Home solar power system is it worth it ??

[Tathradj]

I heard not long ago through my grape vine that laws are going to be soon passed that if you have power lines at the border of your property,
You can not utilize battery storage.
This is in defense of the new Tesla Battery banks.
Sucks big time.

 

[aussiefarmer]

From what i have learnt from my investergation 2 years ago ,unless you are at home when the sun is shinning the deals in nsw at the moment are a waste of time and will be many years to brake even ,
also some of the tele marketing lately is a scam so be warned if it sounds like an international call and they cant pronounce your surname it is more than likely a scam they sound just like the windows people from microsoft and they get the same abuse from me i just tell em i know its a scam and they are being tracked ffffffffffo byebye

 

[Bazz]

A telemarketing scam......... only the ones out of Nigeria are honest !!!! :8

 

[Nightjar]

Yes when suppliers are onto a good thing they capitalise.
Some of you are old enough to remember the doom and gloom years back that the world was running out of oil.
Manufactures stopped producing V8's and began producing commercial vehicles. Many swung over to diesel power because diesel was so much cheaper than petrol, smelly diesel the by product of petrol production could be bought up to 50% cheaper.
Move forward to 2016 and the price of diesel is usually more than petrol, in my area on average 10cents/litre.
Gouging & cartels are ripping we the public off and making huge profits.

 

[rocketaroo]

I have little, to no knowledge about solar systems. But, when I have seen inverters, they are unrecognised brands. I feel confident buying a samsung tv, or fridge. Mazda or toyota car, but these inverters, are not brands familiar to me......no confidence in them.

 

[Heatho]

From what i have learnt from my investergation 2 years ago ,unless you are at home when the sun is shinning the deals in nsw at the moment are a waste of time and will be many years to brake even ,
also some of the tele marketing lately is a scam so be warned if it sounds like an international call and they cant pronounce your surname it is more than likely a scam they sound just like the windows people from microsoft and they get the same abuse from me i just tell em i know its a scam and they are being tracked ffffffffffo byebye

Hmmmm yes the old microsoft scammers, abusing them only encourages them to call more often. I don't abuse them anymore, instead I prtend I'm an 80 year old who knows nothing about computers, kept one on the phone for 40 minutes the other week "waiting for my computer to start up" lol, she was pissed by the end of the call and hung up on me with me pleading for her to stay and help me fix my computer. Haha, havn't had one call back yet. You can here them salivating at the chance to rob an 80 year old who is computer illiterate...... Filthy *******s.

The insurance people calling about the "accident" I supposedly had too, kept them on the line for about 20 mins because I banged my head and couldn't remember the details...... :lol:

I enjoy baiting them, stops them calling numerous more people while I'm wasting their time.

 

[thedigger]

One more problem with the panels fitted to a galvinized shed roof,they create rust on the roof from water running of the aluminiun.
Fitted the new inverter,and gave the panels a good clean,and they are working better now,more output,so cleaning is a must,not that I have not cleaned them many times before.

Regards Frank

 

[condor22]

One more problem with the panels fitted to a galvinized shed roof,they create rust on the roof from water running of the aluminiun.
Fitted the new inverter,and gave the panels a good clean,and they are working better now,more output,so cleaning is a must,not that I have not cleaned them many times before.

Regards Frank

Dissimilar materials will invariably corrode in some manner, particularly when exposed to water. Galvanic corrosion occurs when there is metallic contact and electrolytic bridge occurs. You get the Anode/Cathode effect and unfortunately it's the Galvanise that becomes sacrificial. Dryer climate or indoors the risk is minimal, but nearer the coast where salt is introduced into the atmosphere along with moisture will present a greater risk.

The best solution to prevent Galvanic corrosion is to electrically insulate the dissimilar metals. I found a pic on the net that speaks volumes

 

[thedigger]

Hi Condor
Nothing to do with metals meeting,the frame is galv,it is the water coming off the panels and dripping down>I just spray the roof the zinc spray.

