Solar power.

[redsquash]

Was just thinking about the solar power rebates on offer and how we can use them to our advantage.
what about this... Fit solar electric in the IP claim installation costs, Take over electricity bills from the tenant, claim electricity bills, make income on the sell back scheme. More to depreciate. put rent up because no electric bills for tenant, Also the value would go up as solar power is fitted.

Go on tear it apart!!

Yeah I know the tenant will have every electric appliance known to man. What about a threshold on the power consumed by the tenant?
Anything over a certain amount they have to pay?

what do you reckon?

GOOD IDEA.
First you have to have this as a PPR to claim rebates.
Only after it reverts to an IP will you be able to claim as you would under the tax system.
Not sure of the depreciation rate of Electric solar systems. That would be important

Work out the electricity use to be included in the rent and give the tenants a refund of rent when they use less electricity than a set amount, otherwise I cant see it working.

it would take a special tenant to agree to this and I think you wont end up with what you expect.

 

[BV]

Does anyone know about the quality of these cheap panels?

Hard to tell what the differences are.
The cheaper players seem to be making money from their volume of sales.
Bigger purchasing power means lower panel prices.

Looking at the quotes I got so far, I'm leaning towards eco kinetics. because they don't charge extra for tile roof and don't ask for a deposit upfront.
I did some research and I can't find any bad feedback on them either.

Their inverter is made in Germany
http://www.eco-kinetics.com/assets/files/1110 Oelmaier Inverter Poster.pdf
and their panels are made in china
http://www.eco-kinetics.com/assets/files/ECOKES Data Sheet.pdf

 

[BV]

I live on my own

Some companies won't install far from city areas
so if you want a cheap price you'll have to get together with other people and place a bulk order for 5 or 10 systems

a 1.5 system would suit me and I'd have it soon payed for it self

Dylan
The way I understand it, the electricity produced from your panels goes straight to the grid and your electricity provider gives you 60-68c/Kw credit and you buy it back at 18c/Kw. If you don't want your system connected to the grid I don't know if you'll get the RFC discount. Maybe you do but check it out

 

[perky29]

Hi Bill,
Mine was through Clear Solar (now know as Spectrum Solar). Slightly cheaper as I had the old 8k rebate.
That price you got quoted is very good. Anything under $2999 is very good.
Just to let you also know - the cost for the level 2 technician to connect the Inverter to the meter (connect to the grid) for me was $350 (plus gst) which appears to be the going rate.

Also, we finally got that level 2 guy do it this morning - so from first sign up its taken exactly 12 months !!!!!!!!
Anyone signing up now should take around 3 to 4 months.

 

[BV]

Hi Bill,
That price you got quoted is very good. Anything under $2999 is very good.
Just to let you also know - the cost for the level 2 technician to connect the Inverter to the meter (connect to the grid) for me was $350 (plus gst) which appears to be the going rate.
Also, we finally got that level 2 guy do it this morning - so from first sign up its taken exactly 12 months !!!!!!!!
Anyone signing up now should take around 3 to 4 months.

Thanks Dave,
Yes, I'm convinced that the price is good so I'll be signing up next week
cheers

 

[Cherry Pro]

Hi ..Skater, at $2k you undoubtedly got a very good price.

We had our 1.5 KW system from Origin installed yesterday at $2999 on an instalment basis. Now hopefully the Level 2 electrician will come around before not too long (Perky did you organise him yourself as we were told that Origin would organise their man ??) and we can have this up and runninng. We should have recovered our cost in about 2.8 years.

Cheers

 

[Dylan33]

Any of you guys have an ancient power board? I think this is going to be my problem. My place was built in 1921 and I think I still have the original electrics.

 

[Witzl]

Dylan
The way I understand it, the electricity produced from your panels goes straight to the grid and your electricity provider gives you 60-68c/Kw credit and you buy it back at 18c/Kw. If you don't want your system connected to the grid I don't know if you'll get the RFC discount. Maybe you do but check it out

ALMOST correct....

