I know it's been done previously, but solar power seems like a bit of a moveable feast, so I was wondering what people's current (no pun) thoughts are on solar power.

I've had a chap around from Solaris and he's quoting a 4kw system at $11000. Does this sound reasonable?

We're in Brisbane and our power usage is roughly 1400 kws a quarter (approx $300).

Had a good hard look at this option during my major reno.... I've decided that the money is better spent on low energy appliances and lighting, insulation and double glazing.

When I can generate 4 kwh per hour with less than 8 panels or via window film then I maybe interested. Too much hardware for too little return in my view.

We are in Townsvilel and have had a 4.2Kw system installed last year. It consists of 22 Panels on a North facing roof with no shading through the day.

We had a power issue with the supply line voltage after Yasi but now that has been fixed the production is good and stable.


September 2011 609 KW hours produced
October 2011 615 KW Hours
November 2011 681 KW Hours
December 2001 647 KW Hours

Qld operates a nett payment system. Your power production first goes to run the house then any excess gets fed back into the grid. So you get most benefit if your out the house through the day. You should also note that if your running air con and pool pumps on tariff 33 they are not counted as being fed from your production, only tariff 11 counts.


$11K for a 4Kw system is at the lower end of what you could expect to pay. I am assuming the prices have dropped a little since we got our system last year.

There are two things to check. What price are the REC's at when used to calculate the costs? The value of the REC's does vary and most calculations seem to vastly over value them. Also check what inverter you are going to be supplied. Last year the Sharp inverters had a poor reputation, so you should be asking for either a Aurora or sunny boy. As our system in installed I have not been keeping up with all the forums regarding the hardware so this may have changed in the last 12 months.

Thanks ozzie. Here in QLD I buy elctricity at 20c/kw and can sell back to the grid at 50c/kw but that might be changing at the next election which is due sometime soon. At 50c/kw and low useage I should be able to get a return on investment in about five years which seems reasonalbe to me.

Thanks for that. Those figures look really impressive. 600kws a month if it was all sold back to the grid (which it won't be) is $300 a month.

Just in investment terms the return is very good on a PV system - $300 per month you may get plus what was deducted from your house bill at generation source on an $11 k investment is over a 30% return on your capital- try to get that in the stock market or savings bank!

A 3KW system is much cheaper ($8000) and may be good enough for your needs.

I assume you already have evacuated tubes for hot water- this can do most of your hot water and is even more efficient that the PV panels.

We're just south of Brisbane and we paid $12K for 3.6KW system. Just got our quarerly bill in yesterday with a credit of $697 (this was for 2 quarters as we didn't get the credit paid out on the last one).

I'm pretty sure the feed-in tariff is 44c/kwh. And you do know that other states have discontinued feed-in tariffs? I wouldn't like to bet too much on Qld continuing to pay what they do.

Good info http://forums.whirlpool.net.au/archive/1831380

[Queensland

The current Queensland Government Solar Bonus Scheme FIT rate for new net metered solar electricity installations is the best in Australia. Eligible customers can receive 44cents/kWh for system sizes up to 5kW.

Origin offers its electricity customers an additional 6cents/kWh, bringing the total FIT rate to 50cents/kWh.]

Thanks for the clarification

Yes some states have discontinued the feed-in tariffs, but I did find the following info

South Australia

The current South Australian FIT rate for eligible net metered solar electricity installations is 16cents/kWh.

Origin offers its electricity customers an additional 6cents/kWh, bringing the total FIT rate to 22cents/kWh.

New South Wales

The FIT rate for Origin electricity customers for gross & net metered solar electricity installations is 6cents/kWh.

Northern Territory

The current FIT rate for net metered solar electricity installations is 40cents/kWh for customers consuming less than 160 MWh per annum, with systems up to 10kVA (single phase) or 30kVA (poly phase).

Victoria

The Victorian Minister for Energy and Resources has announced that it will introduce a new Transitional Feed-in Tariff (TFIT) for properties installing rooftop solar panels. The TFIT will offer eligible solar customer’s 25c/kWh for electricity exported to the grid and will be available from 1 January 2012. The TFIT will also be available for 5 years for customers who sign up to the scheme, thus solar customers can be assured that they’ll continue to receive benefits from the scheme for 5 years*.

As your in Qld it is a very good investment still
our 4.9kW system over one and a half billing periods (3 months ) returned $931 credited to our account.

Just a comparison - hippiesparx -Brisbane
Positronic -
http://www.positronicsolar.com/Products.html

A Womans Spark - Perth
http://www.awomansspark.com.au/?page_id=304

There is a large price difference between the top installations and the Chinese generic brands.
With the top installations the ROI is better than 20%

We used hippiesparx and found him to be excellent.

We have sixteen panels and we are very pleased with ours and we are in Victoria.

We get 67 cents kw hour as we installed before they changed the tariff. Also different5 electrical providers pay different amounts.

We think its well worth it not just for the power reductions but also for the increase in value to property.

We did have a problem at the beginning and it was because of the voltage from the supply company but they came out and reduced the voltage and its working fine. My oh keeps the panels clean as this also makes a difference to power.

We are in credit with our electricity account so happy about that.

We used Solargain and so did two of our friends head office in Perth

Well, I've bitten the bullet and just order a 5.25 kw system (21 panels) with Sunny Boy inverter with Solaris. $13k all in, with $500 off the price and an extra panel for 'free'.