Regards Frank

 

[BigWave]

Hi Frank,
Sorry to hear of your issues. I've had mine for 4 years now and has performed as stated. I calculated a pay back period of around 3 years, but it ended up at 3.5 years, so was pretty happy with the result and am now operating in the black. Am not a greenie, but want to save a few bucks. If the gear doesn't bugger up, I'll have done very well.
Hi Jon,
I understand that coal fired base stations generally provide the required electrical power base load as their generation cannot be ramped up or down quickly with changing loads. The required peak power (on top of the base load) is provided by other generation systems such as gas fired turbines (the main one) and hydro or wind/solar systems which can all be ramped quickly. It is these systems that are throttled back when people turn off their lights en masse, thereby saving gas or water dump (in fact if base load is too light for the coal generators, some water in the Snowy scheme is even pumped back up). So please take it easy on those who decide to switch off.

 

[Dreamwalking]

Just a few comments on this thread ... Inverters that are failing are generally those under stress ... like a car if it is going to be forced to run at maximum speed for long periods of time you don't go and buy a 4 cylinder, you compromise and get a 6 or 8. Solar systems follow very much the same plan... you get a inverter that exceeds the solar array output with a good margin .. because of price most buy one at a break even level and it breaks!

About Government going to charge .. this was raised a few years ago when it was evident that there were companies out there that were offering to put large solar arrays on peoples roofs and work a share proposition, where both householder and company would take a piece of the kickback pie .. it is these companies which fall under the banner of being producers that the Gov is after, plus there are households that are doing the same, purposely over producing so they can get a kickback from the power companies and thinking its free money and not a 'income'.... if your making money then there are taxes to be paid... the grey area that is being thrashed out is "When does a consumer became a Producer?"

Final point ... are you aware when you switch from one power supplier to another your solar rebate changes to the current 'todays rate' eg .. for those lucky people like me who got in early with a rebate of 52c /Kv, if I switch to a new company my rebate would automatically default to the current offering .. I think around 5-6c /Kv today.
If I sell my house the new owner would get todays rate and not what I was getting, if I move to a new house my old rate would not accompany me if there was a solar system at the new premises or I install one.

When you sign up for a solar system you signed for a set size ... eg 3Kv 4Kv 5kv 12Kv &c &c .. it is contractually recorded. This is more applicable to people who have a smaller system installed with the intent to upgrade later on... check your contract details before you increase ... if you installed, say a 1.5Kv with a good rebate earlier on, you will find a maximum array size entered in your contract ... if you contract stated a array size of 3KV ... good your rebate will remain the same... if you go over the contracted size you will default to todays lower rebate rate.

Cheers.

 

[thedigger]

Hi Dreamwalking
You refer to the system as KV it should be W which stands for watts
In regards to the system being over loaded,the inverter that was fitted was 2.5kw unit and the panels were 2kw so the inverter was not under stain.
As the suppier told me that I had well to get 9 years from it,something in the order of 5 years.
As the new cost $1208.00 trade and I fitted my self as I am electrian by trade,and having ABN allowed me to by at that price,but anyone having have it done by a contractor would pay much higher figure so that is why I am saying that will take the shine of the project
To fit the new unit I had to alter the wiring into it,so I wish you all well.

Regards Frank

 

[Dreamwalking]

My apology to anyone who didn't pick up on my typo that Kv should have been Kw.

Cheers

 

[magneticsand]

I have 2.2 on my roof. So just a small system.
At first I'd make enough on my export to cover my bill + a little extra. But they keep increasing the supply and service charges.
So back to paying 50-100 per bill. No regrets though, was paying 500 a bill before....well one regret, I wish I could have afford a larger system. I have the .66 pfit tarrif so its basicall not worth upgrading until it runs out.

 

[wooly]

Those that have a solar system on the homes,that believe they are going to save some money are in for a bit of a shock.
About 9 years ago I istalled a 2kw system on the shed,which feed the house,at the time I thought it might be a fair investment,well that I now believe not so.
The inverter which converts the DC to 50 cycle 240v AC,packed up.I called up the people who supplied the inverter,the answer I got from them was how well i had to get 9 years from the unit,the average time is about 5 years.I then asked what if the unit could be repaired,well no we can sell you a refurbished unit for $650.00 with a 12 months warranty,or a new one $1280.00 with 5 years.As a old sparkie I can install the new one,so any one else will have to engage some one to install another,so that cost will be very much higher.
This is something at the time we were given the impression that the system would go much longer with no problems.
So given the time over again I would not have installed solar power.The only system that we are very happy with is the vacum tube hot water system,works brillant.
So my advise is to consider it carefully

