Solar Panel, Power & Battery Discussion

[get me outta here]

Sounds like the loyalty tax such as insurances etc. I have a rate of .505 cents and always have a credit even on my small 10 yo system and being all electric. Maybe not this quarter due to winter home iso. With that rate, I don’t need to shop around.

Hence why I am onto my third retailer in 3 years. They offer nice deals to new customers and then screw us over the following year. Might not be as much of an option on the commercial/business realm, but for residential customers there can be some good incentives to churn suppliers.

 

[NM]

Sounds like the loyalty tax such as insurances etc. I have a rate of .505 cents and always have a credit even on my small 10 yo system and being all electric. Maybe not this quarter due to winter home iso. With that rate, I don’t need to shop around.

Unfortunately, I was not able to lock in any rate, let alone a rate such as yours. The $200 Qld state government rebate/bonus and the new customer bonus received when changing in May means I will most likely get through the rest of the year without making a payment. We did recently replace a dying gas hot water system with an electric system. So saving a few hundred dollars a quarter on gas and covering most of the water heating costs from solar generation, so that is an overall saving too.

 

[get me outta here]

I put in evacuated tubes when my water heater broke.

 

[JessicaTam]

Unfortunately, I was not able to lock in any rate, let alone a rate such as yours. The $200 Qld state government rebate/bonus and the new customer bonus received when changing in May means I will most likely get through the rest of the year without making a payment. We did recently replace a dying gas hot water system with an electric system. So saving a few hundred dollars a quarter on gas and covering most of the water heating costs from solar generation, so that is an overall saving too.

The plumber came today to scope out installing a solar HWS to get rid of the gas one. It is still too early for me to get a battery. Another few years for the price to drop.

 

[moa999]

plumber came today to scope out installing a solar HWS to get rid of the gas one.

Assume the hws is the only thing on the gas?
So you get rid of the service fee

 

[NM]

Assume the hws is the only thing on the gas?
So you get rid of the service fee

In my case, the HWS was the last remaining gas appliance in the home, other than the BBQ (which was plumbed into the 4 x 45kg bottles). So I did indeed cancel teh gas account, though the gas company still has not come to collect the bottles. They seem to think we have moved out and the next occupying will want to use them, but there are no gas appliances left!

My new electric HWS is timed to heat starting at 9:30am and it normally takes about 1.5-2 hours to get up to temp for the next day. So I have set the pool pumps to run from 11:30am and only need about 4 hours in winter. And avoid using other high consumption appliances (dishwasher, oven etc.) while the HWS is doing its thing. So on a sunny day, hot water is all powered by the solar electricity.

I now just have to keep a portable gas bottle on hand for the BBQ.

 

[JessicaTam]

Assume the hws is the only thing on the gas?
So you get rid of the service fee

Nah, I still have to swap out the gas cooktop for an induction one. And the central hearting needs to be relegated to being the backup unit. I have RC in the lounge but need to boost that in the dining/kitchen area.

And after all that is done I will look at batteries.

 

[Buzzard]

Regarding hot water, I'd research instantaneous electric hot water systems if not wanting gas.

 

[JessicaTam]

Regarding hot water, I'd research instantaneous electric hot water systems if not wanting gas.

The electric boost on my solar HWS will be switched off for half the year. I am working on reducing my overall energy consumption as opposed to shifting it to a different source.

 

[NM]

Regarding hot water, I'd research instantaneous electric hot water systems if not wanting gas.

Instantaneous is not going to be of benefit for us. Most hot water usage is outside solar generation hours (late night or early morning showers), I considered gas powered instant HW system, but being able power electric HWS during solar generation times killed the gas story for me. Of course, it all depends where you live, In my case, gas is on-site refilling of bottles, which is quite different economics to piped natural gas which is available in many places. And my solar generation here in SE Qld is likely to be quite different to someone in Victoria, which will also vary by time of year (season).

