Solar panels.

[ysu]

sure it takes 10 years, but the benefit of not having a Bill come in, and no blackouts. be killer

Don't get me wrong, I'm not discounting the option, just want to be clear

Altho you still get a bill unless you disconnect from the grid (base charge and rainy days). But if you go completely off-grid, then you better have enough batteries - and you lose the charge-back fee (albeit small).

[norbs]

sure it takes 10 years, but the benefit of not having a Bill come in, and no blackouts. be killer

Don't get me wrong, I'm not discounting the option, just want to be clear

Altho you still get a bill unless you disconnect from the grid (base charge and rainy days). But if you go completely off-grid, then you better have enough batteries - and you lose the charge-back fee (albeit small).

IMHO you'd be crazy to go off grid completely. What happens if the system breaks down?

My plan is to up my solar panels to around a 6kWh system (currently 1.9kWh) which should max out at 40kWh/day in summer, and give me enough during the winter months to get by. The extra 4kW system looks like being cheaper than the 1.9 we got installed in 2010.

Add to that eventually 20kWh of batteries, which should mean I never have a year where I am in debt for electricity. The ROI will be lengthy, but we are lucky enough to be in a position that it isnt a massive factor.

In winter, if we are having a bad spell of weather, the plan is to charge the batteries overnight using the cheapest tariff, if that is possible.

The issue for me at the moment is trying to get the info and quotes. You'd think I lived in the fucking outback.

[Sarsippius]

I haven't really kept up on this discussion but we bought a place up here Nov last year so solar has entered my thinking a little but it still seemed like a long time to recoup the investment. It's unlikely but I might sell before the 6 years or so to pay it off.

However it seems a decent proposition up here, install costs seem a bit high but we have a gross feed in tariff. I'm not sure how usage pans out exactly, for instance most usage I'd say is at night with air-cons and most of us out of the house during the day on week days. However I'm thinking if I'm paid for everything I put back in usage doesn't matter right?

The max size I can get appears to be 4.5kW but will apparently generate an average of 21kW hours per day taking 5.5 years to pay off.
http://www.countrysolarnt.com.au/2016/0 ... ower-bill/

The big kicker though and what is starting me seriously looking at this is the NT Gov has a Home Improvement Scheme starting soon where I'll likely get $4k towards the total cost.

The mob I linked say ballpark cost is $9-11.5k for a 4.5kW system so I could get it for $5-6k.

What do you think?

[ysu]

I think lock the price in - as soon as they give you $4k, the prices will magically increase
Maybe consider a battery - it's still better business using the charged battery at night, than selling/buying electricity. The difference between the buy/sell price is quite big.

[macca]

In winter, if we are having a bad spell of weather, the plan is to charge the batteries overnight using the cheapest tariff, if that is possible.

The issue for me at the moment is trying to get the info and quotes. You'd think I lived in the fucking outback.

Isn't that what Reposit Power does, works out the best times / prices to send powor & receive it. Might take some extra time to pay back the Reposit costs. They are in Canberra, not far from you.

[norbs]

In winter, if we are having a bad spell of weather, the plan is to charge the batteries overnight using the cheapest tariff, if that is possible.

The issue for me at the moment is trying to get the info and quotes. You'd think I lived in the fucking outback.

Isn't that what Reposit Power does, works out the best times / prices to send powor & receive it. Might take some extra time to pay back the Reposit costs. They are in Canberra, not far from you.

Instead of paying for the service, it looks like you can sort it out with an arduino and a few bits of gear. Once batteries come down, I expect I will look at that. Might be a bit of fiddling around setting up, but you can do it for about $60 from what I have seen so far.

[Sarsippius]

I think lock the price in - as soon as they give you $4k, the prices will magically increase
Maybe consider a battery - it's still better business using the charged battery at night, than selling/buying electricity. The difference between the buy/sell price is quite big.

The money is for any home improvements, not specifically solar (it's meant to stimulate tradies and small business) but it seems I'm not the only one thinking solar is the best way to use the money as the guys giving me a quote have gone from providing a quote within a day to taking a week.

Up here the buy back rate is equal to the flat tariff I'm currently paying, it seems quite likely I could reduce my quarterly bills to virtually nothing but I'm not sure if I'm missing something.

[ysu]

Nice!

[smithcorp]

Bloody hell - almost the end of February and not a word from Energy Australia about changing meters and things like that to account for the changes to the feed-in tariff.

