To solar or not to solar

lizzie

lizzie

I know this question comes up a bit - but received and flyer in the mail today from my service provider, advising install of 3kw solar panel system from $4,500.

Judging on what a 3kw system puts out, in our area, and given our supposed "low" usage of power ... makes me wonder if it's worth putting a 10kw system on the roof.

We have the room and 6kw would cover all our needs plus some ... and means the system would be paid off in around 4-5 years.

We already have solar hot water.

I guess it's a no brainer really ... any advice on who is doing the best price atm?
 
lizzie said:
I know this question comes up a bit - but received and flyer in the mail today from my service provider, advising install of 3kw solar panel system from $4,500.
Click to expand...

Coincidentally I just signed a contract today to put in a 5kw system - cost ~$6K, with an option to add a further 5kw in the future. The govt is threatening to remove the subsidy/rebate & apparently the cost will rise by approx 50%.

I used http://www.solarchoice.net.au/index.php to get a couple of quotes - they were all lower than what my service provider quoted.
 
keithj said:
Coincidentally I just signed a contract today to put in a 5kw system - cost ~$6K, with an option to add a further 5kw in the future. The govt is threatening to remove the subsidy/rebate & apparently the cost will rise by approx 50%.

I used http://www.solarchoice.net.au/index.php to get a couple of quotes - they were all lower than what my service provider quoted.
Click to expand...

I do recall when the government stopped the rebate for energy efficient hot water
a few years ago the prices actually dropped. I think a lot of the rebates actually
artificially inflate the prices so to help the big boys become fatter.
 
Rang service provider for a base price to compare ... can only fit 4.5kwh system on the roof ... so looking at $6,500 interest free over 24 months and fully paid off in savings (based on average bill usage) within 4 years.

Very tempted.
 
lizzie said:
Thanks for that ... just did the Solarchoice option. Looking at 7kw. Who did you end up going thru?
Click to expand...
Naturalsolar, but they mostly appear to use same panel brands & inverters & come in at roughly the same price. They reckon they can install in 3-4 weeks.

It's a no-brainer for me - we have high usage.


lizzie said:
can only fit 4.5kwh system on the roof
Click to expand...
Have a look at http://maps.six.nsw.gov.au/ to see size/orientation/shading of your roof.
 
Good choice, solar is a good investment in the future. If the system pays itself off in 5 years, that's like a 20% return on your investment each year :)... sounds pretty good to me!
 
Cool thread -

My PPOR, which also doubles as an investment for me, has 3 properties on it. My actual PPOR (which has me + 3 friends living there) and 2 granny flats out the back. All on the one meter, all paid by me. Just charge everyone 20% or so above market rent to "cover" the bills.

Anyway, needless to say my power bills are absolutely exorbitant, in the vicinity of 10k/yr. Would solar be a good choice for a place like this?
 
Simon said:
I am told micro inverters are the better choice . Is this just marketing?

Anyone an expert here?
Click to expand...

Marketing. Minor benefits but at the expense of an inverter that has fewer features. Grid companies are baulking at them as they are relatively dumb. Too early to tell whether they will win out on price, which is the most important issue.

There is a wide variety in inverter and panel quality out there. Australia has become the world's dumping ground for bottom tier products as everyone just focuses on the headline price and can't tell the difference between good and bad quality. And the good stuff is unfortunately a fair bit more expensive (as per anything else - by and large you get what you pay for).

And the industry is full of two dollar companies supplying long warranties - only to fold in a couple of years and come back with another name. Although this has cleaned up a bit recently.

keithj said:
Coincidentally I just signed a contract today to put in a 5kw system - cost ~$6K, with an option to add a further 5kw in the future. The govt is threatening to remove the subsidy/rebate & apparently the cost will rise by approx 50%.

I used http://www.solarchoice.net.au/index.php to get a couple of quotes - they were all lower than what my service provider quoted.
Click to expand...

