Solar panels.

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wobblysauce
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Re: Solar panels.

Post by wobblysauce »

Still in a lot of ways cleaner..
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Re: Solar panels.

Post by Sarsippius »

Hmm just had a call from my installer, the NT Gov has just upped the limit for single phase houses from 4.5kW to 6.5kW. The system we've planned, the inverter etc would all stay the same but we can bump the 4.5kW system to 6.3kW by adding 8 more panels.

My out of pocket cost would be $7,900 vs $5,433, if I waited and upgraded later it would probably cost me an extra $1,500 for another building permit, labour etc.

It's a 1:1 buyback here, everything I put back into the grid is paid the same 25c or so I pay, it seems worth it but I don't want to jump on impulse. It does seem a no-brainer though, almost too good to be true, should pay for itself in about 3 years.
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Re: Solar panels.

Post by norbs »

Interesting article about sizing here.


https://onestepoffthegrid.com.au/5kw-so ... -big-home/
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Re: Solar panels.

Post by wobblysauce »

Sars, Well.. you are not lacking sun shine, like us southerners.. got a top of 13ºc today.
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Re: Solar panels.

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Re: Solar panels.

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I considered that for up here but the peak rate is nearly 5c more than standard and the off-peak is only about 2.5c lower. There is probably more sense to it up here as in the hotter months the air-cons are on in the bedrooms all night. Now I have a smart meter I can probably make a better assessment.

For the panel sizing the larger size made sense, my estimates were it would only take fractionally longer to pay off and then you're continuously generating the extra.

My install was completed last week but it wasn't without some issues, basically some shading from some palm trees, they're a good distance from the house but all very tall so we didn't realise how much shade they sometimes cast. This meant we had to place the panels in a less optimal manner. So far the 6.3kW system is generating about 20kWh per day when we were expecting it to be more high 20s. It's just one of those things I guess and I can't complain too much as it's definitely still going to be worthwhile.
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Re: Solar panels.

Post by norbs »

You trees or neighbours?

Also, we are at close to the worst time of the year. The sun is nearly at it's lowest point. So you might find in a couple of months it is ok again.
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Re: Solar panels.

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Mine but some are at least twice as high as the roof so they'd be a pain to remove and I'm guessing it wouldn't be cheap.

We are lucky up here being closer to the equator so time of year isn't as important but as you say later in the year it should improve, at least until the rains come ;)

It's nifty the way you can monitor things, I can jump on the web or app on my phone and even see how much individual panels have generated for the day.
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Re: Solar panels.

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Better monitoring is something I am looking forward to later in the year when I get a new system. That and monitoring live usage as well.

This is what I use now and for the last 7 years or so,

http://norbtech.com/solar/stats/Xantrex_Monitoring.html

And PV output is good to.

https://pvoutput.org/intraday.jsp?id=83&sid=77
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Re: Solar panels.

Post by ysu »

We had troubles at our previous house with palm trees, Sarsi. If it's just a couple, it was ~250/tree to remove it (on the central coast). If it's a larger bunch, the price goes down.
Might worth checking the price, it maybe better there.

But if they're not overly huge, a long ladder & an industrious neighbour with a chainsaw can help ;) Once you cut the leaves, the top can be chopped off, and secured with a rope it will fall nicely where it has to. Did that too, at our current house. But the tree was only about 6m tall.
Last edited by ysu on Wed May 31, 2017 5:52 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Solar panels.

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Ok so getting rid of a few tress is doable it seems but I'm still not sure if I want to get rid of any yet, maintain the tropical setting if you know what I mean. I spoke to the contractor who actually did the install and it sounds like he and GEM Energy are willing to do some rearranging of the panels if it will help.

Norbs are those sites part of your system? SolarEdge is the brand of inverter I have and they host the stats, without having delved into it that deeply it looks like you're getting as good as or even better data, mine just looks prettier I guess :) This is the sort of thing



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Re: Solar panels.

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Yeah. The basic looking ones I linked first are the Xantrex Inverter software. Loads of info there I never look at any more. :)

PVoutput is a site that has been going for years that you can pump your info into and it has some nicer graphs.
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Re: Solar panels.

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Yeah I'm not going to geek out on the data but I do like the one showing the panels, it even has a time lapse thing that runs through the day showing power accumulating although it runs a bit too quick to be that useful in my opinion.

By the way the top row is on the northern face of the roof, the bottom two are on the southern face, the roof angle isn't great but it shows how up here the orientation isn't so critical.
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Re: Solar panels.

Post by smithcorp »

Looking forward to seeing my winter data this year. The neighbours took down a row of crappy trees that were blocking parts of our panels, so this year we should get better numbers.
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Re: Solar panels.

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Well. looks like I am pulling the pin on another 5.8kW system in the next month or so. To show how things have moved along, it will cost roughly the same as my current 1.9kW system did in 2010.
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Re: Solar panels.

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Is that going to replace the old one or be in addition to? Do you have a limit on the maximum size you can have down there?
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Re: Solar panels.

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Addition to.

We have a new rule that limits us to 5kW feed in to the grid (fucking stupid law).

But I am going to get batteries as soon as they are viable and the 7.7kW system should give me enough overhead for a few cloudy days in a row in winter to keep my importing power to a minimum. Electricity is going to be fucking expensive soon. I still think it is too cheap now, but I also understand there are old people that cant afford to put the heater on in winter.
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Re: Solar panels.

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http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-06-16/o ... ke/8624348

Electricity tariffs for both business and residential customers in New South Wales will soar by more than 15 per cent.
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Re: Solar panels.

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Getting another 5kw 'battery-ready' on my extension, for about what I paid for my original 1.6kw. This together should cover our power needs almost entirely and if we then get a battery...
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Re: Solar panels.

Post by ysu »

So what's the ballpark price lately for a good quality 5kw system?
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Re: Solar panels.

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ysu wrote:So what's the ballpark price lately for a good quality 5kw system?

Look around. There are loads of deals. Especially in Sydney. Mine is more expensive because I want better panels (salt spray protection) and better inverter (battery ready). My quote is for $8000.
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Re: Solar panels.

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Thanks!
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Re: Solar panels.

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$9,600 for me - 21 panels, inverter change etc
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Re: Solar panels.

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Thanks!

Did you guys research & select your own panels & inverters you wanted or were these packages offered?
Are the inverters important at all (i.e. will you get more power out of a better brand inverter?), or only the type of inverter is crucial ?
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Re: Solar panels.

Post by Shaun »

Is there any good places that do like payment plans? Solar is something i'd love now i own a house but cannot afford to lay down 10k in one hit
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