All things Solar (merged threads)

[supershifty]

Originally Posted by Pepscobra

Looks good!
Looks like it's facing your backyard too... at my place, the front faces north, so gonna have to live with solar panels on the front elevation, which isn't going to look too flash.

I've heard of a few folk concerned about the look of solar panels on their roof. In reality I don't look at peoples houses from the roof aspect. Mine's a low set house and I don't notice them (they're at the front but side of my house) - how often do you look at a house's roof?

There's a part of my bus route that starts on a hill and winds down through a rather opulent part of my suburb that smacks of solar panels in multiples of which I could never afford - some of these rooves are literally covered in solar panels and solar hot water. All I can think is "good on ya" - they're living the dream!

Cheers!

[Crazy Dazz]

I'm seriously looking at this again. Solar cells are becoming more affordable and there are some decent 3-phase inverters out now from Aurora and SMA.
Basically the plan is to have a big enough system to run the aircons during the day without drawing from the grid, then run the pump & bore at night on “smart power” or “power shift.”

I was wondering what panels people have gone with? I have always just assumed that European cells would be better quality, but I'm nolonger sure where some are made? Such as Q.Cells? Are they still made in Germany, or just coming from Hanwha? Sunpower seem to have the best performance guarantee…

And what about inverters? People generally speak highly of Aurora? I think Fronius should also be good? And even though “sunny boy”s sound cheap, they’re made by SMA and should be decent?

I don’t see much benefit in earning the 8.9 cents for feeding back, but even on a straight tariff I’ll be saving 25c by providing my own. If I move to one of the time based tariffs, it will be cheaper at night and I’ll save around 45c in peak times.

[davenl5l]

im using ameri 250w panels and a jfy inverter supplied by eurosolar all good so far.im in credit and these products have good warrantee. mines 4kw cost $7000 at the time much cheaper now.im in sa

[CJR09]

sma are a good inverter but the Enasolar (website) offerings are better as well as being cheaper to install and you can get extended warranty coverage

stick to your tier 1 panels - mono are all good as are some of the poly's

panasonic/sharp, mitsubishi, renesola, lg etc

you guys are lucky in oz - a 4kW system here in nz would be closer to 10-12k

[Auslandau]

Originally Posted by GasOLane

With a sky that dark and wet roof ?...........

Must've been one of Melb's rare wet days

Well, yesterday I got 17kwh ..... today I got 2.5kwh. AH Melbourne

[poppa smurf]

Originally Posted by CJR09

you guys are lucky in oz - a 4kW system here in nz would be closer to 10-12k

I paid $13,500 plus upgrades to the distribution boxes to the value of another $4,500 (or thereabouts from memory).

That makes my 3.5 kw system around $18,000 at that time. Not counting modifications I had to do to the shed purlins.

However have not paid a bill since install and well into credit, I give it another 2 years and it will have paid for itself.

[CJR09]

Originally Posted by poppa smurf

I paid $13,500 plus upgrades to the distribution boxes to the value of another $4,500 (or thereabouts from memory).

That makes my 3.5 kw system around $18,000 at that time. Not counting modifications I had to do to the shed purlins.

However have not paid a bill since install and well into credit, I give it another 2 years and it will have paid for itself.

I am not saying it isn't "worth" it because it entirely IS "worth" it - just saying Australia has a better rebate & FIT system, New Zealand has nothing apart from a miserly $0.08 FIT

As long as you get your economic payback prior to expiry of warranties then you are well and truly ahead

[poppa smurf]

I think in the near future, some places it is already here, we will see zero F.I.T., in fact we solar producers will be smacked around the wallet with a "line usage".

Or so I've heard on the gripevine.

Whether or not it is deemed to be worthwhile is in the hands of the individual, all information must be weighed up before a decision can be made.

[burkill89]

yeah love it want more asap

[deesun]

When the FIT end in whatever year depending on state etc what will happen the electricity fed back into the system free of charge? Will we all be calling up our electrician to disconnect x number of panels?

[xisled]

Originally Posted by CJR09

I am not saying it isn't "worth" it because it entirely IS "worth" it - just saying Australia has a better rebate & FIT system, New Zealand has nothing apart from a miserly $0.08 FIT

As long as you get your economic payback prior to expiry of warranties then you are well and truly ahead

Most states in Australia have a similar buy back.

Victoria is currently 8 cents FIT and NSW is even lower.