50% is far too high. General consensus in the industry is the current path for the RET to be removed will mean prices keep dropping albeit slowly now because the price of panels and inverters keeps getting cheaper. But labour and wiring etc isn't getting cheaper so that is slowing things up. I can remember when panels used to be over two thirds of a project value. Now they are under 1/3 and dropping fast. The future of solar price reductions relies on how to make the installation / balance of plant cheaper...

If they take the RET away completely right now the price will go up a bit but that will be enough to send an awful lot of SMEs to the wall. Political suicide but nevertheless still possible.
 
jeromanomic said:
Good choice, solar is a good investment in the future. If the system pays itself off in 5 years, that's like a 20% return on your investment each year :)... sounds pretty good to me!
Click to expand...

Yes but don't forget you lose your capital completely after 15 or so years, depending on what you buy. The cheap stuff might last ten years if you're lucky (less for cheap inverters). The good stuff will likely get twenty five years. Worth paying a bit more in that context...
 
rohan22no said:
Cool thread -

My PPOR, which also doubles as an investment for me, has 3 properties on it. My actual PPOR (which has me + 3 friends living there) and 2 granny flats out the back. All on the one meter, all paid by me. Just charge everyone 20% or so above market rent to "cover" the bills.

Anyway, needless to say my power bills are absolutely exorbitant, in the vicinity of 10k/yr. Would solar be a good choice for a place like this?
Click to expand...

Worth investigating at the very least.

Personally I'm focussing on putting in some batteries and getting off the grid completely because in WA we get no credit for avoiding network charges. Solar production only gets 7 cents but we are getting charged 25 cents for what we consume.

Time to stick the network companies in the eye and let them know they aren't a monopoly anymore. Couldn't happen to a nicer bunch of blokes! :rolleyes: I don't pretend this course of action is particularly profitable for most people yet but it's coming and in the meantime I have my own reasons...
 
Simon said:
So what brands should we use?

I have Kyocera panels on my yacht and happy with their performance.
Click to expand...

Hi Simon

My background is in large scale solar projects >10MW (10,000kW) and this world is different. Project success depends on the financial backing behind the company making the performance guarantees on the whole system (panels and inverters) or the bank will take a dim view of financing the project. Without a significant proportion of bank debt, the cost of capital will be too high to be competitive (just like any other power technology).

I would be checking whether your panels and inverters have been deployed on large scale projects around the world. Some of the brands that come to mind include Sunpower, Hanwha Q Cells, Jingli and a few others. Inverters are more tricky but SMA is the safe bet. Not many quality options in the resi space really as product that works well overseas often fails here due to temp and other environmental issues. No substitute for DYOR really but a lot of people make do with the cheap inverters and replace them every five years. An SMA inverter should last ten years but of course some have failed earlier and others later - it's a bell curve...
 
As power prices increase your pay-off period decreases as well. I say go for it. If you're looking to make money it will be difficult, if you're looking to minimize your costs I've always thought 4-5 kW is about the sweet spot.
 
Hi there

I came across these recently and confess that I have not read them thoroughly or tried the simulator, but it is set up for NSW and Vic

http://shop.ata.org.au/shop/solar-electricity this 50 page booklet costs $5

http://www.tec.org.au/images/reports/TEC factsheet D13.pdf this is free

http://www.ata.org.au/ata-research/sunulator needs excel and you need details of usage and pricing.

On the ATA home site are various forums and one covers solar and energy usage http://www.ata.org.au/forums/forum/3 may be worth a read

Hope these may be of some use

Cheers
Kevin
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

westminster
Instantaneous electric hot water systems
Replies
18
Views
3K
chrispy
chrispy
lizzie
Renovation food for thought
Replies
3
Views
709
boeman
B
westminster
Q?: if you buy a house with Solar panels and feed contract is that transferable to yo
Replies
4
Views
958
westminster
westminster
westminster
PPOR Wishlists: what do you like/wish for/fantastic ideas etc
2 3
Replies
52
Views
6K
westminster
westminster
T
Solar Hot Water
Replies
5
Views
1K
Tim86
T
Back
Top