I currently have one of these...

http://www.sharp.net.au/product-cata...ducts/JH1600E/

and 7 x 220w panels.

I want to add but am 99% sure I can't just throw another panel into this setup, so have a couple of questions.

1) If I bought one of these...

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Sharp-JH1...item3f20aedf6d

Which is the same thing, plus another 7 panels (prob start with 1 or 2 and upgrade as we go), can I just add the lot to the roof and get professionally connected to the current setup?

And linked to question 1...

2) I managed to get locked into 50C a kw with Origin, now will they just give me the 50C for whatever I generate, or will they kick a fit if I start churning out 3kw odd over the current 1.5kw?!

I dunno, hence the questions.

Cheers for any advice.

(Does Broad Shoulders still frequent this place I wonder)

There is a very useful forum on whirlpool.net which will answer your question. http://forums.whirlpool.net.au/forum/143

BB

Should've thought of trying Whirlpool!

Much appreciated, cheers

Any electricity you generate goes to supply you first off, any excess gets exported for money. SO, You need to use as little electricity as possible during the day so it exports the maximum amount. Do all washing, baking etc after it goes dark. I'm just trying to get used to this rather strange way of doing things.

Yeah am aware of this, but unfortunately I have 3 - 5 adults at home during the day most of the week so def not getting the best use of the system, but one day they'll be gone! ...

Still dunno if I can just add to it and with another setup tho! ...

Do now, and it's a no go! ...

The contract states an inverter the max size of 1.6kw, so having a 1.6kw setup already it stops there.

Worth a try tho.

Your inverter running 1.88kw of panels
no idea what your Voc is so it may not apply to your setup .

http://webcache.googleusercontent.co...ient=firefox-a

Any addition probably would be looked at as a variation of your contract with he power company and depending on the way they look at it, they may give you the higher amount for what you signed for and a lesser amount for the extra panels which provide more power. The tariff has been decreased considerably now for new solar users.

Our inverter is larger as we have 16 panels and so we had to get the next size up so we do have leeway with ours, not that we are gong to increase ours as we are more than happy with the return. We have not paid a bill for over 12 months and the power company owes us four hundred dollars presently.

We get 67 cents on export.

In QLD, your agreement is for a certain invertor size. If you have a 44c agreement, and increase your invertor over your agreement then you drop to 8c export.

http://www.cleanenergy.qld.gov.au/de.../323.htm#ccccc

Other major catches.

1) Move in/out then you only get 8c for the installed system.
2) Have a 44c agreement ( pre July 2012 ), then you need to install by June 2013 to get that export tariff, otherwise you lose it.

Yeah I guess I should've got say a 3kw from the start, but didn't have the funds! I guess I'm happy to be locked into the 44C (altho sure Origin bump to 50C) tariff so all good. I've only got a 1.5kw setup and it makes about 9,000 whatever it makes per day at the moment. Not sure if good, but knocks off $100 - $150 off the quarterly bill so not complaining really.

Now I just gotta try and get the rest of the family OUT of the house during the day so I can sell more to Origin instead of using it all up! ...

Thanks for the help ...