Solar Panels

[HurlsMeister18]

Thinking of getting solar panels and after advice from anyone who has them.

Are they worth it ?

I'm currently paying about $430 per quarter for my power bill, I have 4 adults living in my house so how many panels would I need to match that output.

 

[Scotland]

What are the main contributors to your power bill?

If you spend $300 a quarter on heating and lighting at night then solar panels aren't going to be much help to you.

 

[Power Raid]

Thinking of getting solar panels and after advice from anyone who has them.

Are they worth it ?

I'm currently paying about $430 per quarter for my power bill, I have 4 adults living in my house so how many panels would I need to match that output.

I've just gone through the solar power investigation process and come up with the following (note some WA issues may be different to Vic)
- stay away from cheap panels but don't go over the top either. the reality is they are disposable items and what will be available in 5 years will likely outperform the top of the range today. that said, I'm going for REC or LG panels (as a poor performing panel in string reduces the performance of all panels and micro-inverters convert DC to AC on the roof but the new lithium batteries will work on DC).
- the maximum rebate on panel size in WA is 6.6kw
- the maximum size inverter for the rebate is 5kw
- the sunnyboy and the fronius inverters are the better inverters
- note as of 11 July 2015 it is a legal requirement to have inverters with a monitoring system thus you should not pay much for an inverter without monitoring today if it is a worthless next month.

My power bill is about $500 for a month (I run businesses from home, a pool, sports lighting, two fridges, electric floor heating and an a/c cooling a 500m2 open plan) but 80% of use at night. so I am not buying it for an immediate saving but look forward to having the Tesla batteries installed in 18 months.

This system will cost $10-12k and by itself would be a waste of money. Give it 2 years and having Tesla or similar batteries installed I would expect to save $4k a year on an overall investment of $15k. The payback isn't amazing but its OK. If you don't intend on buying batteries or use most of your power during the day (between 10am and 4pm), then don't bother.

 

[ManWithNoName]

I've just gone through the solar power investigation process and come up with the following (note some WA issues may be different to Vic)
- stay away from cheap panels but don't go over the top either. the reality is they are disposable items and what will be available in 5 years will likely outperform the top of the range today. that said, I'm going for REC or LG panels (as a poor performing panel in string reduces the performance of all panels and micro-inverters convert DC to AC on the roof but the new lithium batteries will work on DC).
- the maximum rebate on panel size in WA is 6.6kw
- the maximum size inverter for the rebate is 5kw
- the sunnyboy and the fronius inverters are the better inverters
- note as of 11 July 2015 it is a legal requirement to have inverters with a monitoring system thus you should not pay much for an inverter without monitoring today if it is a worthless next month.

My power bill is about $500 for a month (I run businesses from home, a pool, sports lighting, two fridges, electric floor heating and an a/c cooling a 500m2 open plan) but 80% of use at night. so I am not buying it for an immediate saving but look forward to having the Tesla batteries installed in 18 months.

This system will cost $10-12k and by itself would be a waste of money. Give it 2 years and having Tesla or similar batteries installed I would expect to save $4k a year on an overall investment of $15k. The payback isn't amazing but its OK. If you don't intend on buying batteries or use most of your power during the day (between 10am and 4pm), then don't bother.

a) it depends how much power you're using during the day. The buyback rate these days is so small there's no point getting a bigger system than you need. Some dodgy salesman might try talk you into it but you'd be throwing your money away.
b) definitely try and go micro's. More expandable in future, and there are batteries coming that work fine with them.
c) the batteries out later this year will be ~$20-$25k. Wait 12 months and they'll be much cheaper and much better

 

[Power Raid]

a) it depends how much power you're using during the day. The buyback rate these days is so small there's no point getting a bigger system than you need. Some dodgy salesman might try talk you into it but you'd be throwing your money away.
b) definitely try and go micro's. More expandable in future, and there are batteries coming that work fine with them.
c) the batteries out later this year will be ~$20-$25k. Wait 12 months and they'll be much cheaper and much better

Thanks

We have a lithium off take agreement with a battery manufacturer, so I should be getting freebies

that said it will be 18-24 months before I get them