Solar Panels

[clazman]

Sick and tired of getting ever increasing power bills can any one recommend a good solar panel provider in WA?

Synergy frustrate me, had a conversation with them today and asked them to explain how my bill / number of units I use has increased on the current bill, when the spa and air-conditioning have been turned off for the billing period.

The consultant cannot explain the increase and only recommendation was to test the meter at $200.

 

[vetrade]

Sometimes energy companies use estimates in lieu of actually reading the meter, which IME invariably means they over-estimate your usage. Maybe check if they have been doing that under some pretext such as they couldn't get access to the meter because you have a dog etc. etc. Good luck getting any sense out of them though. I was getting big electricity bills for a newly built medical clinic I owned which was vacant. AGL person suggested there may have been a squatter living there!!! WTF? The meter readings confirmed there was actually negligible usage but it still took over 6 months sorting it out through the ombudsman.

We decided against solar only because the capital costs would have taken way too long to recoup through cheaper electricity - in the order of 20 years. Also suggest you check some blogs for hidden pitfalls - a lot of the info / figures touted by solar companies is suspect

 

[travelislife]

These days they just keep increasing the supply charge so going solar won't help with that side of the equation. We had a very honest guy from AGL say it's not worth it unless you want to go off grid and have storage! But that was mainly due to the payback period for our household. I.e no one at home all day during the week. Frequent trips away where the home is empty, etc.

It is a problem of privatised utilities. The government wants us using less energy/water but the utilities have to make their guaranteed return. Competing interests. They don't want you using less of the product they sell!

Essential services should not be privatised. But that's a discussion for another time.

 

[amaroo]

Love my 7KW system, and those generous FITs. Can recommend REC panels and SMA inverter.... can't help with an WA installer.

Don't bother if your roof hasn't got the correct orientation or the footprint is affected by shade. One panel affected by shade knocks the rest out...

 

[VPS]

Love my 7KW system, and those generous FITs. Can recommend REC panels and SMA inverter.... can't help with an WA installer.

Don't bother if your roof hasn't got the correct orientation or the footprint is affected by shade. One panel affected by shade knocks the rest out...

me too - installed mine about 5 years ago and cost $10k and yes I get good FIT but it's almost paid for itself - make a small profit each year instead of $1200 annual bills

Sorry can't help with a supplier in WA

 

[AnnaB]

We got the 5kW system and while it might not lower the bill as much as we would like it is a significant difference to before. Since they are only giving you 8c back per kW you feed into the system its not much of a saving when you sell back. The savings comes through usage. You have to use the electricity during the day when the system is producing. It takes a while to get used to, but it works.
We now use the reverse cycle during the day, washing, dryer, pool pump etc, all runs during the day. As a rough estimate, we save about $80-120 per bill. But it is also an investment in your house. Will the investment add to the value of the house, and in doing so it will give you return on your money, if not immediately, then when you sell the house.

Anyway, we got ours through Express Solar, first a 3kW and added on a 2kW after a year. Total cost ended up being around $5500 with rebates.
Express Power Solar Systems

They are ok I guess, had to call them a couple of times though to get them to push our installation forward but it works at not too a high cost.

 

[RooFlyer]

Solar isn't cheaper per se. Its just that taxpayers subsidise it

 

[amaroo]

Solar isn't cheaper per se. Its just that taxpayers subsidise it

True. My 7KW system cost $13,500 and paid for itself within 3 years. The FIT is good until 2028

Wouldn't have bothered installing without the very generous FIT

 

[RooFlyer]

True. My 7KW system cost $13,500 and paid for itself within 3 years. The FIT is good until 2028

Wouldn't have bothered installing without the very generous FIT

Not just the FITs ! The original capital price would have been reduced by the supplier being able to use the Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs). Also, the 'freebie' granted to solar and wind by changes to the National Electricity Market, (NEM) whereby they ( meaning you ) have a much easier compliance burden.

 

[robtemt]

Love my 7KW system, and those generous FITs. Can recommend REC panels and SMA inverter.... can't help with an WA installer.

Don't bother if your roof hasn't got the correct orientation or the footprint is affected by shade. One panel affected by shade knocks the rest out...

We have a 10kw system, and we have micro inverters (1 per panel). So if one is decreased in production, they rest can function at 100%. Also makes it easier to claim faulty panel under warranty as you can isolate which panel is decreasing in production capacity and they can't argue other system issues. I can look at individual panel production, total production, etc.

We don't get a lot for feed back ($80 per quarter), but I think where we save is in usage from the grid. An 8 bedroom 4 bath 400m2 home with 2 kitchens, 2 laundries, a pool, central ducted aircon, etc. runs $500 a quarter. So we obviously use a lot of our own production.

It's not the cash cow it used to be with massive (30 cent + feed backs), but for us it is of great value, even with 8 cent buy back.