 

[Buzzard]

Instantaneous is not going to be of benefit for us. Most hot water usage is outside solar generation hours (late night or early morning showers), I considered gas powered instant HW system, but being able power electric HWS during solar generation times killed the gas story for me. Of course, it all depends where you live, In my case, gas is on-site refilling of bottles, which is quite different economics to piped natural gas which is available in many places. And my solar generation here in SE Qld is likely to be quite different to someone in Victoria, which will also vary by time of year (season).

I completely understand. Instantaneous was mentioned only because you never run out of hot water and you only heat the water that you use. I don't know the cost but it could be an option where gas is not available.

 

[Jacques Vert]

Has anyone had experience with a company called "National Grid Support Service"? May also trade as "Safer Solar".

Also, has anyone used HT 345W panels?

I've received a quote from them and the rep had much better knowledge than all the others I've received quotes from.

Thanks in advance.

 

[LadyC]

When we got our solar panels installed, we got rid of our gas connection. The previously installed central heating is now all reverse cycle heating/air conditioning units, hot water unit was replaced with a Sanden Heat Pump and the gas cook top is now induction. We've definitely saved money by replacing gas with electricity.

 

[Flying mermaid]

Has anyone had experience with a company called "National Grid Support Service"? May also trade as "Safer Solar".

Also, has anyone used HT 345W panels?

I've received a quote from them and the rep had much better knowledge than all the others I've received quotes from.

Thanks in advance.

Choice had a thing earlier in the year saying the safest path was to make sure both the designer and installer were accredited with the clean energy council, so that might be something you could check?

 

[Flying mermaid]

FYI

Should solar panel owners pay for the privilege of selling their power?

For years, solar panel owners were paid a premium to feed their electricity into the grid. But that could be about to turn on its head — and they are not happy.

www.abc.net.au

 

[get me outta here]

As my first winter at home for many years and after 10 years of my solar panels always paying me a credit, I have just received my first (winter bill), of a massive $229. As mentioned earlier, I turned off my gas years ago and it was a huge saving.

 

[Quickstatus]

As my first winter at home for many years and after 10 years of my solar panels always paying me a credit, I have just received my first winter bill of a massive $229. As mentioned earlier, I turned off my gas years ago and it was a huge saving.

Are you able to see if the output has declined over that time.

the FiT will be progressively reducing As more solar gets installed.

what do you do for hot water?

 

[get me outta here]

For hot water I have evacuated tubes installed some years ago when the old electric heater failed and I discovered the house had been built around the tank and the old one could not be brought out or replaced within the house. The electric booster is only used once or twice a year.

The change this year is mostly driven by newly installed a Nobo heater and leaving it on low all night. I will now put a timer on it to come on at 4am. Otherwise, all heating and cooling is done by reverse cycle and always on very low when in use. A raised double brick house with no wall insulation and a timber floor is very cold in Canberra. The quotes I received for wall insulation were ridiculously high so I put up with the cold. I have put on underfloor installation in places able to be reached.

I have a contract for FIT which is particularly generous at $.50.

 

[exceladdict]

I wrote to my (WA, state) member of parliament this week asking they consider changing our state-owned retailer's policy of prohibiting you from receiving any feed-in-tariff if you have an inverter/system larger than 5KW; as many modern inverters can now be export-limited. I was thinking to install a new fronius gen24 symo hybrid when they are available, but they are currently only at 6, 8 or 10kw capacities which would mean no FIT for me.

Planning to install 3PH electricity in the new build thus thought that throwing on as much solar as possible would be good for the environment and also my bills, if i was allowed to export the full 5kw and any above that would be household consumption / future battery charging. But the economics does get thrown a little if there's no feed in tariff.

Is anyone aware if in other states, you're still eligible for a FIT if you use an export-limited-inverter to artificially restrict it to the arbitrary export limit?

 

[Quickstatus]

We have a 25kw inverter and a 20 kw array (The other 5kw will be going in soon).

even though the limit is 5kW, they allowed the system as it did not increase the grid voltage too much. The 5kw limit was put in place to manage the inevitable increase in the grid voltage. The further you are away from the transformer the lower your grid voltage.

is yours a 5kw hard limit?