Thread: solar power.

Hi Lloyd,

We have installed both solar panels and solar hot water. Panels went in last August and the hot water went in in December last year. So far we have only had to boost the hot water twice since it was installed. Our solar panels are only 1.5kw and combined with the hot water system we have had bills in credit of $50 + each quarter. Apparently talking to others it helps if you wash at night and use your power sparingly also helps your consumption. We haven't really been that strict with it and have run the aircon as we have needed it with out much concern. I reckon if your living in QLD and have the chance to jump onto the solar band wagon its worth the money. What sort of system were you looking at? Tip I found when buying is that the supplier will sell you in bulk the panels at a discounted rate. We wanted to add two more panels to our system to bring it up to 2kw and it was going to cost us another $1600 to have the extra panels installed. We only paid $2700 for the original system.

Thanks for your reply Dave ,the unit we were thinking of putting in would have to cover our usage now, and be capable of giving us air conditioning at a later date, our usage is at the present time is about $272 a quarter without air conditioning and a system of 1.5 kw wouldn't handle it,would that be right .

I follow you about using power at night as we are only paying 19 cents a kw for grid and we would get payed 44 cents a kw for the surplus going into the grid during the day that's right isn't it.

Lloyd.

44c sounds right. Origin were the only company offering it at 50c kw but I was happy with the 44c. Its saving us money and that is all we wanted it for. The big saver for us is the solar hot water system. We had looked at gas but it wasn't as economical as the solar. We also insulted the roof as well which has helped our energy usage as well.

Dave my worry about putting solar energy, is really is who to trust when i'm looking at what these solar company are offering ,the prices vary so much and a lot of stuff comes out of china these days ,not to say all that comes out of china is crook ,far from it.

I want to be fairly certain that the solar i put on my roof wont give me trouble and will generate what i sign up to ,so price wise ,and durability ,long life to me is pretty high on the list.

I'm getting a visit to have a look at a system in about a weeks time but what i can make of the here say and so on there systems are pretty well in the top of the range price wise and the panels and inverters and other stuff are suppose to be very good,so i will see.and thanks four input.
Lloyd.

WHen we put our system in, I googled for reviews of the components - panels and inverter. There is also quite a lot of info about the various brands on the Whirlpool forum - there is a green forum there.

I'v been on the Whirlpool site and there seems to be a number of installers on it will keep an open mind ,just something that was in my mind was as the government rebate id reduced that might have a bearing on the price that some solar units are offered at ,i'm not saying that prices will drop by large percentages but prices should get keener.

Lloyd.

Originally Posted by bluegum30

just something that was in my mind was as the government rebate id reduced that might have a bearing on the price that some solar units are offered at ,i'm not saying that prices will drop by large percentages but prices should get keener.

Lloyd.

I think you are right in that regard, but I doubt that it will outweigh the premium price that is paid to you for your excess power. The power generators are being paid somewhere between 3c and 3.5c per KWH. You are being charged between 19c and 22c (depending on where you are) for retail power consumption and your excess solar power is purchased at 44c. It is an exceptional deal that cannot last. I think Queensland is the only state where this arrangement is still available. The other states have already cut it off.

Regards
Paul

I had my system (2.2kw) installed by Solargain. I cannot speak highly enough about the Melbourne branch. Very professional, very helpful, very friendly. My experience with them was excellent.

Of course, I cannot speak for the Queensland branch.

Keep the usage during the day to a minimum, to maximise your return to the grid:

- Put the washer: clothes or dish on overnight
- Use the kettle on the gas not the electric one (Most have a 2kW element in them.)
- Turn things off at the unit or wall not with the remote. This puts them in Standby and they still pull power.
- Give the electric toothbrush the heave-ho.

Get as big a system as you can afford now, you only get the Govt rebates on your first layout, so any subsequent panels will cost you full price.

Inverters look at SMA, Aurora or Fronius these are all European and by far the most reliable and have been around for decades. There are lots and lots of cheap ones coming through that could be just as good but don't have the track record yet.



Ron (A 5kW system installed by SkyPower, very happy.)

2 people I work with used this lot:

Solar Products and Solar Services for you: Solar Energy, Solar Panels, Solar Power and more

not the cheapest but they use quality components. One of the chaps is a sparky and pretty sharp. He looked into it before buying. His system went in about 6 years ago and he recently upgraded to 4 kw or something. The other chap did it about 3 years ago. Both still happy with what they got.

There are previous threads here about which inverters to buy and not to buy. Lots of good information available (as is usual for this forum).

[QUOTE=bluegum30;1480693]Dave my worry about putting solar energy, is really is who to trust when i'm looking at what these solar company are offering ,the prices vary so much and a lot of stuff comes out of china these days ,not to say all that comes out of china is crook ,far from it.

Lloyd,

We ended up going with true value solar. Found them quite competative price wise but there are some better deals out there than when we hooked up last year. They have some good deals at the moment and I sort of wished we had of waited till now but we are happy with the fact we are not getting power bills anymore.

I think that the single best thing you can do for your power bill is solar hot water too.

Energy Matters are pushing a couple of systems at the moment that are 3.185 kw for $6749.00 and $6999.00 that look ok i'm going to put them in the group of 3 quotes for a start .thanks everyone for your input.
Lloyd.




[Energy Matters Special offer](http://www.energymatters.com.au/spec...er-special.php)

An update on a solar system on my house ,there hasn't been a day since my last post when i didn't spend a couple of hours on the computer researching solar power,i'v signed up for 3.4 kw system and this should give us a passive income after our normal electricity bill ,the company i signed with is local in town.

The paperwork was logged with ergon today and when they give their consent it's pretty straight forward i'm told ,so if i'm one of the lucky ones as far as the steps goes i should get in just under the deadline of end of june for goverment money ,if not i'tl cost somewhere around an extra $900 or so .

I'm confident it's the right thing to do and money well spent ,none of my thoughts on whether to put it in centered around being green,having said that there not a lot i chuck away .
Lloyd.