Thread: Solar Panels Melbourne

Originally Posted by rovercare

There is no website without it, the problem with PV is there is to many self taught experts

Like the fella who when he came back to his house, which I was left to install, thinking I'd instictively put the panels where he "knew" knew was best, whom first words were......."what the **** have you stupid ****s done"

Anyhow, upon being reapproached later, he kindly mentions he has accepted there location as he gets a light morning shade which which would of been much more significant if the panels were put where he "knew" was best...funny that

Signing over the recs/stc's is merely how you get the rebates, its all quite transparent if you talk to the right people and the calculations are somewhat accurate

Wasnt infering dodginess in anyone here RC just my lack of knowledge makes me sceptical. (ignorant???)
Off to google recs/stc's and PV - sorry I am a nuffi!

Originally Posted by Sleepy

Wasnt infering dodginess in anyone here RC just my lack of knowledge makes me sceptical. (ignorant???)
Off to google recs/stc's and PV - sorry I am a nuffi!

No, go and look at whirlpool, try and take it all in

Originally Posted by Sleepy

I wish I understood solar. Every time I read the literature I get confused with "signing over" rights and get cold feet.
I have the ideal roof for solar - pitched, north facing, 50sqm or so of available space - but still too chicken - it all just has the air of dodgieness about it.

Anyone who knows of a good site to read, without all the claptrap, I would be interested.

Sorry about the dirft.

Start here : http://forums.whirlpool.net.au/forum/143

The key is to find a good trustworthy designer/installer (Not some sales guy on the end of a phone.)

They should be able to give you a detailed plan of how and what they would set up on your specific site. What the likely output of the system will be so that you can work out if it is a good option for you or not.

So many things can impact how well a solar system will fit your needs. Most of the high volume sellers you see advertising on the TV are only interested in sales.

A decent designer will look at your roof - size, orientation, pitch. whether you are impacted by shade or not, how you currently use electricity (Both time of use and amount.) at a minimum.

Solar can be great - but you really need it done by experts - not sales guys.

The DPI just announced the details of the new feed in tarrifs in Victoria too. Feed-in Tariffs - Department of Primary Industries.

The Premium feed in tarrif which I am on was closed at the end of last September, but at current rates, if you do your sums right it's quite possible its still a pretty smart move.

Thanks Bytemrk, It is one of those jobs I just keep putting off
I reckon I have the ideal roof - Pitched, North Facing, No shade, Lots of sun (for Melb anyway ).

Well, I've just spent the last couple of days trying to come to grips with the whole solar power thing. Been down this path before but gave up due to the seemingly incomprehensible beauraucracy of the whole exercise. I'm fortunate in that the technical aspects of solar are not a problem for me (used to install/maintain small solar systems once upon a time). What with Zones, STA's, REC's and plenty of other alphabet soup to come to terms with, and totally different for each state it's as if the whole sordid mess was designed to discourage people from going solar.
What kicked off my current foray into the unfathomable depths of solar power power is the current offer from True Value Solar for a 1.5KW system for $1500 ($1700 Zone4), guess which zone I'm in, but still around half of what other mobs want.
The sales bloke was helpful and not pushy, answered my questions and seemed to know his job. No problems here. Told him to ring me back the next day (today) as I wanted to check up with my power company TRU energy. No problem.
So far so good, the only thing I had to wrap my head around was that I have a power supplier (TRU) as well as a power distributer, SPAusnet. Haven't quite figured this one out yet, the closest I can get is that SPAusnet is a 'wholesaler' and TRU is a 'retailer'. There is only one wholesaler for your geographical area but oodles of retailers or re-sellers. These are the ones that ring you up all the time and annoy you with conflicting statements about how much better they are than all the others.
After being transfered around between various departments I managed to find out the following.
1. I had to have my existing electronic meter (Nilsen EMS2100 Analyser) 'upgraded' to a smart meter at a cost of $163.48 whether it technically needed to be or not.
2. The smart meter has built in switching for my 'night rate' electric HWS and does not require a separate time switch (at my cost) as I was told last time I queried.
3. If I was having a smart meter installed and not getting solar I would stay on my existing 'tariff' of 24.750 cents per KWHr (peak), 15.84 cents (off peak) and 95.7 cents per day for the present, but as I was going solar I would be moved to a new 'solar' tariff but they (TRU) wouldn't tell me what this tariff would be until I had my solar system installed. After a bit of pressure from me (nicely, it wasn't the call centre operators fault) I was assured that another TRU representative would ring me back with this solar tariff information. Guess what, no follow up call from TRU. Talk about a con job.
4. After a bit of back door super sluething and a swan through SPAusnets site I have determined the following. Once I had gone solar I would be told that my new solar tariff would indeed be a TOU or time of use tariff of 31.35 cents peak, 15.95 cents off peak with the supply charge the same as before. An increase of a massive 26.6% for my peak usage.
5. If this wasn't enough, my 'pay on time' discount of 10% would be a thing of the past.
6. Feed in tariff from my solar to the grid would be 25c per KWHour from SPAusnet plus an additional 6c per KWHour from TRU for a total of 31 cents. No more of the good old days of 65c per KWHour, that all finished in November last year.

