Solar Panels some questions.

[Astrolady]

Okay so we've agreed to go the way of Solar Panels. A member in my boo hoo electricity bill thread mentioned that AGL have a pay it off plan.

We've worked out based on the last bill that we use 1.06kwh daily. The AGL pay it off plan is for a 1.0kw system. Would that be sufficient or would you go bigger? I am thinking bigger but don't think the pay it off plan is an option for bigger units. We can use re-draw facility on mortgage if need be.

If we go the pay it off route, does it start feeding back from the day it's installed. I am guessing (hoping) that it is and that AGL don't wait 2 yrs till it is paid for to turn it on, or do they ? lol

Any advice greatly appreciated.

[helle]

Could ya cut back .06kw? XD
Otherwise, is it possible to add on to it later?
And is the pay it off thing interest free?

[Novella]

from memory it starts paying back into the grid once ETSA install an input/output meter that measures what you are actually putting back in the grid. You still get the benefit of any electricity that you generate and use immediately, just not the credit for electricity you dont use until the meter is installed. Im not sure how much the new meter was as we built so had the right meter installed when we built I think it was either $200 or $400 on top of the solar system. AGL should know the cost. Im sure from friends that they got their excess soalr power credited to their account once the meter was installed, they are still paying theirs off.

I had a look on the AGL site and the package includes a 2kw inverter so you would just have to pay for extra panels if you want to create more electricity to meet your needs, so less than if you had to pay for a bigger inverter too. I think they can adapt their plans too, my brother works in their call centre and I think he said this when we were looking at doing it. You could also wait and see what your bills are like and add extra panels later if needed

We included solar in our building cost and for our 3.2kw system I think it cost about $12000 after rebates etc. Our system has the capacity to be increased by adding more panels later too. We went through TFA in adelaide and had no problems, but they dont have the payment plans.

its done through certegy ezy pay so long as you pay it off in the 2 years its interest free and there is a set up fee but its less than $100 and is all put on your power bill.

good luck, we worked out that we need to in this house 4-5 years to recoup our outlay (and that doesnt include how much the price seems to be hiking up constantly)

[Pholi]

Astrolady, I read and sympathised with your bill-complaint post, but didn't respond. But if I had it would have been to recommend solar power.

We had a 2.3kW system installed in August, and got a solar hot water system to replace our electric storage water heater. I think WA measures usage slightly differently - we used 14-16 units/day. We chose the 2.3kW on the basis that we wanted to zero our bills, with a bit of room for our family to expand and therefore usage to increase. Ours is a 3x1 house with just 2 adults at present. Now that we're not using electricity to heat water, our usage is down to about 12 kW day, and we generate between 8 and 17kW per day, depending on the weather. No doubt it will be less as the days shorten in winter, but we expect we will then be using up the credit we generate in summer.

The kW of the system and the kWh that you use per day are not directly comparable. You said you use 1.06kWh daily - this does not make sense, as kWh is a unit measuring how many kilowatts you use in an hour. Perhaps it's 1.06kW every hour, which would mean just over 24 kW in a day?

In order to work out the appropriate system size, we got quotes and measurements taken by 5 different companies. I found that their attitudes immensely, some being intent on the sale and not interested in things like whether or not the neighbours trees would shade the system in winter, or whether the pitch of our roof was the standard angle, and whether the roof faced due east or actually east-south east. All of these factors will make a big difference in terms of how much power your system will actually generate for you.

Most of the companies took me through a computer analysis of all of these factors, plus size of system and expected usage, and came up with the figures for 'time to recoup your outlay' in years and 'how much will your power bills be'. You could see the difference that larger or smaller systems would make to these figures. (We also had a 4-5 year recoup time, and our last bill was $70 credit!)

Go to the whirlpool forums and look at the threads for the different solar installers in your area, and make sure that the companies you choose to get quotes from - and definitely your final choice - are considered to be reputable by the wider public. There are a lot of dodgy companies out there in this industry.

So I highly recommend getting a number of quotes from several different companies, even if they don't have 'pay it off plans' so that you can be sure the advice you are being given is accurate.

[Astrolady]

You said you use 1.06kWh daily - this does not make sense, as kWh is a unit measuring how many kilowatts you use in an hour. Perhaps it's 1.06kW every hour, which would mean just over 24 kW in a day?

Yeah sorry that was supposed to be per hour *doh* It is 25.63 daily

[Pholi]

Yeah sorry that was supposed to be per hour *doh* It is 25.63 daily

That makes much more sense!

You'd put a bit of a dent on your bills, with a 1.0kW system, but I'm pretty sure you'd still have significant power expenses. You'd probably need something like 3.5kW system to zero your bills, but there's usually a lot you can do to cut usage down as well. Get those quotes and you'll find it all much clearer!

