Anyone Have Solar Panels On Their Roof?

[Florian]

How did you go with this Truman? Have you spoken to your landlord?

I wouldn't be surprised if there are two meters installed in your place, one for the body corp (your landlord, covering public areas) and one for yourself. In that case the produced energy would go towards the public areas, and all excess will generate money for the Landlord.
To be honest it's only fair as he paid for the system in the first place, not the tenants.

 

[Aces High]

I work for a national solar distribution company. Solar is still definitely viable, especially with the electricity pricing going up.

This is the best place you can go to to find unbiased information rather than a lot of hearsay, uninformed opinion and dodgey sales people overstating the truth. Download the consumer guide and it will give you an accurate idea of what you will produce, your feed in tarriff and lots more

Clean enegy council

 

[Batz]

I work for a national solar distribution company. Solar is still definitely viable, especially with the electricity pricing going up.

This is the best place you can go to to find unbiased information rather than a lot of hearsay, uninformed opinion and dodgey sales people overstating the truth. Download the consumer guide and it will give you an accurate idea of what you will produce, your feed in tarriff and lots more

Clean enegy council

That looks like a website trying hard to look like a government site. Perhaps it's just me Not a good look with the recent rip-offs around the country.

Still all maybe good.

We have 12 panels and can up grade to 16 on our current inverter. I only wish I could afford the $$$$ systems some of the members have here.

Batz

 

[Florian]

Agree it looks like a gov site, but still very good information on there. If you read the consumer guide front to back you know all there is to it.

Then just need to do your research on the hardware you want and, going from there, choose a designer/installer in your area if you don't want to do it yourself.

 

[komodo]

Solar is shit house in Vic.
Average house hold consumption is near 30kW per day for the average house hold.
1.5kW system opperating at 70% efficiency for 5 hours a day = 5.25kW its a piss in the wind. Might make you feel warm and fuzzy but at the end of the day your standing there cold and wet covered in piss with a massive bill to foot.

You need a roof that faces north and even then in victoria you struggle to get optimal angle in relation to the suns position - which not only changes east to west but also vertically.

If solar really was ready for large scale roll out then why are they not encouraging businesses in manufacturing to go solar. I would need about a 120kW system - best part of $0.5million to offset my 360kw average daily useage. But instead of encouraging businesses to look to this instead we get offered contracts for $0.06kW/h peak and $0.03kW/h off peak - $1200 per month in grid locked in for 6 years Vs $500k for todays technology in solar. About or 35 years to see a ROI (RECS is bullshit on a system that size).

Maybe it works in the northern states and I do know that up in northern victoria they are seeing decent results but down here in Vic metro - No dice.

Solar hot water - different story.

 

[Aces High]

That looks like a website trying hard to look like a government site. Perhaps it's just me Not a good look with the recent rip-offs around the country.

Still all maybe good.

We have 12 panels and can up grade to 16 on our current inverter. I only wish I could afford the $$$$ systems some of the members have here.

Batz

The clean energy council (CEC) is the body responsible for accrediting installers in Australia. They're also responsible for approving products in Australia and issuing guidelines regarding install regulations. Unlike most solar websites, these guys aren't trying to sell you anything... well except green technology as a whole

 

[mrTbeer]