[zeuss000]

Most states in Australia have a similar buy back.
Victoria is currently 8 cents FIT and NSW is even lower..


If you shop around you will find some better deals, i am using Click energy and they are paying me 18 cents FIT, still pretty miserable but 10 cents over what the Qld gov is paying..
Cheers
Ed

[Bushbasher]

In SA it's 9c FIT . The govt. rebate of 16c ended in September 13. I'm on 25c FIT till 2016 when the rebate ends for me. And unless the suppliers up the price they'll pay to at least what they pay each other when they buy power then at that time we'll be looking into going off grid completely with batteries and supplementing the solar with wind turbines.

[Crazy Dazz]

The 8.9 cents FIT is a TOTAL RIP-OFF.

In WA, metering and "supply" is handled by Western Power. They connect you up and maintain the infrastructure. I have to pay them for the new meter, we pay them a supply charge, and they ultimately approve the feed in system.

In Perth (& SouthWest WA) our provider is Synergy. Businesses over a certain size can choose a different provider, but residential consumers are stuck with Synergy. They slashed the FIT on the gronds that they are only required to reimburse the COST of the power to them. They claim the other 75% of the price is "overheads."
Keep in mind that they don't actually distribute the power, what they mean by "overheads" is administration.
Problem was, under the contracts set up when the system was corporatised, Verve Energy (who do most of the generating) went bankrupt, meaning that they couldn't make a quid at 8c cents a kwh.
The government's great solution? Re-merging Verve & Synergy. So synergy now gets to set its own wholesale price, and can effectively cover-up the fact that it is too low.

[sgt_doofey]

I received a letter from Origin (our electricity provider) to say that our FIT is being reduced by 2.2c/kWh, down to 23.6c/kWh. This is effective 13th Jan.
Thank you essential services commission of south Australia for lowering the minimum feed in tariff.


Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk

[davenl5l]

try agl no reduction yet + discount on what you buy

[prydey]

Originally Posted by deesun

When the FIT end in whatever year depending on state etc what will happen the electricity fed back into the system free of charge? Will we all be calling up our electrician to disconnect x number of panels?

i know it would be too hard to organise, but it would be good if solar customers could arrange a mass shut down of their systems for a day/week or so. supplying your neighbors with power and getting sweet.... for it, is a joke and the govt just sits on its hands as usual.

its a mystery why solar isn't encouraged rather than penalised. from the very start, they should have taken the dollar value out of the equation and had a unit for unit type rebate. for every kw/h you pump in to the grid, you get a kw/h free.

[GasoLane]

Originally Posted by prydey

its a mystery why solar isn't encouraged rather than penalised. from the very start, they should have taken the dollar value out of the equation and had a unit for unit type rebate. for every kw/h you pump in to the grid, you get a kw/h free.

Agreed Rob, I often wonder why the 'save the gay whale tree hugging' greenies haven't pushed for it, after all for every solar house out there it's a little bit less coming from power stations.

It wouldn't be because State Governments get a large percentage of the energy income though would it ?

[prydey]

Originally Posted by GasOLane

It wouldn't be because State Governments get a large percentage of the energy income though would it ?

ahh, if only it wasn't that transparent!

why is it that every scheme with some sort of govt rebate attached ends up going pear shaped??

lpg, rain water tanks, insulation, solar......

[sgt_doofey]

Originally Posted by davenl5l

try agl no reduction yet + discount on what you buy

Give them time...

I get a 12% "discount" from Origin on the plan I'm on.

[Crazy Dazz]

Originally Posted by GasOLane

Agreed Rob, I often wonder why the 'save the gay whale tree hugging' greenies haven't pushed for it,

Because usually they are too busy pushing their other loopy left-wing agendas. They actually don't like schemes that benefit capitalist pigs who own private property.