[norbs]

Bloody hell - almost the end of February and not a word from Energy Australia about changing meters and things like that to account for the changes to the feed-in tariff.

We got a letter to say they would do it 1 week in Dec. A week later, after the dates suggested, a contractor shows up. I told him he cant do it as we are both working. He cracked the shits and drove off.

So it is scheduled for the next 2 weeks.

[norbs]

https://www.theguardian.com/sustainable ... MP=soc_568

[ysu]

https://www.theguardian.com/sustainable ... MP=soc_568

That is an awesome idea, and an awesome project if it gets done properly!

[norbs]

And how about this?

http://reneweconomy.com.au/german-batte ... ket-52739/

[ysu]

That's....interesting.
I'm not sure I'd want that, since they can suck my batteries dry and then I've nothing to weather a storm (outage) with.
Also:
- how much this service costs, is a big factor. Is it comparable with a regular setup?
- who determines what and when and where gets installed? They may not get much out of a puny 2kW sys...but if it's free electricity, smart people will pick the smallest option, hehe.

[Sarsippius]

I've put in an application for the Home Improvement Scheme up here, I should get the full $4.4k voucher which will mean a final cost to me of $5.1k for a 4.5kw system, 16x QCell 285w panels and SolarEdge 5kw inverter + optimizers.

Looking into it all it just seems a no brainer with this voucher, it should pay for itself in 3 years, possibly even quicker as half our usage is the parents-in-law in the granny flat who'll still have to contribute their share of usage.

[smithcorp]

I finally got a letter from Energy Australia talking about options for moving from gross to net metering. We have a solar system and had been receiving the 60c feed-in tariff, but this of course has reduced to 6c since the end of the year and while we are still in credit by a substantial amount for power bills, I'm trying to work out whether we should move from gross (which I think we are set to now) to net, so that we can (as I understand it) use the solar panels to power things in the house during the day (and then eventually move to battery storage).

A few questions, because I find this confusing:

1. someone is home during the day 3 days per week, so it seems there might be some benefits in having net? Are there any sites that I can visit to test scenarios?

2. if we move to net metering, does this mean we forgo any feed-in tariff? Is it possible to have the meter set up to export 'excess' power generated by the panels?

Thanks

smiss

[norbs]

Smiss, not sure about sites that test it, maybe run it by @KetanJ0 on Twitter.

Net metering still gives you a FIT, but it is slightly more complicated. Again, i reckon there will be sites out there to show you the calcs.

Try this Smiss. Joel sent it to me a while back..

Code: Select all

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1wQmAm-0y_oY1dR1TaCsUU3kYe18zxDf35UxeUBOvIZI/edit?usp=sharing

[norbs]

Smiss, these are interesting articles. prices are getting there...

https://onestepoffthegrid.com.au/off-gr ... ess-10000/

https://onestepoffthegrid.com.au/austra ... y-storage/

[norbs]

Once again, the government steps in to fuck things up...

https://onestepoffthegrid.com.au/new-st ... y-storage/

http://reneweconomy.com.au/network-limi ... ral-65424/

[ysu]

The fuck...this govt seems to be soo very deeply in the pocket of certain ancient "industry leaders". I bet they can't even see the outside anymore.
I'm wondering, are there still people in this country who can't see it ? Hm...stupid question. Of course there are. About half the population I'm sure.

[smithcorp]

Hi all

My CMS 2000 inverter was installed on the wall inside our internal laundry room. We are having renovations done and demolition means the inverter is now sitting on the outside wall of the house exposed to the weather.

Power is still going to it. Is it safe to cover it with a plastic sheet to protect it from rain (attached to wall above and to sides, leaving bottom with some airflow)? Should I shut power off to it?

[norbs]

Hmm, interesting.

http://greenforcesolar.com.au/wordpress ... Manual.pdf

Inside inverter only. I would cover it up for sure, but not sure about leaving it on. What direction does it face? Does it get direct sunlight?

[smithcorp]

Yeah it will, but I'm concerned about it overheating

[DarrenM]

Once again, the government steps in to fuck things up...

Meanwhile, on the other side of the pond...

Britain just went 24 hours without using coal generated power.

http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-39675418

[Montey]

Once again, the government steps in to fuck things up...

Meanwhile, on the other side of the pond...

Britain just went 24 hours without using coal generated power.

http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-39675418

Ably assisted by over 10GW of nuclear energy production.