in his post.

I think it's good to have people around that are passionate about caring for the environment and voice their opinion (not the extremists) that have made others aware of what we are doing to our planet - we can't just uproot and go to another one!

Cheers!

[Scooter]

Originally Posted by comagutsa

yeah the bloke who sold it to me was over the moon to finally get it sorted ...but the installer was just a plain knob who didnt even care... glad the installer is now not fitting them for him anymore
thank thanks again to everyone for their help

i must say its like a new machine ... it even does 2500w not instead of a max 2150w like before

Glad it is all finally up and running as it should! Can I ask what company did the install, how happy you are with it and total cost? Reason I ask is I am looking into a system for my house in Gosnells, anyone else got any recommendations for Perth companies?