Brewers With Solar Power

[seamad]

Yep interested myself in regards to quality/ reliability,prices are out of control getting a good system then not having to pay a power bill again is a win.

Unless rebates are much higher down your way there is no way you are going to not get a power bill. I've got a 5kW system, and what I use and produce are very close yet my power bill is still couple of hundred per 1/4 ( is @ 1/2 what it was ). The problem is in the big differential between what you pay per kW and the lousy amount they pay you per kW. I have thought of going off grid with batteries etc but the costs don't add up. I do like brewing on a very sunny day though as with my all electric rig it's pretty cheap to run when the sun is shining.

 

[GrumpyPaul]

Once you get it all sorted - watch your power bill like a hawk.

Sneaky bastards more often than not don't include the feed in credits for mine. I have to chase them up a number of times to get it credited.

 

[Snow]

Once you get it all sorted - watch your power bill like a hawk.

Sneaky bastards more often than not don't include the feed in credits for mine. I have to chase them up a number of times to get it credited.

Who's your power provider, Grumpy?

I've never had a problem with Origin.

 

[GalBrew]

I'll be investing in one of the Tesla battery packs once they are available. Even on a 4kw system feed in tariffs aren't worth worrying about at 8c/kWh.

 

[wynnum1]

They will just keep on increasing the network charges to wipe out any feed in credits .

 

[seamad]

I'll be investing in one of the Tesla battery packs once they are available. Even on a 4kw system feed in tariffs aren't worth worrying about at 8c/kWh.

If they're priced like the cars...
On my boat ( still not quite finished ) I've got LiFePO4 batteries which are very light and can handle high dis/charge and have a much higher cycle life compared to std lead/acid batteries. It's a 600 ampHr @12 VDC set up, which is 12 individual cells, got them pretty cheap in a bulk buy with a few other guys who were also building their boats. However I'd need more than that to power the house during patches of bad weather and they are still expensive. On top of that yuo'd be up for a couple of expensive pure sine wave inverters and probably a backup diesel genny. All up you are quickly at $12-15K and that's not including the solar panels, so just not viable yet imo.

 

[wynnum1]

With those batteries what happens if they get wet and short out.

 

[technobabble66]

With those batteries what happens if they get wet and short out.

seamad becomes sad
h34r: :lol:

 

[seamad]

With those batteries what happens if they get wet and short out.

no idea, probably the same as any other battery. Mine are built in under the lounge/settee on the bridgedeck of a 12.5m sailing cat, so hopefully no chance of ever finding out. They are not prone to exploding/catching fire as the lithium batteries ( different tech/chem) as with the recent boeing aircraft ones.

 

[technobabble66]

FWIW, i've read solar panel reviews by supposedly experts in the field (these seemed credible - e.g.: one was CHOICE, i think) where they suggested that at current prices (from 1-2 yrs ago) it's possibly more worthwhile to simply get a battery array to collect energy during off-peak times to supply the house during peak times, rather than invest in a solar panel array.
As well as being interesting, it seemed indicative of the poor support for solar power and the dubious charge schedule the power companies employ.

 

[wide eyed and legless]

In Victoria feed in tariffs is now 6.2 cents, anyone thinking of putting in a solar system get a bigun as the battery price comes down think about putting in a bank of batteries for evening use.
As one poster stated your bargaining power comes down with solar users and I have been caught out twice now in negotiating with Lumo, you get excited when they offer a further reduction in electricity charges when asking for a reduction in gas charges, its only when you put the phone down that you realise that you realise you are not paying for the electricity anyway.

 

[O-beer-wan-kenobi]

These guys do an energy storage system http://magellanpower.com.au/component/virtuemart/renewable-energy2012-06-06-07-05-521/residential-energy-storage--detail
I asked my rep to give me an indicative cost for one using my current inverter and possibly more panels. They would need to look at your usage and work out how much you use in the day with enough spare capacity to charge the batteries to last the night until they start the recharge cycle again. It is a totally off grid install so like the post above a back up system would be beneficial if you have a problem or maintenance. One thing to consider with this and solar is the life and output deterioration of the panels and batteries. Still waiting on the price though

A guy at work is still on a contract where he sells his at high rate so he turns everything off in the day to export and uses his appliances at night, which is at a cheaper rate.
Im on the measly 8c export rate so I try to use my appliances in the day, by staggering the times when I turn them on and try not to use them after sunset. This is OK for me as my wife is at home in the day looking after the kids. Could be a problem for some if none is at home in the day.
My average consumption for the year was 19 units a day. After solar it was 9 units a day so halved my bill. I think I worked out that I need 6 years or so to break even on the current rate for my system.
If you are looking at the 8c export rate I would say its best to size your system based on your usage to get best ROI. If you had a 10kw system and only use 3kw with the rest exporting, it would take a long while to repay the extra outlay at 8c a unit

 

[Fents]

DO NOT USE THIS MOB - http://www.treac.com.au/

They have gone into administration.

I recently forked out >$18K for a 2.5kw on grid system and a 4.5kw off grid battery system.

They went into liqudation/administration 1 week after they installed my system. Consider myself bloody lucky i got it done at all. I could see something wasnt right and put a few rockets up them and it got done.

I cant even be sure i got the panels i orderd. Yea it all got checked off by a solar inspector but who says they didnt flick him $200 just to tick a few box's.

Seems to be working fine and my last bill was 15.39 average daily use (kwh) down from around 26 (kwh) same time last year. (I have a pool with pool pump and solar heating pump running 9 hours a day in summer)

Just really scared they dudded me on the panel's or some dodgy wiring or some ****.

Battery system sure is the way to go tho.

 

[wide eyed and legless]

We have discussed adding more panels on another thread regarding solar, I get 66 cents feedback until 2024 and I have asked a couple of companies now about increasing the number of panels (mine will take 2 more panels with my inverter) but they have both said the same thing it is not worth the risk of being caught out, I would lose my 66 cents and maybe a fine to go with it, remember the feed in tariff is government subsidized and whatever contract you sign for the size of the system that is what it stays at.
And in that thread it was also discussed that the power companies want to put a levy on receiving the fed in electricity as a charge for carting it around the state.

 

[O-beer-wan-kenobi]

Can you be connected to the grid and also have batteries to feed back in any excess? I thought if you had stored energy you were totally off grid (Not connected to the grid)? Could be a WA thing?

 

[Yob]

dont quote me, not at the moment here but I believe thats changing, My understanding is that we will be able to later this year, Im almost considering holding off until I can.

 

[droid]

we never had power to the shed, when they came out they said I could have the panels on the shed - I was doing cartwheels - yippee power to the shed!

 

[GrumpyPaul]

Who's your power provider, Grumpy?

I've never had a problem with Origin.

Origin now.....previously Simply Energy.

Used to have to chase up Simply Energy nearly every bill to get the feed in credits.

Only had an issue with Origin on the change over. First two bills didn't include the feed in - but the fixed, and back dated the credit. been Ok since.

 

[GrumpyPaul]

On another note...

We have a fairly small 1.5kw system and I am kicking myself we didn't go huge in the first place.

Have made some enquiries since about upgrading and adding more panels.

We are currently on the old 66c feed in tarrif.

If I upgrade to a bigger system I drop to the current pissy amount of 6c (or whatever it is).

So there is no point upgrading. Most of our power use is in the night time - so a bigger system wouldnt help us much because we don't use much during the day.

As long as I don't change or upgrade I keep my 66c tariff.

 

[Yob]

WTF?

That's a fair differenc..