Solar Power for the Home..

Jonty

derrilex wrote:

Wait and see what happens I guess ???

I think you would see a court case if drastic changes were made to the tariffs. The Vic government rolled back the 60 cents to 30 cents last Sept as it pushed the price of power up (funny that). Suspect more roll backs may occur but politically it may not be beneficial to the party in power. On a side note our Ted has had a fight with the cops, nurses and now teachers. He wanted Vic teachers to be the best paid in Australia. He got into power on that promise and I suspect he might be a one term premier if he screws with teachers as he has with nurses & cops! Screw with my solar panel rebate and BF our local member in PF will get a knock on his front door :pan I know were the Victorian deputy premier lives!!!

Lacehim

I've emailed my solar guy to ask the question. Hopefully he will know because my situation isn't explained on the gov's website. It's all about new systems, where as mine's an upgrade. 😉 I was sitting here thinking (that can be dangerous I know 😛 ), if you didn't qualify for the 44c FIT, some might even be better going back to a gross meter where your meter goes backwards, effectively selling the power back at the same as your purchase price. Might be more useful if you use more than you sell. So use it at night, then wind it back during the day! :laugh: I can't really understand why they would reduce it to 8c. Surely it should at least be 1:1, so we pay and sell at the same price. I still think solar will be a worthwhile investment if the figures work out for you, especially if your home all day and won't have to pay for the power you use.

UNM

in Vic it is all pretty simple. The PFIT (premium feed in tariff) was always planned to be an interim measure to encourage early adopters with a cut off date, or capped number of installs, whichever came first. Anyone installing solar could choose either the PFIT or the SFIT (solar feed in tariff), now that the cap has been reached, the PFIT is no longer available, so the choice is between the TFIT (transitional feed in tariff) or the SFIT, which is not capped. those already signed up remain on PFIT until they move house. I don't know, but it is possible the Queensland change affects real payments for those who are net power exporters? That is the way things are moving here in VIC, although the current VCEC (Victorian competition and efficiency commission) recommendation is for a govt MINIMUM of $.06 - $.08 per kwh, PLUS whatever the householder negotiates with their retailer. In VIC this is all net feed in of course so only affects excess power generated, the effective rate remains 1:1 for power generated and not exported. All clear now? edit: a couple extra points, in Vic if you add extra panels, the pfit ends as it was designed to quickly build to a set generating capacity which has now been reached. pfit for those on it runs until 2024. the tfit is 33c (25+8) not 25c. AGL currently pay 68c/kwh. - jonty you may want to change supplier

Brett_H

derrilex wrote:

Wait and see what happens I guess ???

Well that's me out. My installer is a sparkie mate who qualified as an installer only recently. Despite the quality of his work I won't go through knowing that my neighbors ar on a better rate for getting a dodgy install (two call out for fixes already) a mere couple of months earlier.🙁

Koffee_Kosmo

My modest 8 panel system produces in a whole day approx 6 kw KK

Lacehim

Got my 5.6Kw of panels installed today. 28x200w panels, with a 5Kw Inverter. The installers where extreamly quick to install, and did a fantastic job too. Cleaned up after themselves, and even fixed a few roof tiles while they where on the roof. If anyone want a recommendation, the company was Solar Green. They do most of SE QLD. Once I get some data I'll let you know how it goes. Should be interesting.

prydey

i had solar installed about 3 weeks ago. my import/export meter (smart meter) goes on tomorrow. here in s.a. we still have enough of a FIT+ extra from retailer, to make it worthwhile. FIT is 16c and AGL chip in 9.8c so its slightly more than what i buy it for off the grid.... for now. my system is 3.8kw consisting of 20 x 190w panels and a 5kw inverter. the idea was that i could expand later if needed but have since learned that not many do as the panels are expensive when bought separately. i went with a company that actually has a reasonable amount of negative feedback around the web, and they make no secret of the fact that the products are made in china, but then again, so are 80 of solar panels. i was prepared to take the risk, based on their pricing, which was substantially cheaper than most others. the product is covered by the same performance based warranty (25 years on panels, performing @ 90% after 12yrs and 80% after 25; and 10yrs on inverter, and 5yrs on install). in the 3 weeks its been running its produced well over 400kwh. i think its averaging somewhere around the 15kwh a day but that should improve as the weather does. last few days have been fine and its been north of 22kwh each day. good times. feel sorry for you poor folks in nsw and vic etc that get no FIT or very little. just doesn't seem right.

Lacehim

prydey, You can still get rebates on new panels to make it bigger. 🙂 I had a 1kW system, and recently upgraded to a 5.6kW system with a 5kW inverter. I ended up taking the 1kW system down and replacing the whole lot, and I sold the second hand one on ebay for $1000. Today the solar produced 35.4kWh on a nice sunny day. The system paid for a full 1/4 power bill in 6 weeks and gave me a $50 credit. My aircon will probably flog it when it gets warmer, but next year a credit will be generated during Winter to pay any excessive summer power bills. The upgrade has been the best investment that I have done, ever. No more power bills will save me $2000 a year +

prydey

if my system covers my bill, then i probably won't bother. its something i will have to work out over time. during summer, it looks like this system will smash my bill, its just a matter if i can get ahead by enough credit to cover the cloudy days during winter. it also depends a lot on what the authorities decide to do. if all states decide to head down the path of the east coast, then all those that have only recently signed up are screwed. if you jumped on early with a FIT that is locked in, then thats a different story.

