sparkytoad

Is there much use of solar panels for generating electricity, if so do you have a feed in tarrif, get paid for what you generate. Was going great in the yookay, then the government decided to halve it, sort of gone off the boil so to speak, another course/training shelled out on turns to

minky

Theres no subsidy here we are off the grid but do not feed back to the grid but you can do solar panels are still high but going down in price

sparkytoad

Thanks for that.
Price has at least halved over here, not that it would affect things there. All the panels are mainly sourced from china so costs are plummeting,, in my experiance I've found one panel to be as good as the rest, inverters are a lot cheaper too.
Do you use a battery back up system for off grid then?

BEVS

I'm quite interested in this. I'd like to hear more .

scrubbedexpat094

A neighbour of ours got one about 3 years ago now. Seems to have endless trouble with it, problems with condensation I think.

I would be interested in getting it in the future if we can afford it but then I also need a new lounge suite, a new kitchen, double glazing etc. comes to mind

sparkytoad

The feed in tarrif in the uk was 43p a unit, they then slashed it before the revue was due to 21p a unit, this is tax free index linked income for 25yrs. If you don't have a feed in tarrif in NZ, then you would be using the panels to subsidise your electricity costs. Sun comes out, electricity produced use as many appliances in the day as poss lowering your bills, also if you have an analogue electricity meter it may go backwards, don't know about the full ins and outs of it in NZ that's why I'm after some answers if poss.
Example of a 4kw system in the uk last year cost of install 16k, same system this year is now 8k, prices dropped rapidly.
I was wondering if there are electrical contractors over there doing the same kind of install?
Thanks.

minky

We went solar as it was cheaper than to install the electric line as we are rural.Yes we have a pack of batteries as a three day back up and will have the panels to heat the water in summer for winter we have a log boiler that will heat the hot water and the radiators and we actually produce energy even when its over cast.

sparkytoad

Nice one, I was a bit dubious at first, but yeah they do work

BEVS

Not very clear was I

I reasonably know how it works. We used to fit solar hws back in the UK & other 'eco ' type stuff, although not the photovoltaic panels for leccy.

I meant how it has panned out for Minky.

Link Smarter Homes

minky

hi bevs we have not moved in yet so only the panels are working so once all is up and running will let you you know only using it for the trades at the moment and the radio!!

BEVS

Ooo. It'll be exciting the day you move in.

minky

pics of our panels

scrubbedexpat094

Nice . How many have you got in total & what are you planning to use them for ? Just wondering how much power you will get from them.

Our neighbour just has the one large panel to heat water with. Just the two of them living in their house.