Admin's Solar Installation

[admin]

I have always wondered if the installation of Solar added value to the sale price of your home?
In my mind it doesn't, its just the same as a vehicle with LPG, once in the second hand market, it seems to have no real cash value.
How ever, i can see in a suburban home it might been seen as "Value Adding".

Put it this way, if you were a couple with kids looking for a large family home such as mine, would you look more favourably apon a home that has no electricity bill ? I sure would.

One area of people i have seen interest in Solar, are the soon to be retiring. Doesn't seem to matter how rich or poor they are or how many investments they have, once a normal working cash flow is gone, its all about reducing your monthly costs.

Spot on. Pensioners/retirees are always looking to save a buck, we all will be when we hit that age.

I drove around Geelong yesterday with this thread in mind, noticed a lot of Solar Installations, more than ever!!!
Some schools are nuts, one i drove passed must have had 180 panels +

Yep, many schools and business going solar with 30+ kw systems. Business would save a heap during the day.

As you say admin, using the basic 5Kw system as a benchmark, its amazing what the cost is now as compared to 4 or 6 years ago.
Makes you wonder what it will be in another 4 years?

Hard to say, price will always depend on government subsidies, if we didnt have them on what we pay now they would be a lot more expensive. Panels have also become more powerfull, a year or so a go they were 190w, now they are 250, I even just saw some that are 260.

I used to do some Solar Installs a few years ago, but its just not cost effective for a standard electrical contractor to install Solar in todays market of "Solar Only" business's that sell whole systems installed for the price it costs me to buy the material.

For sure, it would be too hard unless you bought in bulk.

[tony54]

Pretty reasonable hardware from what I have read Tony so you wouldnt expect any problems. You didnt mention who the installer is so make sure thats exactly what they have with them when they turn up to do the job.

I have read numerous instances of companies quoting for certain brand equipment then turning up with something else.

As to research Oceanboy, I will start with who not to go with :

Eurosolar or True Value Solar.

There are stories galore about these 2 companies, both heavily advertise on TV and use sales reps who know very little about what they are selling. Panels could be anything from anywhere and same for inverters. Eurosolar were just prosecuted for lying to customers (I think someone posted a link to it), TVS do it daily.

The reason I didn't mention the company was because I wasn't sure if it was ok to do so, The company is Solaray, It was installed today and found them great to deal with. Unfortunately they just put the price for this system up by $400, so I got in just in time

[admin]

The reason I didn't mention the company was because I wasn't sure if it was ok to do so, The company is Solaray, It was installed today and found them great to deal with. Unfortunately they just put the price for this system up by $400, so I got in just in time

No problem with mentioning companies, I am sure there are plenty interested in your opinion. I havent heard of them, but then a Google shows they are in Sydney as no doubt are you and I wouldnt be looking at companies up there

Where did you hear about them out of interest ? Post up some outputs when you get the chance.

[weirdo]

Installed my own 5 KW system about a year and a half ago
Well, I installed the panels
18 x 285 Watt panels HC Solar Power total 5.13 KW
Ako Diehl (German made) 5300 Inverter
Got it just in time to make use of the generous offer of $0.44/Kwh plus an additional $0.06/Kwh from my power supplier making a total of $0.50/Kwh for every Kw generated
The contract is until 2028 so plenty of time to go still
We used to get our 3 monthly power bill of around $650 but since installing this system we haven't paid a bill again
in fact we've got a $600 surplus paid out about 6 months ago
All in all the system ended up costing me just a tad over 6 grand (that's after cashing in the stc's)
the stc's are weird too
make sure you sell them at the right time because the price seems to fluctuate quite abit

[shlocker]

Thanks for confirming my doubts regarding the companies to stay away from. I always had my doubts about these companies who heavily advertise on TV
offering fantastic deals at budget price.
My main concern is how would I know what brand panel they are installing and the quality of inverter supplied.
They could tell me one thing and install something else. Its not like I can visually tell the difference.
I have also heard that if you get a shadow or shade on 1 panel on your grid it prevents production of power for the whole system. (Is this true?)
There are also other systems where shading to 1 panel on your grid of panels will not prevent the others from producing power. (is this also correct?)

Thanks to everyone for input to this topic, and Admin for starting it.

[ol' boy]

Installed my own 5 KW system about a year and a half ago
Well, I installed the panels
18 x 285 Watt panels HC Solar Power total 5.13 KW
Ako Diehl (German made) 5300 Inverter
Got it just in time to make use of the generous offer of $0.44/Kwh plus an additional $0.06/Kwh from my power supplier making a total of $0.50/Kwh for every Kw generated
The contract is until 2028 so plenty of time to go still
We used to get our 3 monthly power bill of around $650 but since installing this system we haven't paid a bill again
in fact we've got a $600 surplus paid out about 6 months ago
All in all the system ended up costing me just a tad over 6 grand (that's after cashing in the stc's)
the stc's are weird too
make sure you sell them at the right time because the price seems to fluctuate quite abit

Wow, thats impressive weirdo!! You cant beat that, sounds like you will pay for your investment in no time, then you'll be infront for ever more.

[viewer]

Very neat job Weirdo...your obviously a handy man...looks very professional.