Unfortunately, when you upgrade to a GROSS feed-in meter, you are also automatically "upgraded" to the new "SMART-METER" time-of-use metering for the electricity you buy.

Time of use metering costs more than your current $0.17/kWh for all electricity consumed... it charges you more for using power during PEAK periods, and less during off peak:

off-peak (10pm-7am) = $0.0814/kWh
Shoulder (7am-2pm, 8pm-10pm) = $0.1408/kWh
Peak (2pm-8pm) = $0.3564

Info here:
http://www.energyaustralia.com.au/S...mart-time-based-pricing/PowerSmart-rates.aspx



Dylan - the age of your meterbox should not be an issue.

 

[Zhouse01]

Just got the quotes today. Seems to cost far more than the guy at bunnings had said (his company wasnt in the quoted companies).

 

[BV]

Just got the quotes today. Seems to cost far more than the guy at bunnings had said (his company wasnt in the quoted companies).

No the Bunnings company wasn't quoted through solarchoice.

Are you saying that solarchoice quoted you a higher price?
Don't look at the individual item prices,
look at the price after the rebates are applied where it says FINAL TOTAL

 

[Witzl]

$10K for a 4.5kW system was always far too cheap IMO.
The RECs are worth about $9100 for 4.5kW in Sydney... so that makes it a $19,100 price.

Install would be around $3-4K for such a large system.
So that leave around $15,000-16,000 for the cost of the system components, which is well below what the cost of the parts are.

I would estimate closer to $15,000, maybe more, installed price after rebates/RECs.

 

[redsquash]

I wrote earlier you have to have the residence as a PPR to claim rebates how ever that was under the old system according to origin energy who I spoke with today. They informed me the place can be an IP or residence.Sorry for the misinformation

 

[BV]

I wrote earlier you have to have the residence as a PPR to claim rebates how ever that was under the old system according to origin energy who I spoke with today. They informed me the place can be an IP or residence.Sorry for the misinformation

Wow, this makes it interesting,
I should look into it then for 1 of my GOOD tenants

 

[Dylan33]

Ok To those who already have them installed, how about telling us who are the good guys/ quality products/ don't touch with a barge pole/ duds/ ripoffs. What have been your experiences?
There seems to be a lot of interest on this subject. Share.

 

[NOT 2 L8]

Hi All,

I have spent a lot of the past 6 months looking at options for a solar system for our new home. There is a lot of info out there and one could easily get bamboozled by it all.

I have found the most informative forum here http://forums.energymatters.com.au/

The contributors are seriously into PV and consist of all facets of industry including designers, installer, electricians, supplier inspectors etc. and some of them have been working with it for many years.

Whilst the forum is run by a retailer, the posters are totally unbiased in their information.

In my case, I have decided to source my panels from China (most of them are made there anyway) however I will be buying a German inverter here in Aus as it is the heart of the system. You also need to be very sure of your installer as they can make or break the system. There is a huge number of new kids on the block due to the sudden popularity of PV and just because they are accredited it does not mean they know what they are doing.

Installing PV involves a lot more than just chucking some panels on your roof and watching the dollars roll in. You need to do some serious DD. Check this out to get some idea of what can happen to the unsuspecting. http://forums.energymatters.com.au/solar-wind-gear/topic1041.html.

Don't get me wrong, PV is great as long as YOU don't get it wrong. Go forth, do your DD and get green. It WILL reward you for your efforts.

Cheers.

Chrisv

 

[Witzl]

Gotta agree with Chrisv recommending doing your own DD, and making sure that you get an installer who knows what they are doing.

A few quick points of what you should keep in mind when an installer is quoting on a system for you:
- solar panels should be mounted on a north facing roof to collect maximum solar light
- if north facing is not available, north-west is next best
- solar panels SIGNIFICANTLY reduce their output under even partial shading.
- shading of one panel in a string of panels will cause excessive heat buildup in that shaded panel, which WILL damage the panel
- panels should not be mounted on different roof surfaces, unless they are on separate strings and on separate string inputs to your inverter. All panels should be on the same roof plane facing the same direction

I'd go into more detail, but i think i would go over most people's heads