Who's got a Solar Power System installed?

[dedja]

Go ahead, order more panels ... then watch you 44c feed in tariff get reduced to 16c, so unfortunately it's not worth it.

[prowling panther]

I have 10 panels and very happy.



Maybe after tax return comes in. But there is so much to do.... Anyone know a good roof restorer/fixer/mender?

I did my roof myself, pressure wash, repair or replace tiles, replaced tile tile cappings with galv ridge cap and repainted 3 coats.

about 1/3rd the cost, took me 12 months or more and only fell off twice.

[Interceptor]

I have 10 panels and very happy.



Maybe after tax return comes in. But there is so much to do.... Anyone know a good roof restorer/fixer/mender?

I did my roof myself, pressure wash, repair or replace tiles, replaced tile tile cappings with galv ridge cap and repainted 3 coats.

about 1/3rd the cost, took me 12 months or more and only fell off twice.

Which is why most people pay the professionals to take the risk!

[Psyber]

After the advice from the Tru Value guy to forget solar panels in my situation, and in the recent burst of very cold weather up here, I gave up and brushed off my combustion stove.
It worked a treat, with wood cut from some smaller branches and trees - under the controlled size - that I had trimmed 12 months or so ago.

For the future, when it has had time to season, I have a lot of wood lying around after culling a few larger trees that were overhanging my house, and were a worrying fire risk in Summer.
I'm not prepared to sacrifice enough trees to make solar panels viable here - and the local council would not let me anyway.
I checked with the Mayor. Despite their deal with Zen, preserving every tree is more important than solar energy.

I only got to cull the ones making my house a severe fire risk in Summer after the state legislation change last November.
(I had offered to plant several new trees further from the house to replace each one that needed culling for safety's sake but they were not interested.)

[Agile]

Have been watching this topic for a while and now am in a position to tell my story. Purchased our home three years ago and total reno-ed the existing and put a big extension on the rear.Have double glazed and double insulated EVERYTHING witha view to being 8star atleast in energy efficient. Started with the solar panel thing thinking that we needed 5 kw minimun to cover our needs back in 2009. Back then it was around 18,000 to put the system on the roof with premium panels and a GOOD!!!! German made inverter. Stalled at that point and spent the money on other thing during the reno, build.
Revisited the whole question 12 -18 months ago and was about $22,000 for the same thing.
Now that we are living in the completed home , for two complete years, our electricity usage has dropped markedly from our previous home, yet we have an extra uni student in the house for the last year[ my son is now at Mawson Lakes as opposed to Flinders].Turn out that we only need a 3.5kw sytem to cover our needs

Here is the killer part of the story.

Next monday a 3.7kw system is being installed on the back roof, pointing due north with no shading issues,on a rack so it is tilted perfectly, all for the total price of $6000:00/ plus $400 to ETSA for the meter. That is for 270watt premium panels and a SMA Inverter with a 10 year warranty on it. Thats 14 panels not the 26 plus that was previously quoted.

Am dealing with the installer/ sparky himself, who warranties the work and provides all the back up. Now he tells me that the inverter is the only thing that may screw up and he as the installer, warranty provider is the guy to ring and get it replaced. In which case he will come over , unscrew the dud inverter off of the wall and put a replacement on the same day. Then he chases up the manufacterer.

I will update the outcome in following posts.

By the way, having a few beer yesterday at a mates workshop and one of his workers had a call from his son that the back end of their house had caught fire from a dud solar install. Would be very warey about a 60cent FIT sales pitch. Better having quality install with quality product. Sllep easy at night.

Cheers Agile- I'll be following your story with a view for question time....

Sorry for the delay. 14 250watt panels were installed in march on two banks of ALUMINUM RACKING !!! [ very important] This system was the best we could fit on the roof space without going over budget. Total install cost was $5900:00. Pretty happy with that, as they are new generation mono-crystalline 250 watt panels which are the same size as the old 170 watter's. Coupled to a German made SMA inverter.
To date we have had one bill, arrived last week, which was $211:00. Last bill for last year,same time, was $600:00. No meter changeover as yet which is a bit disappointing but I am not particularly worried because we have bugger all feed in tariff anyway.
So far so good. Am expecting a larger bill over winter as we run a reverse cycle for heating.
On that note, I had that envirotemp installed in the air and it has made a marked difference. Air efficiency is MUCH improved despite then aircon being latest model Daikin inverter bla,bla,bla. On cooling cycle it takes about half the time to drop the house temp down to 24degree when outside is around 35 degrees. Pretty hard to describe but it is noticable. On heating it is even more noticable. 6am , turn the thing on and it heats pretty well the whole house [240 squ meters ] from 12 to 21 degrees in about 10 minutes and then switches of
So all up we have spent about $6500:00 on energy efficiency and solar system and at todays power pricing it should be payed of in 4 years. Obvoiusly sooner as power prices rise.