[weirdo]

I have also heard that if you get a shadow or shade on 1 panel on your grid it prevents production of power for the whole system. (Is this true?)

that's true, even a bit of bird shit on your panel can make a big difference
so keep it clean
I've had to chop down some trees to get more out of my system and there's a few more to go yet
so much for green power lol
I bet heaps of people that have installed solar systems have had to chop trees down to maximize their production
I forgot to mention in my previous post that these systems don't really add too much to the value of your house (in my case anyway)
if I was to sell, my contract would become null and void
it can't be passed over to the new owner so they would only get about $0.08/Kwh

[weirdo]

Very neat job Weirdo...your obviously a handy man...looks very professional.

Thanks viewer, it's pretty easy really

[ol' boy]

Thanks viewer, it's pretty easy really

Yep, nice neat job mate.
I'd be interested to hear from anyone whom has filled their North Facing Roof pitch with panels, if they notice the house stays a few degrees cooler?

As mounting a rack of panels is providing a first point for radiant heat and also offering a 50mm air gap to your existing colourbond or roofing material.

[LeroyPatrol]

Installed my own 5 KW system about a year and a half ago
Well, I installed the panels
18 x 285 Watt panels HC Solar Power total 5.13 KW
Ako Diehl (German made) 5300 Inverter
Got it just in time to make use of the generous offer of $0.44/Kwh plus an additional $0.06/Kwh from my power supplier making a total of $0.50/Kwh for every Kw generated
The contract is until 2028 so plenty of time to go still
We used to get our 3 monthly power bill of around $650 but since installing this system we haven't paid a bill again
in fact we've got a $600 surplus paid out about 6 months ago
All in all the system ended up costing me just a tad over 6 grand (that's after cashing in the stc's)
the stc's are weird too
make sure you sell them at the right time because the price seems to fluctuate quite abit

You've done very well with you're investment! I wish I did something but then I was in between houses when the good tarrifs were still going.

Leroy

[weirdo]

Actually, I should probably rephrase that
it's easy on steel roofs
an absolute bitch on tiled roofs

[marty 17]

You've done very well with you're investment! I wish I did something but then I was in between houses when the good tarrifs were still going.

Leroy

You are not wrong leroy I fxxked up as well (dithering) and missed the boat but the deal you have negotiated weirdo is sensational as 62 cents was the best in NSW and only till 2016 not 2028.

[ol' boy]

Seems the days have come that we are responsible for our own energy requirements.
As admin says, you just need to work out your average daily consumption and size a Solar System accordingly.

Only trouble (as he mentions) is this only meets your energy needs while the sun is shinning, and for a panel to produce good power output, that is essentially between 9am and 5pm in summer and 10am and 3pm in winter. Most likely when you are at work.

I can see the next thing in Home Solar will be the use of Deep Cycle Batteries to store some of your Solar Energy as Off Peak Grid Charges rise in the future.
The irony in that is, i was installing exactly these type of systems 25 years ago for Remote Area Supplies (Homes that were off the grid due to their location).

Time will tell if this is indeed what ends up happening.
But it struck me as here i am sizing up a 12Volt Dual Battery/Solar system for another Camper Van.
And the principles are exactly the same, you start with your daily usage, then design a system to cover you needs.

Hence my first statement, we are all becoming aware and responsible for our own energy needs.
Especially as it becomes viable for us to do something about it.

[viewer]

In reality, all new homes should have to be fully solar, and this may again reduce the costs to consumers in the long run. Installation to a new home should be cheaper, especially if the larger home builders were to get in bed with larger solar operators.

I think the government should be trying to subsidize users to get on board and incorporating back up battery storage as part of the packages where possible. Naturally we wouldn't want the pink bat cowboy operators involved this time around.

As a taxpayer, I don't have a problem with taxes being diverted to these areas...they are good for the environment and something worth contributing too. The govt. should never have dropped their subsidy for water tanks either.

[weirdo]

another thing to watch out for in the future I reckon would be higher insurance cost
I've heard firemen are not that keen to put their hose on your house with solar panels
you can turn off the switch but the panels will still be producing power (800 Volts in my setup)

[viewer]

Ouch...

[Privatteer]

I am home all day , I have a quite large roof facing in the right direction and zero shade.

I hope whoever you speak to discusses a East/West arrangement as a possibility. You take an hit on overall production but not as much as you would think.
However it flattens out the production over the day meaning you offset more of your import power usage mornings/afternoon rather than exporting a heap at measly 8c at midday.

[fandtm666]

In reality, all new homes should have to be fully solar, and this may again reduce the costs to consumers in the long run. Installation to a new home should be cheaper, especially if the larger home builders were to get in bed with larger solar operators.

I think they have that setup up in nsw now , both my brothers are building new homes
at the moment and they had to have a minimum of 1.5Kw setup in their plans
otherwise they could not get approval for building

[ol' boy]

Some perspective on Solar Panel prices.

March 2010 - 80Watt Panel $400
Jan 2014 - 80Watt Panel $100

The irony is, in March 2010, to buy an 80Watt panel for $400 was considered a break through and put Solar panels in reach with the common consumer.
Some very interesting reading on the the cost of Solar Panels over Time
Plus the Cost of Kw/H production using your own home Solar when you compare Cost of System vs Life Span as compared to tradition coal generation prices.

One thing is for sure, Poly-Silicone has never been used by a single industry as much as in the production of Solar Panels.
It will be interesting to see what happens when it comes to waste disposal?