Solar Panels

[serfty]

Yes I was hoping battery pricing would halve but it hasn't happened so far.

It will ... have a look at the cost of LED lighting ...

 

[LadyC]

From what the gentleman tells me (as he is coordinating our solar panel install), it is coming but still a few years away.

Yes I was hoping battery pricing would halve but it hasn't happened so far.

 

[cove]

Ok last night I was looking at our work electricity bills after we progressively did solar and LED in our seven work buildings.
2014 152,000
2015.111,000
2016. 79,000
2017. 67,000
In our current year it should be well under $40,000 despite price rises from our suppliers.
This has been a good fun game much like earning frequent flyer points and miles.
Of course we work mostly sunlight hours.

 

[cove]

These days we look forward to opening the power bill letters.

 

[jb747]

I see that it's been proposed that from next July, the feed in goes down to 9.5c, or you go onto a time of day feed in tariff. Off peak 7.5c, shoulder 10.5, and peak of 29c. Sadly they ensure that the times you're being paid anything decent is also the time when you'll be using your own power, with none to feed in. Funny how the suppliers version of peak hour when we are paying, doesn't align the other way. You'd have though peak was peak, but I guess not.

 

[cove]

jb747 when batteries are worthwhile you will enjoy it more.

 

[leadman]

Unfortunately battery prices are not going to halve. Its a myth spread by a few hopefuls in the industry e.g. Tesla are pushing. At the moment the miners and traders are having a field day with cobalt for Li batteries and prices are running hot. The funny trend is the miners/refiners are not investing in Li, but Co, Ni, Sn and other metals, which are far, far more expensive. And the killer for Li, its atomic size! whilst it is brilliant in electro-chemistry, its a disadvantage when you have to pay for it. The other killer for the system is its not being recycled. Don't get it wrong, I'm not talking about the green angle, its the secondary supply back to the market. For lead-acid over 67% of the worlds supply (12 million tpa) comes from recycled batteries and in fact the battery in your car has probably been recycled over 10 times!

now for aircraft......

Disclaimer; i work partly in the battery industry!

 

[cambriamarsh]

I see that it's been proposed that from next July, the feed in goes down to 9.5c, or you go onto a time of day feed in tariff. Off peak 7.5c, shoulder 10.5, and peak of 29c. Sadly they ensure that the times you're being paid anything decent is also the time when you'll be using your own power, with none to feed in. Funny how the suppliers version of peak hour when we are paying, doesn't align the other way. You'd have though peak was peak, but I guess not.

But JB, that’s why it’s peak, the demand is there and the alternative supply isn’t available (because the alternative suppliers are using it themselves). Cheers

 

[jb747]

But JB, that’s why it’s peak, the demand is there and the alternative supply isn’t available (because the alternative suppliers are using it themselves). Cheers

I understand the concept of peak, and for sure, the time from 3pm to 8pm or so probably is very peak. But, that's not how they charge. Peak is basically charged from 7am to 9pm or so. So, why isn't the time from 7am to 3pm peak in terms of what is being paid for the solar input, vs what is being charged for grid power. I presume it's because at that time (3pm onwards), your own production will be a) consumed, and b) on the decline, so they won't actually have to pay you for it at all.

I'm simply suggesting that the peak time should work in both directions.

 

[cambriamarsh]

Fair comment, being a kiwi I didn’t realise they didn’t match!

 

[LadyC]

So, we were supposed to be having our solar panels installed last week and when it came to install day, the installers came around and said they wouldn't do it because the roof angle was too high and it wasn't safe. Disappointing considering we had a inspection previously and no concerns were raised about roof angle or potentially needing scaffolding to install.

We have had some disappointing dealings with 2 different companies. We are based in Melbourne and wondering if anyone has any recommendations?

 

[TomVexille]

So, we were supposed to be having our solar panels installed last week and when it came to install day, the installers came around and said they wouldn't do it because the roof angle was too high and it wasn't safe. Disappointing considering we had a inspection previously and no concerns were raised about roof angle or potentially needing scaffolding to install.

We have had some disappointing dealings with 2 different companies. We are based in Melbourne and wondering if anyone has any recommendations?

I was recommended a name by a couple guys who have recently left that industry. He's not cheap but I hear he does a good job. Happy to pass on his email if you want.

 

[LadyC]

I was recommended a name by a couple guys who have recently left that industry. He's not cheap but I hear he does a good job. Happy to pass on his email if you want.

Please email through the details - thanks

 

[cove]

When you select an installation business for a solar system it doesn’t necessarily pay to go for that rock bottom quote. Look at the materials being used and check their referrals.Even though you may not stay at the property the job is meant to run for 30 plus years.
As landlords we installed solar on properties we don’t occupy ourselves and the reaction of the tenants has been very favorable. In 2018 we have more to do and we will tackle solar where the payback is around 5 years.

 

[LadyC]

Totally agree that cheapest is not always best. One of the challenges we have had have been that sales reps are different to technical team who are sometimes even different to the actual install team. One of the companies we were dealing with wanted to do the installation before we even had council approval for it.

 

[cove]

Never, ever, do that!
This is a serious project so no short cuts are a good idea on solar.

 

[LadyC]

No, we weren't prepared to, especially as our council has been very particular about it. In the end, with that company, their sales reps gave us serious run around. We felt that didn't bode well for doing business with them in general, so we nixed them.

 

[jb747]

I chose a local bloke, who is the owner, sales rep, and electrician. I ended up learning a lot, and the system that was installed was tidy, works extremely well, and is capable of easily being upgraded. But, it wasn't cheap.

At the moment I'm looking at adding some more panels in the new year, which will bump it up to about 8kw.

 

[Flying mermaid]

ACTEWAGL (or whatever they are called now), came round today to inspect the installation and tick it off.

The technician told Mr FM that there were only two people worth using in Canberra and one was Solarhub which we used. He also felt the SolarEdge inverters with individual panel optimisation was the way to go. He said he sees massive problems with some of the other installers.

It was good to get that affirmation, but we were already very happy with Solarhub, as they have been immaculate from beginning to end and have always come back immediately with detailed info on queries even a month after payment.

As far as steepness of roof and height goes -we have a really high steep roof and our installers had no problems, although they did use some sort of harness rope thing for safety,

We have got a 12.5c feed in tariff, which is great, although realistically from late April to late September, we will consume everything we produce.

I love watching the graph that shows what we are generating and using. Have become much more aware of what the various appliances use. We have a certain “background” usage overnight and at 10am when the pool kicks in it goes up and then stays up until 4pm when it switches off. Ovens use a lot and air conditioners are just crazy, fortunately I hate them and use as little as possible, but the temperatures have been quite fierce in the last week, so have been turning on in the middle of the day.

On a good day we are generating around 80kwh and not using all that much of it (except when I turn the air conditioner on). It will get more interesting in April.

 

[cove]

If you have solar panels remember to clean them. We had ash from a recent fire and that soot/dirt did lower the performance.
Back at work our first half year electricity has now dropped to $16,000 which is down from about $80,000 4 years ago despite the price rises.
We are doing solar on one of our social housing properties in February as the payback will be about 4 years based on measurements we did.