[Lenny]

I'm pleased you are going this way. I didn't want to say in the other thread but our last bill (for a whole quarter) was $9.00. We have gas water heating though, and gas cook top. We aren't huge consumers. But during summer it makes a huge difference. Winter is different of course, but it all counts.
We are paying our off over 2 years at 100.91 per month. So, for now, it costs us more than we save on power. But wait 2 years and it'll be awesome.
In different states, they do things differently. We get paid approx 60cents per KWH that we feed back into the grid. This is government subsidised. This is going to last for 15 years apparently. Once this 15 years 'bonus' is over, then we will only get back the rates that we pay. But by that time we will have more than made back our initial investment.

You are unlikely to ever put in a unit big enough to have no power bill ever. They (AGL or whoever you go with to install the panels) will have good data on how much you use and how much you can get back. The bigger units cost lots more, but you will get more back in the long run. You have to crunch the numbers for your individual situation.

Oh yeah, they pay you the feed back from the minute you are hooked up! Just think of it as two seperate companies or divisions. Just like if you got panels through an independent source.

[Astrolady]

We are paying our off over 2 years at 100.91 per month. So, for now, it costs us more than we save on power. But wait 2 years and it'll be awesome.

I worked out we'd have to pay back around $75 a month on the AGL plan over 2 years. That is for the 1.0 unit at least. So are you paying that $100 on top of normal electricity usage, or are your quarterly bills just for what you have to pay back on the unit. Do you get me... LOL. Will our bills to be larger for the 24mths after installation than what I am paying now without solar, is what I am trying to get at.

[Lenny]

I worked out we'd have to pay back around $75 a month on the AGL plan over 2 years. That is for the 1.0 unit at least. So are you paying that $100 on top of normal electricity usage, or are your quarterly bills just for what you have to pay back on the unit. Do you get me... LOL. Will our bills to be larger for the 24mths after installation than what I am paying now without solar, is what I am trying to get at.

We are with origin. The two bills are totally seperate. Like different companies. $100.91 comes off the credit card every month by DD (the cost of the panels). Then we pay the electiricty bill as per normal when it arrives. We have a 1.5kw unit. So when the 24 months is over our power bill will still be $9 in summer (for the next 15 years while the feed-in tarriff is so generous) and we will be happy!
Hope that makes sense!

[Astrolady]

I was just looking into AGL as someone in the other thread mentioned that they have 24 mths interest free. But will definitely consider buying outright with our mortgage re-draw too.

Lenny, so with you saying your two bills are totally separate, is your electricity bill now cheaper? You were paying less than before solar ??

[onthefly]

We just get one bill here Will depend how your electricity market is organised there.

[leckert]

We had to wait until the input/output meter was installed for us to feed in to the grid - you may have to ring agl after the solar panels are installed to get this done - we had to ring origin who are our provider after the subcontractor installed the panels.
With more panels than the standard 1.0kwh see if you can get some done under interest free option and pay the extra ones out of your redraw option - worth checking to see if they will do it OR see if they have a higher number of panels option (origin had a couple of different options we could choose from). This might mean more power back to the grid.

You can prob fb DH if you want more info as he sorted ours out eventually after enough reminding


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk so sorry if I'm confusing you

[Lenny]

Oh bummer. What is your price per KWH?
You might need to invest in a bigger unit to see some improvement in your bills.

[onthefly]

Is that the total state + federal rate? I think the Fed pays 7c on top of whatever you get at the state level. In WA it's now 20 + 7.... it sucks.
If they actually cared about this they'd keep the higher feed-in tariffs...

[Astrolady]

Oh bummer. What is your price per KWH?
You might need to invest in a bigger unit to see some improvement in your bills.

For our Non-Summer Rate (up till Dec 31st) it is $0.2469
For our Summer Rate (from Jan 1st( it is $0.2602

It has 2 other rates after both of those as well. We have like 7 different rate variations on our bill :/

[onthefly]

well that bites.

[leckert]

Still to find that one out - not sure if we've had a bill arrive yet after having the input/output meter on. I think we have had one since the panels went on but not sure about that. DH has the bills before I see them


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk so sorry if I'm confusing you

[EsJay]

we have a 5kw system, have had it for a year, and only just this summer have we seen any benefit. be prepared in winter for it not to be of any assitance, it may very well be of course, but dont count on it always making the amount it is intended for, as it does depend on the weather. that size system should have by all quotes given zeroed our bills. but our autumn & winter bills have both been higher than spring/summer bill. And at no point have they been zeroed out like we were assured they would. we are actually quite disappointed with such a huge outlay and still getting bills of $370-$600 per quarter.