 

[amaroo]

Not just the FITs ! The original capital price would have been reduced by the supplier being able to use the Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs). Also, the 'freebie' granted to solar and wind by changes to the National Electricity Market, (NEM) whereby they ( meaning you ) have a much easier compliance burden.

Those FIT (44c&8c) generate sufficient for a return J to Asia/year .. just make sure you send someone up to clean them a couple of times a year.

 

[amaroo]

We have a 10kw system, and we have micro inverters (1 per panel). So if one is decreased in production, they rest can function at 100%. Also makes it easier to claim faulty panel under warranty as you can isolate which panel is decreasing in production capacity and they can't argue other system issues. I can look at individual panel production, total production, etc.

We don't get a lot for feed back ($80 per quarter), but I think where we save is in usage from the grid. An 8 bedroom 4 bath 400m2 home with 2 kitchens, 2 laundries, a pool, central ducted aircon, etc. runs $500 a quarter. So we obviously use a lot of our own production.

It's not the cash cow it used to be with massive (30 cent + feed backs), but for us it is of great value, even with 8 cent buy back.

Interesting - don't think those inverters were around when we hooked up. Can't recall any one quoting them.

I upload to PV Output and monitor production compared to other system in the area.

 

[cove]

Our 18kW home system has crunched our power bills which were up to an eye watering $2000 every 2 months. We have a fairly electric home including a heat pump to get the swimming pool warmed up. Our bill is now in the $400 to $600 range as we changed lots of things and our sons left home. We are looking forward to battery storage becoming economic probably in two years time.
At work we now have 6 installations of 30kW and the payback is below 3 years due to us mostly working sunlight hours.

 

[robtemt]

Our 18kW home system has crunched our power bills which were up to an eye watering $2000 every 2 months. We have a fairly electric home including a heat pump to get the swimming pool warmed up. Our bill is now in the $400 to $600 range as we changed lots of things and our sons left home. We are looking forward to battery storage becoming economic probably in two years time.
At work we now have 6 installations of 30kW and the payback is below 3 years due to us mostly working sunlight hours.

OH!!!! I want storage as well. Our sales guy actually discouraged us from getting storage when we purchased (back in December). He said Tesla was going to shake up the market for battery storage at home, and he felt the states might also kick in rebates to encourage owners to decrease their dependence on the grid. An honest sales guy, who knew!

 

[cove]

Yes the Tesla/Panasonic joint venture in the US will be interesting. In Europe I was told they might have new technology inside 12 months for storage.

 

[amaroo]

Our 18kW home system has crunched our power bills which were up to an eye watering $2000 every 2 months.

At least someone in QLD had the good sense to cap FIT to a maximum 5KW inverter. I've overcooked my system to the allowable limits of the SMA inverter i.e. installing 7KW of panels. The inverter doesn't generate more than 5KW however, it get there quicker and last longer.

 

[medhead]

Those FIT (44c&8c) generate sufficient for a return J to Asia/year .. just make sure you send someone up to clean them a couple of times a year.

I hose mine every time I see bird poo on them. In summer there is a nice ~5% jump in output when wet, I assume from the cooling. I really want to try rigging up an old evaporative A/C system to blow air onto the panels.

Interesting - don't think those inverters were around when we hooked up. Can't recall any one quoting them.

I upload to PV Output and monitor production compared to other system in the area.

Might have to try that. I did briefly get the inverter to connect to my Wifi, but didn't continue the effort. Being away a few night a weeks makes it had to do daily output readings.

OH!!!! I want storage as well. Our sales guy actually discouraged us from getting storage when we purchased (back in December). He said Tesla was going to shake up the market for battery storage at home, and he felt the states might also kick in rebates to encourage owners to decrease their dependence on the grid. An honest sales guy, who knew!

As with the price of panels, there'll need to be some assistance to make batteries worthwhile. I looked into off grid back in the 1990s and it wasn't economic. I didn't think that changed much since then. What I really want is to install a micro wind turbine. I just don't think planning approval would be possible in suburbia.

 

[amaroo]

Might have to try that. I did briefly get the inverter to connect to my Wifi, but didn't continue the effort. Being away a few night a weeks makes it had to do daily output readings.

I found the easiest way to upload was getting an android phone and downloading this app https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.felixthepuddytat.SMASolarLog&hl=en

It uploads straight to PV Output .... hasn't missed a beat for the last 3+ years.

 

[medhead]

I found the easiest way to upload was getting an android phone and downloading this app https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.felixthepuddytat.SMASolarLog&hl=en

It uploads straight to PV Output .... hasn't missed a beat for the last 3+ years.

Great. Just need to check if there is BT on the inverter, it's not SMA. I think we might have an andriod phone laying around somewhere - might be microsoft...

 

[amaroo]

Great. Just need to check if there is BT on the inverter, it's not SMA. I think we might have an andriod phone laying around somewhere - might be microsoft...

When you get it up and running download this app https://itunes.apple.com/au/app/pvoutput/id740044895?mt=8

Screenshot of today's production ... viewed from my phone 1,000+ K's from home.