[comagutsa]

Originally Posted by Pepscobra

So guys, I'm very new to solar power, but looking to go solar on our house when we move back to Perth early next year.
We've got an average size house with fully ducted reverse cycle Airconditioning; what size system should I be looking at? 3kw?
About how many sqm of panel surface is that?
What budget should I allow?
Any recommendations for suppliers/installers here in Perth please?
Cheers.

hey Joe
we will have a beer and i can tell you all about my solar
is it worth it ..the million $ question???
for me i don't believe it is because of our crap WA synergy buy back of 8.8c for every unit you export back to them , then they sell it back to you at full price
eg look at my last bill i posted on here
exported 861units = a whole $76.22 credit
i used 251units
total bill = $15.15 WTF

251units = $59.11
the supply charge is $23.96 haha nearly cost more for that than what i used oh then the $8.31 for gst


bloody crap

i have worked it out and it will take me approx 7 years to pay for the system and by that time solar technology would have come along way

you being that the mrs will be home with the little fella it maybe worth getting it as thats when you save now (during the day you use the power you make instead of exporting it)
but if its me i would just get the biggest system we can get (5kw) and put that on, over kill yes but hey cover you usuage and export some to get as much of that 8.8c we get back for every unit


its such a rort .. think of all those houses out there with solar exporting back into the grid and synergy only paying 8.8c for it and then selling the power that didnt cost them anything to produce back to us for at 23c unit making a good profit but the state gov still saying they need to raise the price of power even though they are making a killing

[Bushbasher]

It's getting to the point where it's better to invest in a stand alone system with batteries, and run a generator for those times when you get extended overcast periods. Either that or supplement the solar with wind turbines.

I reckon a 5kw system with a couple of 1kw wind turbines and battery storage for say 48hrs worth of power, will be enough to keep the average household going indefinitely as long as you're not stupid and use high drawing item all the time like bar heaters and clothes dryers. A well insulated and energy efficient home should ***** it in.

In our house, were gearing ourselves towards that end. LED lighting, plenty of skylights and light tubes, the most energy efficient appliances we can get as they need updating etc.. Next on the list is solar hot water then a decent modern combustion heater for winter. For heavy power draw items that are used periodically and for worst case scenario events I'll be getting a small gen set, maybe 3kw max.


Bushbasher

[irish2]

Originally Posted by prydey

i know it would be too hard to organise, but it would be good if solar customers could arrange a mass shut down of their systems for a day/week or so. supplying your neighbors with power and getting sweet.... for it, is a joke and the govt just sits on its hands as usual.

its a mystery why solar isn't encouraged rather than penalised. from the very start, they should have taken the dollar value out of the equation and had a unit for unit type rebate. for every kw/h you pump in to the grid, you get a kw/h free.

Maybe because it is actually costing more than it is worth. In some areas where residences have taken up solar in a big way, energy companies have had to install extra transformers to spike the extra power to earth. It also doesn't stop the fact that each household needs the same amount of money spent on the "grid" for maintenance and upgrades. It also hasn't allowed energy companies to wind down generators to burn less coal.

Until a cost effective way to store solar is found, it will just be hot air for making power outside of the peak power times.

[irish2]

Originally Posted by Bushbasher

It's getting to the point where it's better to invest in a stand alone system with batteries, and run a generator for those times when you get extended overcast periods. Either that or supplement the solar with wind turbines.

I reckon a 5kw system with a couple of 1kw wind turbines and battery storage for say 48hrs worth of power, will be enough to keep the average household going indefinitely as long as you're not stupid and use high drawing item all the time like bar heaters and clothes dryers. A well insulated and energy efficient home should ***** it in.

In our house, were gearing ourselves towards that end. LED lighting, plenty of skylights and light tubes, the most energy efficient appliances we can get as they need updating etc.. Next on the list is solar hot water then a decent modern combustion heater for winter. For heavy power draw items that are used periodically and for worst case scenario events I'll be getting a small gen set, maybe 3kw max.


Bushbasher

The reason nobody does this, is the massive space taken up by the batteries. It is also a $30,000 plus cost, with the batteries needed replacing about every 5 years. It is not worth it.

[Bushbasher]

I met a bloke in the middle of Adelaide who was off grid and he was using reconditioned electric forklift batteries as storage. He was running 3 of them and had one as a back up in the rotation so periodically he could get them reconditioned. It was much cheaper and took up a lot less space than a big a$$ bank of deep cycle batteries in racks that take up an entire room.

[LG17]

A decent standalone system is down to the low $20s now!

[Pepscobra]

Originally Posted by irish2

The reason nobody does this, is the massive space taken up by the batteries. It is also a $30,000 plus cost, with the batteries needed replacing about every 5 years. It is not worth it.

Yet...

[poppa smurf]

Originally Posted by LG17

A decent standalone system is down to the low $20s now!

a decent system can be done for less than that.

[paule11]

Latest bill $25 credit pretty good for North QLD pool use was up due to needing chlorinator cell replaced . Next bill wont be as good with the heat and air conditioning use