Explained all of the above to the True Value Solar salesman when he rang back. He reckoned the compulsory tariff change was a TRU thing and to check out other suppliers. He suggested Diamond Energy and Red Energy. Well I did that and have come to the conclusion that it is actually an SPAusnet thing and not the retailers.
Furthermore when you check Diamond energys site they quote electricity tariff prices 12 months old (13/01/2011) and Red Energy still quotes the old premium feed in tariff prices from 1st Janurary last year. Either totally incompetant or a con but both deceptively misleading.

So the bottom line is this.....................................For a payment of several thousand dollars for a solar system I get the benefit of a cost increase of 26.6% in my daytime power usage and lose my 10% pay on time discount.

I think I'll pass this time round.

Deano

Same over complicated mess that confronted me. Higher tariffs .....wtf?

Surely if the government is serious we should be encouraging changing to solar not scaring people away.

My mobile phone contract makes more sense.

I have been toying with the idea of some 12V led down lights connected directly to my own cells and some batteries installed somewhere. Only problem is the voltage drop on 12v. and the need to have a second set of lights.

Originally Posted by Sleepy

I have been toying with the idea of some 12V led down lights connected directly to my own cells and some batteries installed somewhere. Only problem is the voltage drop on 12v. and the need to have a second set of lights.

At the sort of current 9W leds run at the voltage drop problem is minimal, just get some used heavy cable to do the main feed to the switching area. And the 9W leds are getting cheaper, now around 1/3 of their price last year. I have just ordered these:

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/170744556...84.m1497.l2649

...and will install them around or instead of my current ceiling lights as appropriate.

Originally Posted by Sleepy

Surely if the government is serious we should be encouraging changing to solar not scaring people away.

I could make some insightful observation about how Victorias rules and regs favour the big power companys whilst Queenslands rules and regs favour the consumer, but this could then be construed to intimate that the powers of fascist Liberal conservatism favour the rich industrialists wheras the policies of the socialist Labour communists favour the proletariat. And that would never do.

Originally Posted by Sleepy

My mobile phone contract makes more sense.

Bull****!

Originally Posted by Sleepy

I have been toying with the idea of some 12V led down lights connected directly to my own cells and some batteries installed somewhere. Only problem is the voltage drop on 12v. and the need to have a second set of lights.

Funny you should say this. I've been renovating a cottage on a smaller block just around the corner with a view to moving in a year or so. One of the things I've been doing is installing 12volt LED downlights and the same idea occured to me. A central 12 volt supply solar fed with 240 volt battery charger backup if needed all feeding low voltage, low wattage LED downlights.
Wouldn't worry too much about voltage drop as the current draw of LED's in minute compared to say 12 volt halogens. I've been using 3 watt and 6 watt LED's and have just ordered some 9 watt LED's for a couple of high ceiling rooms. I reckon 4X6 watters is about right for a 12'X12' eight foot ceiling room. At a total of 24 watts this equates to a mere 2 amps total at 12 volts or 0.5 amps each, don't need very heavy cable for this load.
Also relevant is that the battery supply would actually run at around 13.5 volts which is actually too high for domestic LED's. A voltage drop of 1.5 volts would actually be a good thing as far as the LEDs were concerned.
Don't follow why you'd need a second set of lights unless you mean LEDs in some areas and 240volt lighting in others.
After this solar exercise it might be worthwhile visiting this idea again.

Deano