Solar panels - worth it?

We've been thinking about getting solar panels for a while now. We had a couple of quotes last year, but decided we couldn't afford it. However, with electricity prices rising, we're thinking about it again.

this house is supposed to be a 5 year house for us. We've been here nearly 18 months. We pay about $190 month to bill smooth electricity. We have gas heating and evaporated cooling, so the electricity spikes in Summer. We also want to get a couple of split system air conditioners, which will drive up the electricity usage.

my questions are:
* is it over capitalising to get solar panels installed?
* will it add value to the house? Or can they detract from the value, given how they look?
* how long does it usually take for the panels to start paying for themselves?
* do they need much in the way of maintenance?
* who on earth is a trustworthy supplier in Melbourne? A quick look at some of the "deals" being offered recently on TV shows some horrible reviews of shonky service and very long lead times to installation, as well as dodgy "upgrades" being sold. I do not understand a lot about electricity terms, so the options can be very confusing.
* has anyone had the panels installed on the garage roof? Our house front faces north, so the panels would be installed on the west side of the house. The neighbours are building a 2-storey house next door, so that may block some of the sun. The garage is on the east and faces north and is a flat roof, so I thought they'd be better there, depending on how many of which size we need.

anything else I need to consider?
TIA

I don't know anything (like usual) but eventually it is something we are keen on. we need a new roof first so it will be a while off. I would think tho, it would add value surely.
pointless post...but you needed a reply =)

I'm in qld and we been looking at it too and I'm not that fussed. We looking at $10k to do our house but with the fees in rate at only 8c it doesn't seem worth it. Do you have true value solar down there??

we had a dude come out and do a quote, and there were more options for placement of panels than we had considered. They can put them on frames to give a better angle to the sun, and the newer ones can work on filtered sun so don't need direct sun all day. We also asked about putting them on the shed, but to do this you also have to factor in cost of wiring etc to get the electricity from shed to your main electricity box. We are on a big block, so the cost outweighed any benefits.

We also discussed benefit to resell value, and a direct financial cost was difficult to determine, but it would definitely be a selling point that might get more buyers to look at the house, which might then drive up the price.

We don't have them on yet but keep revisiting the idea.

We just got solar installed and turned on end of July so I'm not sure how much it is saving us as yet. We live in Queensland.

Our bills quarterly were always in the $600+ range.

We spoke to the consultant and he advised us to get a 5kw system with 20 panels. He estimated this system would eliminate approx 80% of our bill.

Because we didn't sign up for the 44c tarrif, we only receive the 8c feed in tarrif and electricity companies also add to it too the amount depends on which company you with. Origin adds 8c, so our feed in tarrif is 16c.

Not sure if it adds or detracts to the value of the house though. We put ten panels on the front of the house that you can see from the street and ten on a side where you can't see. It is a bit ugly but there are lots of houses in our area who have their solar on the front so it's not like we are the odd looking house or anything.

We used solar consultants. Got a quote with true value solar and solar consultants and I found solar consultants more knowledgeable and happy to answer my stupid questions as I knew next to nothing about solar. True value were more expensive as well.

Our 5kw system with 20 panels cost $6340 on the I think it's called jw inverter, just the standard one. Can't tell you how good the system is until we get a first bill though :(

Sorry I can't remember any of your other questions. The old brain ain't what she used to be :)

Oh and our consultant reckoned this system would pay itself off in 2 to 3 years. Which suited us as we as we plan to stay here until both kids are in school and I go back to work full time so another 5-6 years at least.

* is it over capitalising to get solar panels installed?

We have a 5kW system with 18 panels, our bills were generally between $200-400 depending on season. Now our bills are only in a credit, and we haven't paid a power bill since installation. We are low power users with an average of 7Kw a day.

We get our credit paid out once a year in summer, and have it accrue up to winter to allow for smaller generation.

Our system was purchased before the bigger state incentive, so cost us around $8000. But we got paid $2000 from energy company due to a screw up with our feed in tariff. We were lucky enough to get the middle one so get 33c per kW plus the energy provider bonus.

* will it add value to the house? Or can they detract from the value, given how they look?

I believe it will attract more buyers, not sure if it will increase value of house by much. Our solar panels are on the back of our house so no real issue of them affecting facade.

* how long does it usually take for the panels to start paying for themselves?

I believe they say generally 3-5 years, which also has to do with what feed in tariff contract you get.

* do they need much in the way of maintenance?

We haven't done anything with ours over last 2 years.

* who on earth is a trustworthy supplier in Melbourne?

We had ours installed with true value solar and had no issues with installation. Though there was a paperwork screw up, which they blamed on us. DH also liked that the panels etc were German made and had a good reputation.

My DH did a lot of research into what we wanted, so if they did try to sell him something he didn't want it didn't work. Plus he ended up bargaining the price down. So I'd just say take your time, don't rush into anything. Research what they try to sell you. And in the end they're the ones who want to sell you their product, there are heaps of providers out there, so get them working for you.

* has anyone had the panels installed on the garage roof?

North facing is best, and if you don't want to pay extra for frames, would be best to put on an angled roof as it makes for better uv absorption.

Hope they help somewhat, but my dh knows more about this solar panel stuff ;)

Thanks for all the replies. I find the whole thing very complicated. I didnt know to consider buy in tariffs.

it is True Value we were looking at until we saw the appalling reviews.

you can no longer get the awesome buy in tariffs of a few years back. if only we knew back then.....

