Solar but not Nissan related

[macca]

We put solar on the house 3 months ago, the first account arrived today. We saved $200 which is not too bad as the panels are flat on the roof and the sun is at it's lowest. We have changed to Click Energy from now on. Worth another $70 to us if we had been with them last quarter. It's cut our bill in half, very happy with that.

[mudski]

What size system did you get? We have a 2 kw system on our house. I worked it out on paper according to our bills over 12 months we needed 3.62kw to totally clear the bill. But back then it was nearly an extra 5k to make that happen. So we just stuck with 2 kw. It helps with the bills as our buy back is at 60 cents but we still have a bill to pay. It all helps though...

[megatexture]

Thats all music to my ears as were doing an extention on our place and once done will be putting a 5kw system on id love to just go off the grid( professionaly installed) compleatly but thats way to much coin for a system you dont want to worry about using too much.

[mudski]

Thats all music to my ears as were doing an extention on our place and once done will be putting a 5kw system on id love to just go off the grid( professionaly installed) compleatly but thats way to much coin for a system you dont want to worry about using too much.

5kw is big for any home. Unless you have lots of kids and they leave every light on...:D but completely off grid is way too expensive and not necessary if your system is putting out more than your using.

[megatexture]

Our last bill was between 400 and 500$I think So I'd love to bring it down a lot!
my wife's parents actually have made $ on 3 of there bills but that's only because they were over seas for 3 months each time.

[Clunk]

If I had known before what I know now, I would have paid that bit extra and gone for a minimum of 5kw, instead of the 2kw jobbie that I got.

[megatexture]

There's 4 people in our House, granted 2 of us are under 5 yrs old and were not looking at moving any time in the foreseeable future I think a big system will be a great investment, we are by no means hippies as I'd slap my missus silly if she grew her arm pit hairs but I hate paying for stuff that I can get or do myself lol.

we have 14,000 ltrs of rain water also another wise investment IMO even though we live 15 min from brisbane BCD


Solar recommendation on system size
http://www.originenergy.com.au/174/Solar-power

[HuskyInAuz]

Our system is a 5kw Kyocera/BP/Sunnyboy installation. 2 - SunnyBoy 5kw grid tie inverters that split the system into a 2 and 3kw pv array. When we installed we were able to get the higher feed in tariff but only had enough roof for 5kw worth of pv panels although 10kw was approved. Once I got the garage redone and extended so we could get to the 8kw mark there was a change in policy (gotta love that) and you couldn't touch or upgrade your system without loosing the feed in so we now wait. Once the feed in is finished I'll look at what's being offered and possibly upgrade to 8kw. We have a large balance due at Origin (or whatever it's called now) made the mistake of talking out a the first few quarterly checks but have now decided against that unless living conditions change.

Last time I looked we'd grossed about 24K kw's upstream.

We have 10K liters of rainwater tanks in the backyard and have had LED lighting for a number of years (240vac to 12vdc downlights) in the reno'd rooms along with LED GU10 base types when the old ones need replacing.

[macca]

We put a 4kw split system on the roof, our house is gable end and the ridge is exactly north south.

We had no north facing opportunity to mount the panels in a more optimum position.

I hate the look of the brackets that hold the panels like a saw tooth, so they are flat on the roof 2kw facing east and 2kw facing west.

A dual string inverter handles the different out puts. We were told a 3kw system was all we needed but would lose efficiency due to being flat hence the 33% overdesign.

Being a net system our true dollar saving is using power when its being generated by the sun. Doing the washing, dishwasher, pond filter, aquarium etc etc all run in the middle of the day when we generate 2kw even on the winter solstice the other day.

We generated 1177 Kwhr in the last 3 months and used 528 Kwhr returning 649 Kwhr to the grid. A good start.

People with a gross system have a way better deal with the 60cent feed in tariff, but when that was available here a 1.5kw system cost $20000 with a $5000 rebate.

Our system cost us $4700 with the best gear I could get, SMA inverter cant remember panel brand. Installed retail was $8200.

