Solar Panels

[Success]

Hi all, in Hills Area in Sydney and finally coming around to looking into solar panels for our PPOR which we plan to be in for hopefully rest of our lives.

It's a MINEFIELD out there with so much info ...

So ... anyone :

1) Know where to start.
2) Willing to share their experience / ROI or savings so far ?
3) Know of any REPUTABLE business in Sydney who are happy to quote and size correct equipment ?

Many thanks everyone !!!

 

[bashworth]

Make sure your information is up to date - It used to be a North Facing roof was best as it gives best overall performance . . but now its probably West which gives best performance when you use most of the power (Afternoon and Evenings, also see http://www.anewhouse.com.au/2014/05/solar-power-no-north-facing-roof/)

When comparing panels remember to look at watts per dollar.

Its also well worth looking at the Energy Matters Forum (http://forums.energymatters.com.au/active-topics.html) Although its sponsored by a solar panels company there are many contributors, and existing threads, that provide good advice.

 

[Ed Barton]

A little off topic...

It's long been touted that 'soon' battery technology and price will mean solar panels will allow people to live completely off the grid.

I was at my dad's place on the weekend. He's one of those older guys who likes to have a radio in the background tuned to some AM station. Anyway I heard an ad for batteries for your solar panels to allow you to live off the grid (be green and save money). I didn't hear the whole ad but I think we're one step closer to 'soon'.

 

[Perp]

I literally just - within the last 10 minutes - asked for three quotes from this site: Solar Quotes.

Obviously I have no idea yet whether they're any good or not, but certainly seems like a good concept.

 

[Dylan33]

Check out The Science show podcast from the ABC on solar power. They were saying that soon there will be domestic solar batterie packs which will almost kill off the power companies in ten years. We will be able to live off grid and have stored power to use without sunshine. The power companies will go into a death spiral where domestic power prices will increase so much because it will gradually be cheaper to buy the solar systems than keep connected to the grid.

The government made a huge mistake with the deal they signed with the power companies. They are being paid on the amount of infrastructure they build and not on how much power they produce. Which means now we have a power station in Newcastle that has never been switched on. And we all pay through the nose for unused facilities and equipment!

Also new technology will soon be on the market that reduces greatly the size of solar collectors. There is even a paint they are experimenting with which is photo voltaic so you will be able to just paint the roof with it and connect it up to your batterie pack.

This industry is shortly going to explode. It will be the death Nell for greedy power companies.
It's a fascinating program if you can listen to it. Also if you're interested there's also a good one on 3D printers and how they're the next big thing.