neiluk

Hi all
We have just brought a house and i am looking at having solar panels put in can anyone reccomend a good company and does anyone have any idea of the out lay for a four bedroom house we are in yanchep in perth.
thanks neil

Centurion

This has been fairly discussed in the past.

Couple of things.

Solar panels for electricity are basically a waste of time. Having spoken to Energex at length about the various options, even the top rated system will do little more than power my lights and a few appliances. I will still draw from the grid. Economically its a no no.

To quote Energex - Basically the storage technology for the electricity in domestic properties simply isnt there. Bang went my idea of being all green and smug when the power goes.

Solar hot water - we have a new Chromagen which is a flat panel on the roof with a tank to the side of the house. Couldnt be more pleased with it.

neiluk

hi
thanks for that the hot water system is another thing we want to cost wise what would u be lookin g at
cheers neil

geordie downunder

The solar hot water system has been on top of my roof for 30 yrs,solahart,the sacrificial anode has to be replaced every 7 yrs (around $100).Depending on how big your family is it may not be the right thing,there is no control over temperature so young children may be scalded by it,the water gets very hot.The tank holds 300ltrs,if everyone has a shower at night then there is no hot water in the morning and you need to use the electric booster.If you have heavy hot water needs in winter then it is probably not suitable.For us (me and the cook) it is perfect.For a while the house was rented out to a young couple with two children and they did nothing but complain about it,never any hot water when it was needed.I think they cost around $2500 to $3000 now but not sure,the state govt in WA did have grants towards it but not sure they still have.The fashion now seems to be for instantaneous gas hot water systems,makes sense to me,if it breaks down it will be replaced by one of those.The house next door has the same system and it broke down after 10 yrs and was too expensive to repair/replace.Modern systems are probably better,they tend to be black now to soak up more heat rather than the polished stainless that mine is made of.Solahart (if they are still going) or solar edwards should have web sites that will give you more info.