[dedja]

I haven't heard good things about EnviroTemp ... I hope it is worth the few hundred dollars.

[Agile]

I haven't heard good things about EnviroTemp ... I hope it is worth the few hundred dollars.

Funny, we have had it installed as I said for about 4 months and the air works a lot better. Have just got home and switch on heater and within 10 minutes the whole house is toasty warm, 21 degrees. Dont exactly know why it works so good but I can tell you that the air temp exitting the vents is warmer than as I remembered it last year. The air vent in the kitchen has had to be moved around to not blow so hard in that one position. Was not like that last year. Conclusion. Reverse cycle airconditioner is working more efficiently to heat the air to a higher temp than previously.

[Psyber]

Sorry for the delay. 14 250watt panels were installed in march on two banks of ALUMINUM RACKING !!! [ very important] .

From what I learned, using an Aluminium rack on Colourbond, or other steel roofing, still has the potential to set up electrolysis unless there are non-conducting washers between the aluminium rack and the steel roofing at all contact points. It is also necessary to use coated screws for any bolting down of the Aluminium rack.

I had a problem years ago when I bought a 16 year old house with a Zincalume roof and gutters where the builders had used Colourbond gutter outlets and Colourbond downpipes - everything around the pop rivets joining the two different materials had eroded and gone sloppy, as I discovered when I tried to have Gutter Guard fitted. (I was glad I'd bargained them down hard on the house itself.)

[dedja]

I haven't heard good things about EnviroTemp ... I hope it is worth the few hundred dollars.

Funny, we have had it installed as I said for about 4 months and the air works a lot better. Have just got home and switch on heater and within 10 minutes the whole house is toasty warm, 21 degrees. Dont exactly know why it works so good but I can tell you that the air temp exitting the vents is warmer than as I remembered it last year. The air vent in the kitchen has had to be moved around to not blow so hard in that one position. Was not like that last year. Conclusion. Reverse cycle airconditioner is working more efficiently to heat the air to a higher temp than previously.

What exactly do they change on the system when they install it?

[Psyber]

There is a bit of debate about this on Whirlpool: http://forums.whirlpool.net.au/archive/1636134

I tried the Envirotemp web site using Firefox ( http://www.envirotemp.com.au/what.html ) and got this message:

Reported Attack Page!
This web page at http://www.envirotemp.com.au has been reported as an attack page and has been blocked based on your security preferences. Attack pages try to install programs that steal private information, use your computer to attack others, or damage your system.Some attack pages intentionally distribute harmful software, but many are compromised without the knowledge or permission of their owners.

I then had a cautious look using Opera, which tends to isolate attacks well.
It doesn't convince me, and I'll run a malware scan in a few minutes...

[Agile]

I haven't heard good things about EnviroTemp ... I hope it is worth the few hundred dollars.

Funny, we have had it installed as I said for about 4 months and the air works a lot better. Have just got home and switch on heater and within 10 minutes the whole house is toasty warm, 21 degrees. Dont exactly know why it works so good but I can tell you that the air temp exitting the vents is warmer than as I remembered it last year. The air vent in the kitchen has had to be moved around to not blow so hard in that one position. Was not like that last year. Conclusion. Reverse cycle airconditioner is working more efficiently to heat the air to a higher temp than previously.

What exactly do they change on the system when they install it?

I have a good friend, building mate , who recommended it. He installs aircon for a living and is the Daikon warranty techo in Adelaide.Hence I have a Daikon system. What this stuff does in simple terms is when injected into your air conditioner it sort of Teflon coats
the insides of the condenser, compressor and all the pipes in between. Hence there is no build up of lubrication oil on the inside of these parts and this increases the heat transfer in these part. It is not cheap. For our system it was $560. John assures me that it will result in better air conditioner performance [proven in our case] less energy used to achieve the same results [ must be true as the airconditioner is running for shorter times in a cycle] and longer airconditioner life span. Well time will tell. Now I am not spruicing envirotemp but they were the cheapest company to do it at the time. I have a feeling that it will come down in price once a few more companies move into the market because it looks so bloody simple to do. Young gut comes out, screws a gadget on to the aircon and slowly feeds this stuff into the unit. Runs the unit for ten minutes and drives of. Half an hour.

[Ian]

Has anyone heard of Energy Choice, the mrs got a call today and she is very keen on their 4KW system = $10,000, 25.8 cent feed in (1.5KW was $3997)

What questions do I need to ask them RE:

Panels?

Inverters?

Any thing else?

