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Thread: Bait and Switch - Diamond Energy

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    Default Bait and Switch - Diamond Energy

    Looks like I have been given the classic bait and switch.

    Diamond Energy-


    REF: Diamond Energy Solar Installation

    Congratulations on receiving pre-approval for the $8000 rebate under the Solar Homes and Community Program. We are now entering the final and most exciting stage of the process – Installation.

    At this point the key focus is to get your solar system installed prior to the Department of the Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts (DEWHA) deadline. Unfortunately, despite Diamond Energy’s best efforts, our suppliers of First Solar panels, inverters and system installation are now not in position to provide the hardware and services promised.

    Diamond Energy have sourced an alternative system that meets all DEWHA requirements and is at a minimum, similar to the original Diamond Energy offer. This system is as follows:

    Alternate System Details

    - 6 x 175W Eko Energy monocrystalline solar panels

    (1.05kW total with 25 year power performance warranty)

    - 1 x Approved Eko Energy Inverter (1 kW or larger)

    - Approved racking & standard wiring

    - 1x Bi-directional meter

    - Installation by CEC Accredited Installer

    This system is still “at no cost to you” and is expected to provide comparable savings in your electricity bill. Diamond Energy is excited to work with you to install solar on your roof.

    We are pleased to advise that our accredited installer EKO ENERGY has been allocated and will be contacting you shortly to arrange a specific date for installation.

    If you do not wish to accept the system listed above, you may cancel your contract with Diamond Energy and we will release you from your contract at no charge. We sincerely hope you will not find this necessary.


    Should you have any queries about the system or your installation, please contact EKO ENERGY.


    Their contact details are:

    Phone 1300 356 353

    Fax: 03 9583 9440

    Mail:
    EKO ENERGY Solar Department
    P.O. Box 4222
    Black Rock North VIC 3193

    Web:


    Email:
    admin@rezeko.com

    Best Regards,

    My whole strategy with going for the Diamond energy system was the thin film panels on a West facing roof. Any suggestions/recommendations of a reputable installer with quality equipment so I can expedite an installation before our rebate grant expires.mad:



Look Here ->
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    I have no advice to you but I have just had my 1kw system installed through Nu Energy. I must have been one of the last to receive approval as I posted the application the day after the scheme was shut down. So far it has been doing about 5kwh per day. It is facing North West.

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    Get out of the contract while you still can.

    A 1 kw system is a waste of time and your power bill will most likely rise...it will make 200 watts or less real soon in winter.

    All the components (6 panels at $750 each plus $1500 for a cheap inverter and brackets amount to less than $7000 dollars )

    They rip you a thousand bucks for a morning's work minimum and get all your REC's....then you pay more per kilowatt for your excess power forever on a "green" tariff plan...which will be most of your power usage.


    here is an extract from the NuEnergy website.....

    Will my PV system account for all my household electricity consumption?
    It really depends on the size of the system. As a rule of thumb, an average household consumes 16 kWh (kilo Watt hours) per day, which is equivalent to the power produced by a 5kW solar system. Here is an equation of the average daily energy production: On average a 1KW system produces 3.38 kWh of electricity per day in Melbourne.



    Your power bill will rise by 50%....you will never produce enough to save money or pay off the investment.

    Your kw/h rate will increase from 17c to probably 26c so you will pay more.

    It's a scam.
    Last edited by ScooterRat; 12-04-10 at 05:48 PM.
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    I rang TruEnergy today asking what they will change my tariff to and I couldn't get a straight answer.
    Will try again tomorrow and see what answer I get.

    Diamond energy are handballing it all to Eko. Eko are now capping the cost of the meter installation - so if youy have a multiphase meter then you are likely to be out of pocket.

    I am already on a TOU tariff and many people are going to get an increase when the smart meters roll in.

    For those who have already installed Solar what are your respective tariffs before and after?

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    Quote Originally Posted by dogsbreath View Post
    I rang TruEnergy today asking what they will change my tariff to and I couldn't get a straight answer.
    Will try again tomorrow and see what answer I get.

    Diamond energy are handballing it all to Eko. Eko are now capping the cost of the meter installation - so if youy have a multiphase meter then you are likely to be out of pocket.

    I am already on a TOU tariff and many people are going to get an increase when the smart meters roll in.

    For those who have already installed Solar what are your respective tariffs before and after?
    Guess what just rang TRU energy they are increasing their tariff again for every customer new rate for Jemena connected customers .
    Solar and normal rate is peak 21.098 inc GST off peak 11.77 inc GST .
    And 66 cents feed back .
    Anyone recommend a 3kw installer in Melbourne .

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    I'm seriously looking at the sunsavers offer. I talked to the Eko crowd taking on the Diamond customers and they can do a 3kw system for 9k with 3k deposit and 6k interest free over 2 years. Eko Energy (Rezeko). Can't actually recommend either as I still haven't had an install yet

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    Quote Originally Posted by dogsbreath View Post
    I'm seriously looking at the sunsavers offer. I talked to the Eko crowd taking on the Diamond customers and they can do a 3kw system for 9k with 3k deposit and 6k interest free over 2 years. Eko Energy (Rezeko). Can't actually recommend either as I still haven't had an install yet
    Is this price with or with out the government money. ??

