Solar electricity

[swinks]

good if you can get a good deal but like they say if it "sounds too good to be true" applies to solar, check what panels they are using and what % of efficiency they loose over each year, and also the contract as some will allow for a certain loss in effectiveness each year - BP solar panels are up there and many look like them but after 5 years can only generate 70 of what they were sold to generate.

[Retropin]

good if you can get a good deal but like they say if it "sounds too good to be true" applies to solar, check what panels they are using and what % of efficiency they loose over each year, and also the contract as some will allow for a certain loss in effectiveness each year - BP solar panels are up there and many look like them but after 5 years can only generate 70 of what they were sold to generate.

Ive done quite a bit of research.. the Modern Solar panels ( black XXXX) guarantee a loss of 2% over 25 years.. the ones im looking at are 20% over 25 years which seems to be pretty much the standard. On a hot day expect further losses of 2% for every degree over 25c, so at about 40c in summer my capacity to generate is reduced by up to 30% peak of the day.
The Modern Solar panels do generate more power but at twice the price of anything else it takes almost twice as long to break even.
I should be able to generate around 25KWh a day with the system.. we currently use 20KWh.
Not interested in paying an exorbitant amount to gain some passive income.. its now false economics. With the deal im looking at my quarterly expenditure will remain relatively the same but in 24 months ill be glad to not get any bills for electricity at all or at least make them so small they are laughable...IF I get some rebate then its a cherry on the cake. But with this deal and the 25 year warranty im hard pushed to fault it... my only concern is the inverter and they are coming down in price constantly, so in 5 years when full warranty has run out itll cost bugger all to replace.

[swinks]

good if you can get a good deal but like they say if it "sounds too good to be true" applies to solar, check what panels they are using and what % of efficiency they loose over each year, and also the contract as some will allow for a certain loss in effectiveness each year - BP solar panels are up there and many look like them but after 5 years can only generate 70 of what they were sold to generate.

Ive done quite a bit of research.. the Modern Solar panels ( black XXXX) guarantee a loss of 2% over 25 years.. the ones im looking at are 20% over 25 years which seems to be pretty much the standard. On a hot day expect further losses of 2% for every degree over 25c, so at about 40c in summer my capacity to generate is reduced by up to 30% peak of the day.
The Modern Solar panels do generate more power but at twice the price of anything else it takes almost twice as long to break even.
I should be able to generate around 25KWh a day with the system.. we currently use 20KWh.
Not interested in paying an exorbitant amount to gain some passive income.. its now false economics. With the deal im looking at my quarterly expenditure will remain relatively the same but in 24 months ill be glad to not get any bills for electricity at all or at least make them so small they are laughable...IF I get some rebate then its a cherry on the cake. But with this deal and the 25 year warranty im hard pushed to fault it... my only concern is the inverter and they are coming down in price constantly, so in 5 years when full warranty has run out itll cost bugger all to replace.

  good on you, at least you know what you are after and done the maths

[Retropin]

Tell the truth, im enjoying the argy bargy with all these guys... get a good deal with one company and then show it to another... they are so desperate for your business that they will upgrade and knock a few hundred off... take this and show to original company, suddenly you get the upgrade and a further amount off etc etc etc.. im now over $1000 below what I thought was already a bloody good deal with a better inverter and im running with one of the larger companies.
I have one more card to play tomorrow night to try and squeeze a tiny more out of this, but at $5786 inc GST im pretty much sold already   

[pinball god]

..... they really cocked it up with the high feedback tariffs... the 21% increase in QLD is to make up the shortfall by handing out 40c+ feedbacks.. crazy stuff and demonstrates just how incompetent our governments are

Every rebate/grant system introduced creates economic issues.

Until a year ago there were grants of $29,500.00 for building a first home in Victorian regional areas. So building prices skyrocket as demand increases, eating up the grants and more. Demand gets brought forward so that people who would have been buying/building over the next two or so years are able to get in with no deposit then....so now all the demand for the last year for first home builders has been non-existent. It will take another year or two for prices to reduce as competition for the remaining work increases.....in the meantime builders start to fail for lack of work.

I remember studying economics as part of my first degree (I was crap at it!) but these sort of things did stick in my mind, how grants and bonuses have short term benefits but always create longer term issues once they stop.

I failed economics once nearly cost me my degree. J curves G spots I thought they were all the same  

[goodolddays]

Hmm .. if we can get a 5KW system for around 6K then it will be worth doing .

Interested to hear how it pans out for you Gav 

[pinnies4me]

..... they really cocked it up with the high feedback tariffs... the 21% increase in QLD is to make up the shortfall by handing out 40c+ feedbacks.. crazy stuff and demonstrates just how incompetent our governments are

Every rebate/grant system introduced creates economic issues.

Until a year ago there were grants of $29,500.00 for building a first home in Victorian regional areas. So building prices skyrocket as demand increases, eating up the grants and more. Demand gets brought forward so that people who would have been buying/building over the next two or so years are able to get in with no deposit then....so now all the demand for the last year for first home builders has been non-existent. It will take another year or two for prices to reduce as competition for the remaining work increases.....in the meantime builders start to fail for lack of work.

I remember studying economics as part of my first degree (I was crap at it!) but these sort of things did stick in my mind, how grants and bonuses have short term benefits but always create longer term issues once they stop.

