Brewers With Solar Power

[wynnum1]

I think the one I was reading was the 2kw Power wall here is more information about the other systems, as it says in this article it pays to remember that electricity prices will keep going up.

http://www.gizmodo.com.au/2015/05/the-winners-and-losers-in-teslas-battery-plan-for-the-home/

Electricity prices or the connection to the power grid .

 

[Yob]

Electricity prices or the connection to the power grid .

both

 

[wide eyed and legless]

Both, electricity companies now realise that it isn't the cash cow it was thought to be.

 

[GalBrew]

If we had 15kw, we'd use most of it, it's why I'm looking at battery storage now.

We use plenty and our bills were huge prior, getting better but I've got a ways to go before I'll be happy

The reality at the moment is that unless you had ample battery storage the voltage in your street (especially if there is a high solar take up) will probably run too high and your inverter will shut your system off. In our area nearly every 2nd house has a solar array of some type and it took a month to get united to drop their feed in voltage from the substation. When it was finally done the guy said not only that they dropped it as far as they could with the setup as it was, but that this sort of thing is no happening on a regular basis. It's likely that a 15kw array might run into trouble, depending on your area.

This was not an issue that was raised with us at any time during the buying process.

 

[wynnum1]

The whole system is a mess what do the installers make per house no shortage of advertising.

 

[zarniwoop]

You are gonna pay for lectric forever.........payback period, most likely shorter and worth it.

I put 8kw on the roof last spring, cost $11,000, paying back $12,500 over 30 months, currently saving around $800 a quarter.
Current bill plus repayments is $40 a week cheaper then I was paying before, less than 2 years its paid off and I'm saving a motza....even more allowing for price increase.

Brainless equation in my opinion......Solar good, no solar no good.

I know, the issue is that we also have another couple of gums out the back that would shade the roof for half the day especially during winter. I need to look at it again and work out the drop in output I'm likely to get from that and go through it all again. (From memory mono and poly panels perform quite differently in shade but it's been a while since I did anything with this so I need to re-investigate.)

 

[zarniwoop]

$5K how big is the tree.

Big! Rough guess 30M gum about 3m from the house and 2 m from the neighbours fence. I only got one quick quote so again I need to revisit it.

 

[Yob]

The reality at the moment is that unless you had ample battery storage the voltage in your street (especially if there is a high solar take up) will probably run too high and your inverter will shut your system off. In our area nearly every 2nd house has a solar array of some type and it took a month to get united to drop their feed in voltage from the substation. When it was finally done the guy said not only that they dropped it as far as they could with the setup as it was, but that this sort of thing is no happening on a regular basis. It's likely that a 15kw array might run into trouble, depending on your area.

This was not an issue that was raised with us at any time during the buying process.

With a 20 x 250ah battery array,sweet fa would be put into the grid, the vast majority would be for charging the batteries, a battery array actually helps the grid by evening out the spikes and flattening the demand curve. Usage during off peak isn't an issue if it's a steady charge.

 

[GalBrew]

With a 20 x 250ah battery array,sweet fa would be put into the grid, the vast majority would be for charging the batteries, a battery array actually helps the grid by evening out the spikes and flattening the demand curve. Usage during off peak isn't an issue if it's a steady charge.

But if your inverter detects a VGrid that is too high, it will cut out until it drops and your giant array will be pumping that value up in you immediate area. It's a safety issue.

 

[Yob]

Wit a 15kw system, a battery array of that scale and a backup genii, I could tell em all to get ****** and go off grid

 

[Phoney]

Well I got my system installed approx. 2 weeks ago.

3.1 kW Q-cell panels and Fronius Galvo inverter.

So far I've switched the keg fridge to run from 9am to 3pm, we now do the dish and clothes washing during the day on their respective built in timers and I will be doing my brewing during the day now instead of in the evenings after work.

Next purchase will be a reverse cycle split system AC to pre-heat and pre-cool the house during the day, while all that power is pumping in.

Actually looking forward to seeing my next couple of bills now!

 

[wynnum1]

Is there a way to disconnect the system from the grid when the grid goes down your system is turned off so no power .

 

[Yob]

Well I got my system installed approx. 2 weeks ago.

3.1 kW Q-cell panels and Fronius Galvo inverter.

So far I've switched the keg fridge to run from 9am to 3pm, we now do the dish and clothes washing during the day on their respective built in timers and I will be doing my brewing during the day now instead of in the evenings after work.

Next purchase will be a reverse cycle split system AC to pre-heat and pre-cool the house during the day, while all that power is pumping in.

Actually looking forward to seeing my next couple of bills now!

image.jpg

**** man, how far off the coast are you?

Is there a way to disconnect the system from the grid when the grid goes down your system is turned off so no power .

Batteries...

 

[wynnum1]

Why batteries after a couple of day they will be flat and all the food in the freezer will be defrosted that's what happens now and then claimed on insurance .

 

[Yob]

batteries and/or generator then.. either way you still need a controller in addition to the inverter...

 

[wynnum1]

What do you agree to when getting a government subsidy system.

 

[Yob]

So bring on the Sun.. we saw a 1/3 reduction in our largest quater power bills over the winter quater and our usage, with the sun coming out again, is dropping well below our average (which is quite high)

despite the appalling FIT return, this system will well and truly pay for itself in 5-10 years at current charges/savings.

I read an article of interest this week in a proposed change to the bill, what is currently happening is that if you have Solar, you pay more for service charge, peak, shoulder and off peak (we are on a time of use tariff) than a house without Solar. The amendment will mean that the same plans will be available to Solar houses in that we should not (well no ****) be disadvantaged by having solar and the plans should be open to all.

**** yeah!! This will mean an even greater saving even if the FIT is **** house.



Note the yellow is even weekend usage (as through the meter)

and this is our generation



and its not even hot yet :beerbang:

 

[Fents]

love those curves!

 

[Fents]

not even 10.30am and batteries are already at 47% charged.

 

[seamad]

Had my second DC isolator switch fail last week. When the sparky came to look at it I asked him about them catching fire ( which I'd read about on the interwbs, but that's not always factual ). He said it wouldn't catch fire, after wrestling trying to get the cover off, he finally got it off and the ******* thing burst into flames. The wiring looks pretty well rooted and needs to be replaced as well, hopefully be sorted out soon, want to get the pool ready for the school holidays next week and would prefer to run the filter all day long with the solar input.