Solar Panels..are they worth it??

who has them and can explain more to me??? (beeema)
are they worth getting? how many years will it take to really see the difference, also how long til they pay for themselves iykwim

We have a 1kw system and it has made a massive difference to our bills :). We were lucky and got that government rebate scheme that ended a while ago, so we were only a couple of hundred dollars out of pocket and it has already more than paid itself off.

I'll have to ask DH the payback specifics (he loves that kind of stuff haha), but some friends of ours got a 2kw system and are having $0 bills or being PAID by the power company now. I don't think it will take long to pay itself off for them, but I'll ask DH for you and get back to you ;)

We have decided to get them.

Basically how they work (this is how I've been told so correct me if I'm wrong) is the power company has to pay you .46c a unit that you save up on your grid. Eg. If you use an average of 20units per day normally. And put half of that on the grid during daylight hours (your grid will provide you with your power before supplying back to the grid) then power company pays half your bill and you will end up in credit after a few months of having panels.

We have a quote for 8 panels (a 1.5kw system) on our roof. Costing around 3700 to supply and install, not including the 175 that you have to pay for the new meter the power company installs. That *should* half our power bill each month. In regards to paying it off I was told If you leave everything off (apart from the necessities) then do washing etc when its dark, you will save even more! And therefore pay it off quicker! And just to add the government rebate doesn't end until June! Because we are getting it too!

It just depends on how much you want to utilize putting into your panels at the end of each day! :)

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I think there are still govt incentives for solar but they have changed.

An average household with 2 adults and 2 kids would need a 3.0 kw system to cover all of their electricity usage.

The incentives cover a 1.0 or 1.5 kw system.

If you generate more electricity than you use you can feed it back to the grid and earn $, the amount depends where you live.

A colleague knowing all this, installed a 5kw system which means the excess power he sells back fully covers the cost of the repayments on his system, plus he gets no electricity bill.

DH's work have put in a large bank of solar panels. They did the sums and found over the life of the panels it made no difference. Any savings made are needed to be put aside in order to buy new panels when the lifespan of these ones are over.

Look into the lifespan of the panels you are looking at and what there cost would be to replace them, also consider if you could afford to replace them if there was no government rebate in place.

thanks for all the imput !!
trish that would be ace..!

i assume they would be covered under house insurance if there damaged in a storm/hail etc? anyone know??

We just got them installed 2 weeks ago and DH is stoked with it all!! We think it's worth it!! As for the particulars, I can't tell you much as I don't understand it or haven't bothered to :lol: DH could tell you!

We got 25 panels but have a pretty big house!

Hi again, DH said that our friends should pay their 2kw system off within 5 years. Basically, the bigger the system, the bigger the savings, so it will depend on what size you go for.

Energy prices are tipped to double within the next few years, so you can project that into your calcuations too. This will increase your savings even more.

ETA - Not sure about insurance, but they are meant to be hail resistant. Might be worth calling your insurer to check :)

Good quality panels will have a 25yr warranty

What Astrid means is thatsome panels onlyhave roughly an 8-10 year average life span.... the photovoltaic cells in them die and you need new panels....so you want to make sure you are getting the best quality panels for your money not cheap crap that is going to die after 5 years or something like that. You have to think of solar just like any other appliance...it is not a once off cost, it will need replacing just like a hot water service or washing machine etc etc....

astrid that is as awesome point about using saving to replace them in say 25 years. i wonder what the cost will be like then and the cost to home owners, especially when you move to a house with solar and you have to pay to replace them!
im asking this because im wondering if its worth replacing our downlights with more power friendly ones and therefore getting better insulation to help reduce power bills :think:

We just got a small system (1.5kW) but with a 3kW inverter so we have the option of getting another array put on in future.
We don't use that much power usually so I think for us even a small system will make an enormous difference.
I can't wait for my next power bill :)

mad if we get some im thinking about starting small, even making a small difference will help

Can I just ask what companies did those who have them go through?