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| Solar Power savings | |
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| Tweet Topic Started: Jun 28 2011, 05:44:11 PM (701 Views) | |
| ABCDiamond | Jun 28 2011, 05:44:11 PM Post #1 |
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My Solar panels went active on 24th June. An 8 panel 1.5kWh system. My power consumption before Solar Panels was 1.07 kWh average hourly. It is now 0.75 kWh hourly. :thumbsup: A saving of about 30%. If I keep this up, I will save $600 each year on my bill at current rates. Unfortunately though I do not seem to be producing more than I use at the moment, although it is cloudy, so maybe not to be expected just yet. I have so far sold one unit of power (1kWh) back to the grid in 4 days. That's worth 50 cents :lol: My sister however, has sold 24 units back in 10 days, so that's $4.80 in the same amount of time (4 days), that I made $0.50. ($45 per year for me, $219 for her, but based on the winter sun) |
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Melibeam
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Jun 28 2011, 09:00:03 PM Post #2 |
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Most Exceptional Lady
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ABC how much did your solar panels cost, if you dont mind me asking, and did you get any government rebates? This is something I am very interested in as our electricity bills are so high, but not sure we can afford the upfront amount to get the solar panels. Mel |
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| ABCDiamond | Jun 29 2011, 08:17:37 AM Post #3 |
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My panels cost $1,800, (1.5kW system) but the same system on a single story house without the need to split onto two arrays was $1,600. However, the prices have now risen due to the RECS value having dropped. And there is a further price rise from 1st July as the other rebate is being reduced. The $1,600 system has already increased to around $3,600+ These are the current prices being advertised by the company I used: 1.48 kW Solar Power System From just $3,699 2.04 kW Solar Power System From just $6,199 2.59 kW Solar Power System From just $8,699 This is the price you would pay, as the government rebate are paid direct to the company that supplies the system. ie: My system was probably about $9,000, but I paid only the $1,800, and I filled in forms for the supplier to get the balance direct from the government. If any supplier says YOU pay in full, and claim the rebate back, say NO ! (This however, is the way the rebate for solar hot water works, so my comments here are just for the Solar Energy rebates) I actually very nearly got caught out by the change in RECS values, but was lucky in the end, as I managed to get the original price. Long term it does appear worth it, even at the higher prices, based on my current figures. eg: If I save $600 per year, and power costs increase by 5% per year, the capital cost will be covered in 5 years, for the $3,600 system. This figure does NOT take into account any extra savings from the Feed in Tariff. Something I did earlier:
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BIX
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Jun 29 2011, 10:13:25 AM Post #4 |
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Boner-fide Bonza Bloke
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I question whether it is a sound investment to make as the rebates seem to be disappearing and the price paid for your surplas electricity is reducing. Those reductions extend the payback period so I do wonder if the capital outlay is actually worth it. Domestic solar is still relatively new so how long will the equipment actually last? According to a solar installer I talked to recently the lifetime on various components is between 5 - 10 years and of course the efficiency of the system will deteriorate over time. Another potential problem area is the number of small companies currently on the bandwagon. How many will be around longer term to rectify any warranty issues? Are you going to be living in the same house to reach the the payback time? I fear that in a few years time there could be a lot of disappointed people around when they realise they have actually saved nothing at all in the usable lifetime of the solar equipment. BTW the payback period is not just about kWh cost but also needs to account for the up front capital expenditure. The governments dictate how much they pay for the electricity you supply so once the system is installed you are stuck with it. You can't exactly refuse to supply because isn't it automatically wired into the main grid? I wonder whether in fact it is a very ingenius plan by the government. Instead of paying to build a new power station at massive expenditure let's dupe Joe public into generating cheap electric for us at his expense. Green source of energy from households - bargain in costs and bargain in carbon savings. I am a firm beleiver in solar energy but think it still needs to be funded from the top. Government has to build power stations so why can't they fund household solar instead? |