Regards Frank

9 years ago you probably paid about 20k for your 2 kW solar system and that is probably the only reason that it has been a bad investment for you. Today you will pay much less for a system of that size and the payback period is usually only 2-4 years.
What brand of inverter do you have and what brand have you replaced it with?
Most inverters come with a 5 or 10 year warranty which in my book is very good. How many other electronic devices can you find with a 5-10 year warranty?
Having said that the warranty is only good if the manufacturer is still around in 5-10 years and this is the reason why you should be buying the best available.

 

[wooly]

The thing I looked into was a low voltage Home solar system, similar to what you use in a caravan. Given today's choice of 12VDC LED lighting, TV, DVD, PVR etc etc many appliances could be converted to 12VDC in a home. That way you use Grid 240VAC for the heavy use items such as Aircon, Vacuum cleaner, microwave etc.

4 to 5 120 W solar panels, a decent controller/charger and 3 to 400 AH of battery could run many appliances with no need for an inverter, without feeding back to the grid and you get all of the savings instead of negotiating with large power networks.

For short term use a decent size system could use a stand alone 2kVA inverter ie microwave.

This would require rewiring your whole house to suit 12 volt DC.
Can you get a 12 VDC 55 inch LED TV?

 

[wooly]

Another is they need to be cleaned,how many of these owners will climb on the roof to clean them,which I do,and which you would be surprised at the amount of grime that comes off them,which cuts down their efficency,and also the natural decline in the panels decline.

Regards Frank

The requirement for the panels to be cleaned also depends very much on how much tilt the panels are on. They recommend a minimum of 10 degrees tilt for self cleaning purposes. The more tilt the better they will self clean. Providing you get rain every so often.

 

[wooly]

From what i have learnt from my investergation 2 years ago ,unless you are at home when the sun is shinning the deals in nsw at the moment are a waste of time and will be many years to brake even

Correct: With the solar feedin tariff currently around 5 cents it does not make sense to feed back into the grid. Most of the solar companies will try and sell you the biggest system that they can fit on your roof.
What you should be doing is looking at your average usage during hours of daylight and fitting a system to cover that load.

 

[wooly]

Just a few comments on this thread ... Inverters that are failing are generally those under stress ... like a car if it is going to be forced to run at maximum speed for long periods of time you don't go and buy a 4 cylinder, you compromise and get a 6 or 8. Solar systems follow very much the same plan... you get a inverter that exceeds the solar array output with a good margin .. because of price most buy one at a break even level and it breaks!

Incorrect: Most of the inverters failing are the cheap and nasty Chinese ones. There are regulations for the sizing of an inverter and they are often undersized of the solar array. Consider a 5kW solar system with half the panels on an east facing roof and the other half on a west facing roof. The system will never generate 5kW and therefor a smaller inverter will handle it easy. There are also always losses associated with the system which reduces the solar output and a 5kW system will rarely ever produce 5kW.

 

[wooly]

Final point ... are you aware when you switch from one power supplier to another your solar rebate changes to the current 'todays rate' eg .. for those lucky people like me who got in early with a rebate of 52c /Kv, if I switch to a new company my rebate would automatically default to the current offering .. I think around 5-6c /Kv today.
If I sell my house the new owner would get todays rate and not what I was getting, if I move to a new house my old rate would not accompany me if there was a solar system at the new premises or I install one.

When you sign up for a solar system you signed for a set size ... eg 3Kv 4Kv 5kv 12Kv &c &c .. it is contractually recorded. This is more applicable to people who have a smaller system installed with the intent to upgrade later on... check your contract details before you increase ... if you installed, say a 1.5Kv with a good rebate earlier on, you will find a maximum array size entered in your contract ... if you contract stated a array size of 3KV ... good your rebate will remain the same... if you go over the contracted size you will default to todays lower rebate rate.

Cheers.

Also incorrect: At least in Victoria and SA. The Feedin Tariff remains with the property and can be taken to a new retailer.