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    The Eko Energy price was quoted to me as being a Solar Credits Price but they use a "Lucky Dragon" panel that I can't remember the name of and an unknown Taiwanese inverter.


    The sunsavers website gives prices for the old rebate and the new solar credits schemes.

    .

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    Quote Originally Posted by dogsbreath View Post
    The Eko Energy price was quoted to me as being a Solar Credits Price but they use a "Lucky Dragon" panel that I can't remember the name of and an unknown Taiwanese inverter.


    The sunsavers website gives prices for the old rebate and the new solar credits schemes.

    .
    Hello everyone,

    My name is Anna McDonald and I am New Product Development Manager for EKO ENERGY.

    In contrast to the previous post EKO ENERGY solar panels are sourced from a premium Chinese Supplier Taizhou Sopray Solar Company.

    To date Rezeko has had excellent feedback from the thousands of customers who have installed these.

    The EKO ENERGY 2000 Inverter this is also a premium product sourced from Ningbo Ginlong Inverter company, also in China.

    I have never heard of nor has our company ever installed Lucky Dragon Solar Panels.

    To date we have neither sourced inverters or any other product from Taiwan.

    In Victorian conditions a solar system should produce a minimum of 1200 kilowatt hours per annum in Melbourne or 1400 kilowatt hours in Sydney, Brisbane or Adelaide where there is more sun.

    Assuming you export a minimum of 10% of energy to the grid in Melbourne this will give you at least a $400 annual comprising the value of energy used in your home and credits on your energy under Victoria's net feed in tariff.

    In NSW you should earn over $800 per year through the gross feed in tariff.

    The deal that you are being offered through Diamond is great and has only been made possible because of the generous $8000 Federal Government rebate and the RECs subsidy.

    We are now installing around a 100 systems a week for Diamond customers.

    Please give me a call on 0433 013 614 if you would like further information.

    Best wishes,

    Anna McDonald
    New Product Development Manager

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    I am a little confused here re paying more for electricity ? I am with AGL and the buy in rate has not changed at all but they pay me 60 cents a KW that I export. I did not have an off peak setup which I believe you lose after a solar install. I have a 1 KW system in summer it was producing 5 or 6 KW per day these days with overcast skies its 200 to 500 W.

    If you sign up for Green energy plans you will pay more for sure if you stay on the normal rate I cant see why you would pay more. If you are perhaps its time to switch power company.

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    I think with the smart meter roll out, if it actually happens, the aim is to put everyone on some form of Time Of Use tarrif. Then they can manipulate our bills and confuse us even more.
    The green energy plans are targetted for those people who like to have that warm feeling inside that they are doing the right thing. Reality is that on average renewable energy sources at present cost more to supply your electricity than that of the more common coal sources. By purchasing your power on a green plan the retailer is agreeing to purchase an amount of power that you, if thats the plan your on, and all their other green customers consume from green sources.


    Welcome aboard Anna and thankyou for the clarification and correction on your companies products. We look forward to your further technical advice, assistance and opinions in this forum.

    "Lucky Dragon" is not a brand name but a slang term for product coming out of China not having a well known name or known quality history.
    As far as the Taiwanese inverter - I may have been a little mixed up and confused with cms2000 inverter which I assume Rezeko have never used. I talked to a lot of of different companies that day.

    The Diamond product offer varied significantly from the Eko/Rezeko offering - Thin Film panels vs Monocrystaline.

    I asked Diamond many times in the preceeding months if everything was alright and if they had the capacity and availability of equipment to meet their installation commitments. I was always told everythng was fine and on target even a couple of days before the big announcement that they couldn't meet their obligation.

    The Eko/Rezeko system was one of my shortlisted systems however I ended up going with another company who offered me 3.24kw of Suntech mono panels and an SMA3800 inverter for under $9k. Thats competition for you.
    One of the reasons I chose this system is that the Suntech panels are readily and easily available from a number of suppliers so I can increase my system capacity without being restricted on where I get my panels from.

    I still would have preferred the thin film panels as they will not be facing North and there may be some minor shading at various times of the day from pipes and antennas.

    Although things fell in a heap with the Diamond offer. I am still appreciative to them for getting my application over the line when the program was withdrawn without notice.
    Last edited by dogsbreath; 15-05-10 at 12:32 PM. Reason: Felt like it

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    I could rattle on about smart meters but it's all in these links. The Victorian government has put the issue of tariffs on hold supposedly for an enquiry into the effect this will have on low income people. The reality is its on hold till after the state election and the projected is being fronted by Peter Bachelor (Mr how to vote) who can't seem to answer questions on this other than with spin. Stuff like it will give people more control of their usage - Really ??

