Eels Blogs

Replies

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  Snakey - Sack Dylan Brown January 16, 2017 at 9:05pm

  Best off setting it up and using it to grow hydro, youll get a nice earner back and the laws are lax as for small amounts.
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    Wizardssleeves official receipts > Snakey - Sack Dylan Brown January 16, 2017 at 9:14pm

    If I wanted to do that I know a bloke that'd tap into direct electricity for $1000 . Much cheaper than purchasing the size solar power system I'm guessing you'd need to run 10 hydro lights . Those days are long behind me . Plus with the heat sensing Pol Air around nowadays you'd be an idiot to do it at home I reckon .
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  Yobz January 16, 2017 at 9:11pm

  Check out the green tech forums on www.whirlpool.net.au
  
  1. My parents got it about 2 years ago.
  
  2. Don't get it from any company that locks you into some sort of contract where it pays off over time. Pay for it upfront and then you reap all the benefits later.
  
  3. Possibly. You have to work out how much energy you use during daylight hours compared to evenings. Check the numbers on your meter first thing in the morning, and around sunset. West facing systems are good for when you put the AC on in the hot summer afternoons.
  
  4. Govt provides some rebate on the cost of the panels. This is usually included in the installers price so you don't see it. The energy company may pay you approx 4c per kWh exported (i.e. You don't use).
  
  5. Auto. Only two inverter brands I would recommend are Fronius and SMA.
  
  6. You can get batteries for the house (eg tesla) however when you take into account battery life vs cost of off peak grid power, it probably isn't quite there yet.
  The idea is the solar offsets your daylight power usage. Put your washing machine, oven, dishwasher, hot water etc on during the day when you are making peak power.
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    Wizardssleeves official receipts > Yobz January 16, 2017 at 9:19pm

    Yeah see this is why I'm doubting it may be for us . We are hardly here during the day as we both work , and our ovens , heaters , water is all gas . I've read the batteries are waaay over priced at the moment @10K ? Cheers bud I'll suss out Whirpool blogs .
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    Prof. Daz > Yobz January 17, 2017 at 10:55am

    Wiz, just a point on your reply to Yobz's point number 6. Gas prices are going to increase markedly. If you spent $4,000 on a solar hot water tank, the tank on roof style (not the more expensive vacuum tube system), you might recoup that in 5 years. A typical house might use 14,000 MJ of gas for a year's hot water, and if you save 80% of that you might save about $400 a year. But most expect gas prices to rise steeply as the domestic wholesale price becomes tagged to the export price (all that QLD exported gas). Easy to swap out an oven. Heating less so, but easy to make use of electricity for cooling.
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  Adam Magrath January 16, 2017 at 9:19pm

  Wiz wait for the Tesla power wall to come down in price and get that. You'll be able to disconnect from the grid and won't have to worry about getting a bill, tariffs, rebates etc. I think the battery is about $10k at present so not cheap but it has only just been released in Australia. Google it anyway and check it out for yourself.
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    Bart > Adam Magrath January 16, 2017 at 9:27pm

    Yes this Wiz....look at the Tesla power wall.

    When solar first came out energy companies gave you decent coin for you producing power and putting back into the grid but now not so much.
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    Prof. Daz > Adam Magrath January 17, 2017 at 11:15am

    I wish the Tesla power wall was going to allow these kinds of grid disconnections. But it will be difficult. A typical household consumes about 20Kwh/day, so that 10kw system is going to need to be supplemented by electrical efficiencies. The Tesla unit also has a 2Kw peak output, quite below typical 5-6kw peak demands. Plus, most expect off grid capacity to require about 5 days storage. All up you might need to scale up the Tesla 4-5 times. So will the cost drop that 4-5 times or it's capacity increase that 4-5 times?
    Personally I'd bet on Tesla improving, but the elephant in the room is that utility companies are already thinking this one through and are going to make it very difficulty to disconnect from the grid. The utility companies know that many people might want the security of a grid connection, and that in part is why we are seeing feed back tariffs slashed. The issue with distributed (supply) systems is going to be that utility companies are over-invested in the transmission network (which they got for free), and their market model is premised on centralized (monopoly) supply. We can expect them to push regulators to impose draconian laws to discourage full grid disconnection. Sad but true
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  Brax January 16, 2017 at 9:23pm

  Don't go with a small business when you purchase it, as they tend to go bankrupt and you lose all warranty and what not. I'm with origin, they buy back at 6c per Kw into the grid, that money comes off your quarterly bill. My bills are now a quarter of what they use to be. I have a family of 4, with a teenage son.If you plan to stay in you house for the next 15 plus years then look at the solar batteries when installing solar panels...for the power you generate and don't use goes into your batteries to be then used a night time, as opposed to going into the grid for that lousy 6c. Mate just research like you are doing, and don't let them try and talk you into a system you don't want...they tried with me.
  FYI my system is a 4Kw system and it serves us well.
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  Johnny Kolc January 16, 2017 at 9:23pm

  That's it in a nutshell, also as battery / storage tec improves, batteries and additional panels can be added provided you have installed a quality inverter as mentioned above.