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| ABCDiamond | Jun 29 2011, 12:01:17 PM Post #5 |
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I have done my calculations excluding the value of any surplus electricity being sold back, as I expect this part to be dropped at some stage, possibly sooner than later. I am working only on the power that I generate for myself from the panels, which I consequently do not need to purchase. For example, in the last 5 days I have generated 20 kWh of power, (4 kWh per day) If it stayed like that for a full year, that works out at 1,460 kWh that I do NOT have to buy at 21c each = $306 for the year. However, it has been cloudy here for most of those days, and my panels are facing West, so not as good as may be expected for most houses in normal weather. It is possible to generate about 16 kWh per day, so about 4 times what I am currently getting. I have calculated on an average of maybe 8 per day, (based on day one when we had reasonable sun) which would save me $612 per year. That is a 3 year pay back time for me, but 6 years at the newer price. If the 50 cent feed in tariff was guaranteed for a certain time, it may be worth, for some people, calculating to see if a larger system would be viable. ie: If you could generate an extra 8 kWh per day for resale to the Grid, at 50 cents each, that's $1,460 per year income. But then the capital cost for a 3kw system is an extra $7,000, which means about a 6 year payback time, after accounting for interest costs on that capital. The big future problem is the replacement cost of any parts. ie: my system which cost me probably $800 for the inverter and panels, plus say $1,000 in labour, would have the following replacement costs, without labour: 8 panels at $1,000 each 1 Inverter at $2,500 = $10,500 Hopefully these prices will drop before replacement is needed, otherwise we drop Solar at that time. I doubt the government will still give this big rebate for a new system, or repairs, at that time. Bottom line, for me, is that I will be in front financially in 3 years, or less if I make anything from the feed in tariff. New buyers would need 6 years to get there. |
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| ABCDiamond | Jun 29 2011, 01:14:18 PM Post #6 |
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Queensland Feed in Tariff rate: Q: How long will the Solar Bonus Scheme be available for? A: It is legislated under the Electricity Act 1994 that the solar bonus of 44c/kWh will expire in 2028. AGL give an extra 6 cents at the moment, so my 50 cents per excess unit can only drop to 44c in the next 17 years. However, I have still only earned an extra 50 cents via this part of the solar panel system. |
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| Tiredwithtwins | Jun 29 2011, 06:13:51 PM Post #7 |
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Admin
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A guy I know is a solar panel installer and he says they are pretty good over here - they run on light so even under a foot of snow they would still produce electricity. ive heard of one or two people at work who have had it installed and they are absolutely thrilled with the reduction in cost. I agree that it should be govt funded ... the wind farms that have cropped up in the uk are very good http://www.bwea.com/ukwed/index.asp and as we have an abundance of inclement weather here why not harness it?? lot safer than nuclear!!!! |
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| ABCDiamond | Jun 29 2011, 07:02:00 PM Post #8 |
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I love to check figures out, and I checked out that site... But I got confused when I looked at the figures: 303 Projects 3344 Turbines 5527.595 Megawatts (= 5,527,595 kilowatts) 3,090,749 Homes Equivalent But 5,527,595 kilowatts divided by 3,090,749 Homes = 1.79 kilowatts per household. However the site also says: The data on homes equivalent is based on an estimated annual household energy consumption of 4.7MWhrs so 3,090,749 x 4.7 = 14,526,520 MWhrs Therefore 14,526,520 MWhrs = 5,527.595 Megawatts Therefore 1 MWhrs = 2,628 Megawatts Then I found this: 1 MW of rated power would produce only 2,628 MW-h/yr on an energy website. This proves that I don't have a clue... night night..... :confused: :lol: |
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BIX
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Jun 29 2011, 08:51:28 PM Post #9 |
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Boner-fide Bonza Bloke
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We use 38kWh daily so I guess the payback time would be much longer. Interesting that the SBS $0.44 is protected until 2028 but that may only be QLD as I think I remember reading somewhere that it was dropping to $0.22 somewhere.....possibly NSW. Electricity production is expensive and the costs are likely to continue increasing so it's strange they would have an expiry date on the SBS. It means when 2028 comes along the government won't have to pay anything for the electricity produced by everyone who will have installed solar by that time. |
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Melibeam

10:23 AM Jul 11