    Interestingly the NSW government admitted electricity prices would not need to raise so much now Rudd's ETS is shelved. The Victorian government has never admitted to my knowledge the ETS was a push factor with prices nor have they said the prices will now not need to rise to the same extent.

    Anyway.





    Last edited by SystemRat; 15-05-10 at 12:42 PM. Reason: typos

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    I have over the last few years reduced my electricity use by over a third but my bill still keeps going up. Water is almost the same. My last water bill went up by over $75 on service charges.
    My gross pay has gone up about a third over the last ten years. The only other beneficial factor is that the tax brackets have reduced. If costs keep going up the way they have been lately then I can see major pay rises being needed. No more of this 2 or 3 % increases we have been accepting.
    Hopefully I can get my useage down enough to be covered by my solar setup as I expect the feed in tariff to power used tariff ratio will not be as favourable for very long.

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    Cool

    The whole point in having fixed charges (availability , network infrastructure etc ) is so they can recoupe the revenue that is lost when you decrease your useage. Because of this you will not find a user pays system that does not include fixed charges.

    ps- don't forget to include your net feedin profit in your tax return.

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    Quote Originally Posted by watchdog View Post
    The whole point in having fixed charges (availability , network infrastructure etc ) is so they can recoupe the revenue that is lost when you decrease your useage. Because of this you will not find a user pays system that does not include fixed charges.

    ps- don't forget to include your net feedin profit in your tax return.
    My water charge even if I don't use a drop is up around a $1k per annum.

    I didn't think the profit was considered for tax purposes but was as far as social security income was concerned.

    If they accepted it for tax purposes I would have to run my electricity business at a slight loss then.


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    I was offered 1.5kw system from both Braemac energy and Eco-Kinetics for $0 as i have the 8k rebate.
    Eco kinetics offered 9x 175w sopray panels and Aurora pvi 2000 inverter.
    why not give them a call.

    i ordered my 2.1kw system from eco last thursday ($1150 +Rec's and $8k ) and its being installed this Friday morning

    btw i am in metro melb.
    cheers lee

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    .
    Last edited by lee; 19-05-10 at 09:56 AM. Reason: info not reqd

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    Hooray. Installation completed today. 3.2kw system with Sunnyboy 3800 + Suntech panels from Braemac Energy. Installers although reasonably young were very experienced in renewable installations from domestic right up to international full scale windfarms. They also had an attitude of trying to achieve the optimum installation configuration not the easiest and most convenient and put the extra effort in to avoid minor shading and to place inverter out of direct sunlight.
    Power output peaked at about 920W which I didn't think was too bad for overcast Victoria today.

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    I origionally applied for the free deal with Diamond Energy, they handballed it to Eko-Energy – Rezeko, and they arranged for a local company to do the install..

    Quote Originally Posted by AnnaMcDonald View Post
    Hello everyone,

    My name is Anna McDonald and I am New Product Development Manager for EKO ENERGY.
    ......
    The EKO ENERGY 2000 Inverter this is also a premium product sourced from Ningbo Ginlong Inverter company, also in China.
    It's just a pitty the software that comes with the Ginlong inverter is total rubbish and doesn't work....

    I ended up having one of these Ginlong GCI-2k inverters installed. (rebadged as Eko Energy GCI-2k)


    The inverter seems to do the job but the software that came with it is totally useless, it's called "Ginlong Solar Monitor" and runs as CommApp.Exe in the task manager... It appears the software should display all the inverter data, but has no graphs or anything fancy...

    The only part of the software that works is it's ability to turn the grid on and off, I've only managed to get the software to read the inverter data once, that was after I reset the time, date, and com port details in the inverter, and the software displayed a single set of data, I haven't managed to do this a second time... I've tested the software on Win2003, Win2008, and Windows 7, they all have the same issue...

    The RS-485 connection seems fine, I can turn the grid off and on, and using 232Analyser I can see the inverter data streaming in with no issues...

    The Ginlong site has a software manual for some totally different software which actually looks ok, but they don't have the software available for download, and they wont respond to emails...


    I emailed Rezeko and a number of Ginlongs email addresses about 10 days ago, but I haven't received any responses... So I assume there is no working software available...

    Just a warning for people, if you want an inverter you can monitor from your PC, avoid the Eko-Energy/Ginlong inverter

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    Default PC Monitoring

    Hi there. My name is Erik Zimmerman and I'm CEO of EKO Energy / Rezeko. I monitor the blogs sites because it's by far the best way of doing research on customer satisfaction!! Hope you don't mind...

    Just to let you know this will be an option on the Ginlong/EKO Energy 2000 inverter shortly. There is a monitoring output on the underside of the inverter and it simply requires some additional wireless hardware. This will be available over coming months. Please e-mail me and I'll come back to you with more detail (erik.zimmerman@rezeko.com). Please be patient as we completed almost 900 installs for Diamond Energy over the past couple of months.

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