In qld there are 2 rebates for want of a better name.The first rebate is only for the installation capital cost which is the big one and in your case it's history and has been claimed once and once only by the purchaser. This is a federal grant. It's undergone 2 or 3 changes so far.The second rebate is the payback. It is a state policy and here it pays about 50c a kwh directly to the person who is paying the bill. In almost all rentals in qld the bill is paid by the renter and so it is he who enjoys these credits. The trick is to get your base load down especially during the day. Likemostbrewers your fridges will mean a high base load.Anything that can be run on tariff 31 pr 33 should be as this doesn't count against your solar so any pumps should be done this way. So although you maybe tempted to brew or weld during the day and enjoy the free power your better to do so at night as you pay the same for what you use but anything exported is paid higher.As an example I've installed 2 systems a 1.6kw and a 2kw. Both properties have multiple fridges but otherwise every trick has been done to minimize power through the day.The 2kw exports a decent quantity and my bills are now 50/q where previously 550/q. Not just solar but general efficiency has been improved.The 1.6kw exports very little and almost all of it used on site. This setup is on a farm shed which also has a large cool room. Still it reduces the bill by maybe $600/y but i don't have a before comparison as energex did not read the meter for almost 4 years due to a locked gate.
I've found that a forum called whirlpool has some good unbiased info on solar systems in general. Every setup is different but there are a few formulas that hold up.
If your paying the bill, call your retailer and tell them to install the meter. If there is a cost for this send it to the landlord. The landlord owns the infrastructure but they don't own the power at least not in 99%of qld installs.

 

[hoppy2B]

What you have to look out for, and I've read about this happening to a few people, is that the power you are generating isn't spinning your meter over. By that I mean the meter by which you are billed. No bullshit, you could be paying the electricity supplier for power you are putting into the grid.
I am not 100% certain but from what I read that may be the case with everyone who hasn't had their second meter installed. I do realize other posters were talking about metres spinning backwards but it's not something you want to be complacent about.
Take a good look at your system. Check out where the wires connected to the system lead. Check out how many metres you have. Check out which way the metre(s) spin and sort something out before you're rooted.
Power companies are like banks. They're greedy. <_<

 

[Aces High]

What you have to look out for, and I've read about this happening to a few people, is that the power you are generating isn't spinning your meter over. By that I mean the meter by which you are billed. No bullshit, you could be paying the electricity supplier for power you are putting into the grid.
I am not 100% certain but from what I read that may be the case with everyone who hasn't had their second meter installed. I do realize other posters were talking about metres spinning backwards but it's not something you want to be complacent about.
Take a good look at your system. Check out where the wires connected to the system lead. Check out how many metres you have. Check out which way the metre(s) spin and sort something out before you're rooted.
Power companies are like banks. They're greedy. <_<

This is the kind of hearsay I was referring to in my previous post.

 

[Truman42]

How did you go with this Truman? Have you spoken to your landlord?

I wouldn't be surprised if there are two meters installed in your place, one for the body corp (your landlord, covering public areas) and one for yourself. In that case the produced energy would go towards the public areas, and all excess will generate money for the Landlord.
To be honest it's only fair as he paid for the system in the first place, not the tenants.

Well it turns out the house didnt even have the proper import/export meter installed for solar power. the owners sister had been living there since it was built in August and no one realised she wasn't getting any benefits from the solar panels.

AGL have booked in a job to have one installed but it might not be until the end of January.

Also the Governemnt 60 cents pkwh rebate scheme ended on Sep 30th so Im pissed off about it all. We still get a rebate from AGL but no where near as much as the gov was offering. And by the time the meters installed summer will be half over. :angry:

 

[Aces High]

Well it turns out the house didnt even have the proper import/export meter installed for solar power. the owners sister had been living there since it was built in August and no one realised she wasn't getting any benefits from the solar panels.

AGL have booked in a job to have one installed but it might not be until the end of January.

Also the Governemnt 60 cents pkwh rebate scheme ended on Sep 30th so Im pissed off about it all. We still get a rebate from AGL but no where near as much as the gov was offering. And by the time the meters installed summer will be half over. :angry:

If your system was installed in the 60cents rebate period you should still be on that rebate. You may need to prove this to the governement with your install contract. If you have one of the old cogs and wheels meters still installed then it would have been spinning backwards in that time and you would have been receving 1 for 1. If you have an electronic meter, then yes you've probably missed out on any power you exported to the grid, but you would have reduced your bill by whatever power you were producing and using concurrently.

 

[komodo]

Truman should have a smart metere - they rolled them out ages ago in this area