Lacehim

Just got my first full bill since upgrading the solar to 5Kw. I got a fair shock! I got a $550 credit! Yep, that includes paying for the power I used! I nearly fell off my chair! Mind you I'm about to absorb some of that over the next billing period by having the 21Kw aircon on. Hahahaha. Still I can feel less guilty about it, and at least I won't have a $750 power bill in Feb! Sweet.

Brett_H

Just installed a 5kw system on my roof and my sparkie/installer mate's roof. Systems were connected to the grid today :thumb: 20 Canadian Solar panels and an SMA Bluetooth inverter. Just shy if 26kw today but swithch on didn't happen till 8:30am. Exciting times...

Brett_H

And now a bad screenshot of the software for the Bluetooth:

UNM

well, now that 3KW systems are $4K and 5KW systems at $7K, I am starting to consider it again. Knew this would happen as govt incentives for small systems decreased - meaningful systems are getting affordable.

derrilex

Sweet Brett. What FIT are you on ? 8 cent ? What company did you use and if you dont mind me asking, how many $$ ( PM if you like )

Brett_H

derrilex wrote:

Sweet Brett. What FIT are you on ? 8 cent ? What company did you use and if you dont mind me asking, how many $$ ( PM if you like )

No mate, got to the 44c rebate with the paperwork earlier this year. I'll give ou the sparkie's details over a coffee. I can help out with the install gratis but it would have to be during holidays. To be honest, at 8c feed in we'd never see our money back!

derrilex

Well, you would. Simply by not paying for electricity you are paying the system off but nice work on the 44 cents. I feel its only a matter of time till the state change the law but time will tell. You should pay your system off in under 4 years then its all cream. My neighbour has a 2.9 kw system and he gets no bill and $ 500 per 1/4 cash. His system cost 8 k in the boom so by his logic it will take 4 years to pay back. My argument is by having no electricity bill he is paying the system off but he doesn't see it that way. So, after 8 years his system is paid off, sooner if electricity prices rise and then he gets 2k per year until 2028, as well as paying zero for electricity ( and god knows how much it will cost by then). The system is totally unsustainable and I'm quite confident it will get scrapped in favour of a 1:1 system with 3 years which is totally logical, not only given the state of the economy and QLD's debt but just plain common sense. Honestly, only a Labor accountant could have thought it was a good idea to pay people double the retail price for energy produced and then lock it in for 18 years. I'm sure most people see the 44 c as a way to make income rather than not paying for electricity.

Jonty

derrilex wrote:

Well, you would. Simply by not paying for electricity you are paying the system off but nice work on the 44 cents. I feel its only a matter of time till the state change the law but time will tell. You should pay your system off in under 4 years then its all cream. My neighbour has a 2.9 kw system and he gets no bill and $ 500 per 1/4 cash. His system cost 8 k in the boom so by his logic it will take 4 years to pay back. My argument is by having no electricity bill he is paying the system off but he doesn't see it that way. So, after 8 years his system is paid off, sooner if electricity prices rise and then he gets 2k per year until 2028, as well as paying zero for electricity ( and god knows how much it will cost by then). The system is totally unsustainable and I'm quite confident it will get scrapped in favour of a 1:1 system with 3 years which is totally logical, not only given the state of the economy and QLD's debt but just plain common sense. Honestly, only a Labor accountant could have thought it was a good idea to pay people double the retail price for energy produced and then lock it in for 18 years. I'm sure most people see the 44 c as a way to make income rather than not paying for electricity.

Join the rest of us D 😉 simple maths, simple investment and do a little for the environment. I don't feel bad at all. I pay a bucket load of tax and would support at least 2-3 dole receiptients, so something back is a win for me! Spoke with a fitter at work yesterday, putting a 10kw system up on his property! That unit will average 40kw/day for the year! It will punch close to 100 in summer. So I'd say flip your coin over, take the emotion out of it and see it as a ROI situation 😉 If you can afford a spa, you can afford panels :stir Jonty

derrilex

Jonty wrote:

Join the rest of us D 😉 simple maths, simple investment and do a little for the environment. I don't feel bad at all. I pay a bucket load of tax and would support at least 2-3 dole receiptients, so something back is a win for me! Spoke with a fitter at work yesterday, putting a 10kw system up on his property! That unit will average 40kw/day for the year! It will punch close to 100 in summer. So I'd say flip your coin over, take the emotion out of it and see it as a ROI situation 😉 If you can afford a spa, you can afford panels :stir Jonty

KK has the spa Jonty, I have a pool mate. The panels are easily affordable that's not the issue. The problem is the FIT of 8 cents. Unless you are home all day and consume the power you produce thus saving the retail cost, all that is achieved is exporting more or less free electricity to the grid. It can work but you need to home and using power that you would normally use at night. I'm going to wait and see what happens when all the work dries up for the solar companies later this year. I'm already getting messages from 3 companies offering cheaper deals than last year with free laptops thrown in etc.... They are starting to panic as no new work is coming in.

Koffee_Kosmo

I am looking into expanding my current 1.5 KW / 8 panel system by getting an extra 3 KW / 16 panel system For a combined total of 4.5 KW I believe that I already have the 44 cents FIT and the expanded system will be at he same rate I am trying to at the very least reduce my electricity bills to zero KK

derrilex

No chance KK. Any addition to the system will not attract the 44 FIT. If you are locked in to the 44 it is for your existing system only and you will have to check very carefully to see if adding panels will change your eligibility and wipe it all together

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