Thread: Solar feed-in tariff

Originally Posted by jx2mad

I just received a letter from the Govt stating that my subsidized feed-in tariff stops at the end of December this year. It seems that we now have to negotiate with suppliers. The letter also suggested we have a smart meter fitted to help us spread our load.I do not want to go that way. Is there any way of diverting the solar output for house use during the day without using storage batteries?

Newer batteries are very good and they last years and years, to be honest it might just be the best way to go.
I currently get 44 cents a kw, and that should continue for a few years, but if I get offered 4 cents or something equally silly when my contract finishes it would not cover my own power bill so it will be batteries for me.
Chris

Originally Posted by jx2mad

Is there any way of diverting the solar output for house use during the day without using storage batteries?

Not without a rewire and a new meter. The solar inverter has to be connected to the demand (house) side of the meter for you to be able to use it instead of the grid. Without a meter change you will be charged for input as well as output as the current meter can't tell the difference. This will be a huge and expensive problem for NSW solar owners to go from gross FITs to net FITs. There simply aren't enough qualified meter fitters available, as well as a lack of meters. It's a policy disaster.

South Australia doesn't have this problem as we only got net FITs and any power you use during the day will simply reduce the pathetic feed in rate you would get on a system installed after the premium FIT.

You will have to change the way you use your solar now. With the basically zero amount you will get on your new FIT, you are best off load shifting bigger loads to the day - your dishwasher, washing machine, etc - put them on timers if you're not going to be home and use as much as you can while the sun is out.

The other thing you can do - if you have a storage type hot water service - be it electric or gas - is to install a small element seperate to the main heating unit and run this when you're not using much power for anything else.

There are plenty of things you can do to keep your electricity bills low with a low FIT - you just need to flip your thinking.

Just load shift everything as Gav has said to the day time tarriff. Or spend some coin and install a hybrid inverter and batteries. This is what i would do, but as i'm selling my place, the next one is going offgrid

Was just looking at a hybrid inverter and 7KWh battery bank today (Lead Acid, not Lithium) as it happens... Thinking hard about it...

Originally Posted by Vern

as i'm selling my place, the next one is going offgrid

Would love to hear what you install, it's performance and your experiences.

Would probably be a Selectronics Sp pro and ABB inverter, and gel batteries. Tried and tested, unlike lithium, which i a lot of money to "experiment" with

Is it possible to convert to other battery technology (such as lithium) when the batteries are due for replacement?