Solar panels
 

Hi , we are in Perth and been thinking about getting solar for a while now , the prices have dropped but then so has the cents they buy it back from you ( I think it's 7 cents now) I'm not looking to make money just cover my bill we use about 15 units a day , so how does this work ?
Q1.. I'm using my electric in the morning / arvo which I'm hopefully making ( so all good) but what about in the evening , when we use lights , tv etc , are we then buying from synergy ? Or does the excess we have made get stored or does the meter turn backwards in the day ( this is what 1 company told me)
Q2...Is it worth waiting to see if the government changes the 7 cents per unit ( if they ever do ) or will the systems go up or down even more?
Q3...who has the best deals with the best quality converters and panel ? It's a minefield now 😏
Thanks
Sue

Re: Solar panels
 

Personally I'm waiting until the dust settles. One positive thing that has happened is the 5 Kwh system I'm considering is now half the price than when I first looked. Great Solar have the 4.94 Kwh system at 8,600 bucks... I've been quoted $16,000 by other companies who visited my house and sat down with me less than 12 months ago.


I wouldnt trust any government to maintain feed back deals. In the meantime I'm insulating my house as much as possible. Got to see how my house runs for a full year with my new extension and appliances... I reckon I've gone from close to 40 KWH per day to circa 28Kwh... maybe less. The remarkable thing about that is, I got rid of my Gas Heater and am running Two Induction reverse cycle Air Cons... so even with the Gas heating taken out I'm running cheaper. Definitely worth investing in new appliances and insulation.


My main bugbear is the amount of panels a 5 Kwh system uses, I reckon that will reduce in time as well.

.

Re: Solar panels
 

I have recently installed a solar system in Perth. I found the Whirlpool Green Tech Forum to have some very useful information. There is a Perth installation thread (very long).

Mods - I know the rules with regards to mention of other forums but hope you will allow this one.

Re: Solar panels
 

We would cover the roof with panals right now to bring down the cost of our leccy bill....

Re: Solar panels
 

Who did you go with? We're looking at installing solar but there's so many companies to choose from.

Re: Solar panels
 

Will send pm

Re: Solar panels
 

Q1
You will use your own power first (approx 9am to 4pm this time of year)
any surplus will be recordered on the smart meter [ you have to have one with PV installations - no other option ]
3kW system will produce "approx" 15 units a day on todays weather - partially cloudy.
During sunlight hours you use 7 units
Overnight usage of 8 units

PV fully covers the 7 units = a saving of 22c x 7 - $1.54
PV makes a credit of 8 units = 7c x 8 - 56c
Daily Supply charge (GST added ) ....... 39c
Overnight usage is.... 8 units x 22c = $1.76

as you can see it doesnt pay to produce more power than can be used during daylight hours .

Q2
The price of power will keep increasing - if the FIT (feed in tariff ) increases thats a bonus but the power price is more important.

Q3
Top quality systems are available from $1500 - $2000 ( very competitive deals are being offered below this also )
1.5kW system would cover all your daylight usage , a 2kW system would allow some margin for error - winter clouds etc.
Savings of $516 year makes it fully paid for in 3 to 4 years - its still a very good option.

as Ballys said whirlpool is required reading - Perth thread
http://forums.whirlpool.net.au/forum....cfm?t=1883861

Re: Solar panels
 

Thanks everyone for all your info
I will check out the website too
:)

Re: Solar panels
 

Do you mean 15 kWh per day?

It's not incredibly bad, but my first approach would always be to see if I could reduce usage, before looking at solar panels.

For a start, its usually free/cheap to not use as much - installing solar panels costs thousands.

Find out where that 15kWh is going, how it's used, and if you can cut it. In general, if you don't already have a good grip on usage, you can usually cut 10-20% out of your bill by stopping doing stoopid stuff.

Re: Solar panels
 

FWIW, in QLD it costs 19c/kw to use electricity but 44c/kw (guaranteed for 25 years) to sell back so it is certainly financially positive to produce more electricity than you need. I don't know if such deals are still available as the cut-off for this was last June which saw the prices of systems plummet.
When buying a system - 2 things to look out for:
1) The "German" manufactured products (yeah, right) may cut-out at 60^C (standard for European install) but these will not be suitable for Australian conditions where you are looking at 70 - 80^C temps being reached on the panels.
2) Make sure the panels are hail-proof - again - not a European spec.

Re: Solar panels
 

Just in case....

http://www.graysonline.com/home-and-...ergy?tab=items

Re: Solar panels
 

Very interesting.

Probably a really stupid question but how do you work out how much you're using during day/evening - my bill just gives average daily consumption (yikes - 32 units)

Re: Solar panels
 

Hi Garry
You mentioned about my usage , yes it's about 15 units a day and yes I know how I can save , I'm getting rid of my 24 yr son soon lol he's moving out , so I'm going to wait and see what my usage is then .
Then my therory is to take a meter reading at 7 am ish and again at 4 pm ish and work out from that what I use and but enough panels to cover that , I don't want to make more electric than I need , why should I sell it back at 7 cents and pay for a big system it doesn't make sense ,,,, I'm keeping my fingers crossed this may change and get a bit more back ...
Cheers
Sue

Re: Solar panels
 

So what names did u use ? I always thought German stuff was the best now I've got no idea what to look for lol

Re: Solar panels
 

Sorry to be thick, but currently it makes sense to get paid (whether this is at cost) or a premium (in excess of current unit price) for any generation in excess of consumption...?

Ah! I see what you are saying: decrease the initial outlay with a smaller system with the aim of breaking even...

The thing is with premium rates floating around up to recently (almost 66c in Victoria) there was a point where having a big system is viable - a sweet spot. It's for you to work out of course.