One thing that has me a bit suss, they told her the whole thing has a 25 year warranty but if you need to use it you'd have to go back the manufacturer, not the installer

[Agile]

Ian, DO NOT spend $ 10k on a 4kw system !!!!! CRAZY !!!!!! Have I got your attention? Give NAFC $5000 towards another tall defender and spend the rest on a 4kw system. You, your wife and all Roosters supporters will be happy.
1 German engineered, Chinese made panels,[ the most expensive Chinese panels 250 watt or better]

2 German made inverter is a MUST, or the next best Italian made. NEVER Chinese !!!!!!!!

3 Installer MUST TAKE responsibility for warranty of inverter.

Can you imagine saving $ 1000 , getting a SHIT inverter that dies in 3 years time and then go thru the trauma of getting the thing sent back to China to get repaired. You pay for an elec to remove it, package it up and send it off to China, wait for it to get replaced. It comes back 3 months later and you pay for an elec again to fit it , bla bla bla.

DO NOT SPEND $ 10,000 on a 4kw system

[R. White]

Has anyone heard of Energy Choice, the mrs got a call today and she is very keen on their 4KW system = $10,000, 25.8 cent feed in (1.5KW was $3997)

What questions do I need to ask them RE:

Panels?

Inverters?

Any thing else?

One thing that has me a bit suss, they told her the whole thing has a 25 year warranty but if you need to use it you'd have to go back the manufacturer, not the installer

Sounds a bit expensive at the moment. Should be able to get a 4kw system with good quality panels with SMA inverter for under $9000.00

Panels- Most panels are made in Asia these days because of the cheaper labour costs. They are all very similar in quality and generally reliable and offer a similar warranty.
Inverters- This is the most important part if the system and most people tend to stick with German manufactured inverters as they have a higher efficiency and a better track record that the cheaper Chinese models.
Anything Else- Racking is also important. If mounting on a tin roof the standard is to use aluminium racking and feet with stainless steel tech screws, however ensure they use non conducting material between the foot and the roof to avoid electrolysis.
As to the warranties, ensure that the inverter and panel manufacturer has an Australian office, if not find out whom the importer is as they assume responsibility for said warranty.

I hope this helps.

[Ian]

they rang back tonight,

I asked them about Panels (JA Panels),

then inverter, I was told either Delta or Sunny Boy. I said "surely you know what you would fit", he said most likely Sunny Boy

I asked whether or not it would be on an adjustable tilt mount rack, was told that would cost an extra $1850. making a total of $11749

I said thanks but no thanks, didn't even look at where there components were made

[mal]

People should also take into account the 'Interest' factor
If you fork out $10k for a you beaut system , that equates to about $400-500 in lost Interest if invested
Also that $10k could be put into your Housing Loans , the Interest saved over a few years could be a fair bit

[scoob]

People should also take into account the 'Interest' factor
If you fork out $10k for a you beaut system , that equates to about $400-500 in lost Interest if invested
Also that $10k could be put into your Housing Loans , the Interest saved over a few years could be a fair bit

Great point Mal

[Mad Mat]

Has anyone on here with solar panels ever tried switching power provider? I just got my bill from Origin and got a huge shock (pardon the pun), we went from a $700 credit to $300 credit, total bill $650 minus $240 solar contribution. We have never had a bill over $500 prior to this, admittedly we have used the heater (reverse cycle) a bit more this winter than usual. Anyways, I turn the page to check the Usage and Service calculations and find that my charge/rate c/kWh from 1 July has gone up 24% (to 30.33c) for the first 155 kWh, 24% (to 30.91c) for the next 146 - 482 kWh, and 24% (35.36c) for the next 483 - 1205 kWh. From May to 30 June the usage kWh was first 0-155 kWh, then 155 - 515 kWh, then 516 - 1288 kWh. So they have also reduced the Usage kWh since 1 July so they can charge at the higher rate.

When I compared my bill to a friends bill (he has exactly the same system) the difference was huge. He uses Power Direct and doesn't pay above 25 c/kWh even during peak times.

I run a 3.3 kW system and get 53.80 c/kWh solar feed-in-tariff. My question is, if you change provider do you retain the pre-October 2011 feed-in-tariff or would you have to forfeit it?

[kickinit]

if your having a system installed with a aluminium rack make sure that the aluminium never comes in contact with any other metal, especially stainless. If I still have the picture at work i'll post it up what stainless does to aluminium.

[Psyber]

if your having a system installed with a aluminium rack make sure that the aluminium never comes in contact with any other metal, especially stainless. If I still have the picture at work i'll post it up what stainless does to aluminium.

Aluminium and any ferrous metal on contact will set up an electrolytic effect, and even with insulating washers between the two types of metal you have to be careful what screws are used to connect through the washers - coated non-conducting screws are required (but often enough overlooked).