I failed economics once nearly cost me my degree. J curves G spots I thought they were all the same  

Ah, good to know I'm not the only one!! Might have to start an "economics nearly did me in club" must be more of us out there.......

[robm]

I'm assuming most are aware of below but its probably worth mentioning.

Just because you generate say 25kw in a day does not mean your power bill will be neutral even if you use only 20kw a day.  It all depends on the distribution of usage through the day.  If you use the bulk of power at night then the gain is going to be less whereas of you use most of your power when the system is at its peak,  your bill will be less.  Of course this all depends on what you are paid for the power you generate.  If you are paid 44c then you are better using less during the day (and be paid 44c for generated) and more at night (and paying 28c for it).

If you are being paid under 28c then you are better using generated power during the day (when it is effectively free) and minimise use at night.

[ktm450]

I'm assuming most are aware of below but its probably worth mentioning.

Just because you generate say 25kw in a day does not mean your power bill will be neutral even if you use only 20kw a day.  It all depends on the distribution of usage through the day.  If you use the bulk of power at night then the gain is going to be less whereas of you use most of your power when the system is at its peak,  your bill will be less.  Of course this all depends on what you are paid for the power you generate.  If you are paid 44c then you are better using less during the day (and be paid 44c for generated) and more at night (and paying 28c for it).

If you are being paid under 28c then you are better using generated power during the day (when it is effectively free) and minimise use at night.

  people forget this, and this is the reason solar is no longer viable to install now in Victoria as the tariffs they pay you for electricity produced is hardly anything on new system installations

[goodolddays]

people forget this, and this is the reason solar is no longer viable to install now in Victoria as the tariffs they pay you for electricity produced is hardly anything on new system installations

I, for one , am aware of that which is why we haven't had a system installed because I procrastinated when the NSW rebate was still worth something .

The flip side is now the systems are a lot cheaper, our elec bill is double what it used to be (now 2K per year) , so even if we forked out 6K for a system and only halved our bill we would still break even in 6 years

[Retropin]

We get 18c now in QLD.. I don't really care how much I get back.. I just need to knock the large quarterly down a hefty amount.
Electricity prices are spiralling out of control, each increase I yell myself will be the last as its just not sustainable, but then comes another and then another and there WILL be more within the next 2 years. By then though, I should be pretty much self sufficient.
Panel and inverter prices are plummeting.. its getting cheaper to do by the week.

I now have 2 deals to consider.. $5786 with 25 yr guarantee on panels and Chinese made SMA owned inverter with True Value Solar... OR.... from another company , Solar Consultants, 30 year panels with guaranteed 80% performance efficiency at 30 years, chinese inverter for a staggering $4990 all inclusive.. if I want SMA or AURORA inverter its $5990 inclusive and that's financed interest free over 36 months!

The last pricing is only to beat the opposition price and get another job out there.
Its a damn good price for a 5KW system.. my bills are around $2800 a year

[Cow Corner]

Love solar, we have been running a small system for a couple of years now and it is brilliant.
It halves what was our pre solar monthly electricity bill easily and the money we save we put towards family holidays.
Only regret was we didn't buy a system that could be upgraded but at the end of the day we are still happy.

[Retropin]

..... they really cocked it up with the high feedback tariffs... the 21% increase in QLD is to make up the shortfall by handing out 40c+ feedbacks.. crazy stuff and demonstrates just how incompetent our governments are

Every rebate/grant system introduced creates economic issues.

Until a year ago there were grants of $29,500.00 for building a first home in Victorian regional areas. So building prices skyrocket as demand increases, eating up the grants and more. Demand gets brought forward so that people who would have been buying/building over the next two or so years are able to get in with no deposit then....so now all the demand for the last year for first home builders has been non-existent. It will take another year or two for prices to reduce as competition for the remaining work increases.....in the meantime builders start to fail for lack of work.

I remember studying economics as part of my first degree (I was crap at it!) but these sort of things did stick in my mind, how grants and bonuses have short term benefits but always create longer term issues once they stop.

I failed economics once nearly cost me my degree. J curves G spots I thought they were all the same  

Ah, good to know I'm not the only one!! Might have to start an "economics nearly did me in club" must be more of us out there.......

Don't need any qualifications in economics to realise that if you buy something at 44c and then sell at 28c you are going to come unstuck very fast.... we can see it but for some reason politicians cant, so much so that the deal is locked in for a staggering 15 years

[Retropin]

Ok.. signed up today with True Value Solar... 5KW system with SERAPHIM panels guaranteed 80% performance at 25 years... 90% at 10 years.... EVERSHINE ( owned by SMA) inverter all for $5786 inc GST and installation financed over 24 months interest free.
ALMOST went with a more local company who offered a deal with an SMA inverter for $5990 but installation warranty was only for 12 months whereas we got 10 years with True Value.
I found this odd as the local company were very quick to bag out True Value stating that they used sub contractors and not fully trained personnel like themselves ... well the better warranty won the day, sub contract or not... its important to stand by your product and workmanship and a small warranty does not display full confidence.
True Value also threw in a Blue tooth tablet that tells you the performance of the panels at any given time.

Very happy with the deal... 2 more years of heavy quarterly bills and then a dramatic reduction in costs... got to be happy with that!

[swinks]

well done Gav, I think it is a great move

how panels for your system?