I'm a sparky so installed it myself and had a mate with a solar ticket who supplied the bits, advised and then checked the install before signing it off for us.

We calculated or pay back to be 3 to 4 years, I think that is possible.

We left Origin our supplier for 24 years here to using Click Energy, on this bill our saving would have been another $70 but we had to wait for a meter read to swap suppliers. So next read should see better savings.

Previously we installed LED lights throughout the house, our kitchen has 6 lights. We went from 360watts to 78watts at full brilliance. These lights run from sunset to bedtime every day!

I can not say I noticed and change in the bill but it all helps.

[macca]

Solar recommendation on system size
http://www.originenergy.com.au/174/Solar-power

Its a bit of a balancing act, if you can go a larger system I would. The idea of solar with a net meter is to use what you generate.

So using a washing machine is using the same power for 2 or a family of 6, although you may use it more often!

But you don't want to use more than you generate as that when your using power from the grid and that can add to the bill easily, at 38cents a Kwhr it adds up fast.

Best net feed tariff in I could get was 10cents so they are making a nice profit off your investment, mongrels LOL

[jff45]

We've just had a 4.2 kW system installed. 14 x 300 watt LG panels with Delta Solivia 5.0 inverter. We paid $6700 with a timer relay that runs our hot water system at 11:00 am.
We could have got cheaper but we wanted good quality gear.
We're with AGL but have no contract so we'll be looking for the best deal once the feed in tarif changes come in at the end of this month.

We're thinking it could be paid off in 5 - 6 years but when you get 20% rises followed 5 minutes later by another 13% rise like we get here in QLD, there's no way you can really calculate what you're gaining.

It's a bit psychological as well.. You do the big outlay then get over the pain and then have the pleasant feeling of lower bills in future.. :)

[jay see]

We installed a 5kw system about 18 months ago. Full north facing panels unshaded. Haven't paid more than $1000 between power and gas, only because we moved to Red energ. We get 33 cents per kW, 10% pay on time discount and with the credit we pay the gas. Also installed 2x4500 litre water tanks which got plumbed to the toilets when the house got built, also run 2 hoses one to the front and one to the back.

[NissanGQ4.2]

Macca, before the solar install did you have off peak? If so are you still on off peak or did it change over to the smart meter billing???

[mudski]

If I had known before what I know now, I would have paid that bit extra and gone for a minimum of 5kw, instead of the 2kw jobbie that I got.

Yeah we knew it all back then but couldn't afford it. So I am losely looking around for a decent second hand 5kw inverter, then I'll add some more panels.

[NissanGQ4.2]

If I had known before what I know now, I would have paid that bit extra and gone for a minimum of 5kw, instead of the 2kw jobbie that I got.

I'm the same mate, we had the money at the time to get the 5kw but the sales guy said you we won't really need it and the 1.5kw is more suitable............damn wish I didn't listen 2 him!

Thinking about looking to see how much a bigger system will cost and adapt it 2 what we have at present

[macca]

Macca, before the solar install did you have off peak? If so are you still on off peak or did it change over to the smart meter billing???

We did leave the off peak as it is at $0.12 cents I thought it would be better that way. Ours has a 4.8 kw element so that needs to be changed to 2.4 kw and we would be paying peak rates for what we take from the grid. We have TOU (time of use) meter so the hws would cost us more also we couldn't use the other appliances at the same time.

[NissanGQ4.2]

We did leave the off peak as it is at $0.12 cents I thought it would be better that way. Ours has a 4.8 kw element so that needs to be changed to 2.4 kw and we would be paying peak rates for what we take from the grid. We have TOU (time of use) meter so the hws would cost us more also we couldn't use the other appliances at the same time.

We left the off peak system in place, but heard if you don't ring your electricity supplier and tell them you want to stay on that system they can change you over 2 the smart meter billing without asking. Sound like I need to buy some panels and get you and ur mate over for a working bee. Got our bill yesterday................. 330 bucks :( I really need 2 got through my appliances and see what uses what and also convert over 2 leds