We've had our 2.3kW system for 2 years now, and pretty much have zero bills. We accrue credit over summer, and then use most of it over the winter, but we haven't actually owed them anything. We got the 40c + 8c feed in tariff. We haven't had any maintenence, and don't expect any.

As far as re-sale value goes, I think it's becoming a selling point, especially if the system is big enough to zero your bills. For street appeal, I think the ones that are flat on the roof, not on frames to get the right angle, are much much nicer.

Potential shade from neighbours' houses or trees is really, really important. If they're going to get significant shading, it won't be worth it. If it's partial shade, try to look for the panels which still produce in partial shade. Most types (at least 2 years ago this was the case) don't produce anything if any part of the panels is in shade.

Position wise, my understanding is that north-facing is optimal, east facing is next best, west facing is third option, but not great, cos when panels overheat, production goes right down, so all of the hot afternoon sun overheats them and goes to waste, and south-facing is pretty much pointless.

I recommend the whirlpool online forum for helping you to choose a reputable local company.

It depends on your specific circumstances, but we have a 3kw system and are currently about $500 in credit and haven't paid for any electricity in over a year (prior to that we only had a 1.5kW system, so had to pay a bit in some periods)

We pay around 23c per unit off-grid (which is going up) and receive about 48c feed-in tariff. Our average usage pre panels was 13-15 units per day

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Oh and our consultant reckoned this system would pay itself off in 2 to 3 years. Which suited us as we as we plan to stay here until both kids are in school and I go back to work full time so another 5-6 years at least.

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Who did you use Kitty

Mine are definitely worth it because I get (I think don't quote me exactly), 64cents per thingo they buy back off me. I have never had a bill since getting them, I have 10 all together. My system cost just under $5000 but they are much less than that now. I went with True Value and they weren't that great to be honest, took a long time to book me in (more than 6 months) so I tried to cancel and get the $1000 they'd had for all that time back but they wouldn't. I kicked up a big stink and funnily enough they were installed within 2 weeks after that.

Feed-in-tariff for new applicants - Department of Environment and Primary Industries

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New feed-in tariff arrangements are available to all eligible customers from 1 January 2013.
The feed-in tariff currently offers a minimum of 8 cents per kilowatt hour for 2013 for excess electricity fed back into the grid. Some electricity retailers may offer a higher rate but are not obligated to do so.

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Beautiful disaster: we went with solar consultants I can give you contact details of the guy. Our system was installed within a week of booking it lol they had a cancellation and fit us in as soon as I called. The reason it took so long to get turned on was that energex had to change our meter over.

Hoti: that's what we are on and most electricity companies are offering extra feed in. I'm with origin and get the 8c plus extra 8c from origin so 16c in total. Apparently click energy gives something like 12c feed in so add the 8c and that's 20c feed in. Something like that.

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Beautiful disaster: we went with solar consultants I can give you contact details of the guy. Our system was installed within a week of booking it lol they had a cancellation and fit us in as soon as I called. The reason it took so long to get turned on was that energex had to change our meter over.

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Thanks Kitty

We put a huge 8kW system in last year (our annual bill was $3500+ as we are big users, mostly our reverse cycle refrigerated aircon is the culprit), we've had 3 bills since (the first one was only a few weeks of solar in the qtr) and are soooooo glad we did! We've already saved well over $2K. One thing to consider is to get provision for more than you might need now, in case you wish to add panels later (eg as your family grow), as otherwise you will lose the feed in tariff if you upgrade and have to apply again and get whatever feed in tariff is going at the time. We have approval for 10kW and will keep our feed in tariff (about 27c) up to 10kW. It costs nothing more to apply for a higher approval. Also, we wanted to be in credit as then we are able to transfer that onto our gas bill. This year our electricity usage has been higher as either myself or DH have been on parental leave since June last year, once DH goes back to work in Sept it will go down as we will be at work during the day so we will save about $4-500 more per year.

* is it over capitalising to get solar panels installed?
Only if you plan to move before the solar panels start paying for themselves
* will it add value to the house? Or can they detract from the value, given how they look?
It would add value, as long as they are properly installed and as unobtrusive as possible, the house across the road from us has two different types of panels, and to be honest its ugly. We have 32 all installed neatly and it actually looks pretty cool
* how long does it usually take for the panels to start paying for themselves?
3-4 years if you are looking to zero your bills. It really depends on what you get, if you get a smaller system but still have some bill to pay then it will take less. We felt that if we were going to invest and outlay all this money then we wanted no bill
* do they need much in the way of maintenance?
Not really, generally the rain gives them a clean, otherwise getting up on the roof every 6-12 months with a broom to get rid of any bird poo might be necessary (we haven't needed to do that). If they get too dirty they aren't as effective in generating electricity, if you have heaps of trees around your roof and lots of birds dropping their mess this would likely be an issue, we live in a new 'burb and there are no trees that high yet
* who on earth is a trustworthy supplier in Melbourne? A quick look at some of the "deals" being offered recently on TV shows some horrible reviews of shonky service and very long lead times to installation, as well as dodgy "upgrades" being sold. I do not understand a lot about electricity terms, so the options can be very confusing.
Have a look at some of the solar forums, we did and found out who NOT to use! I'd recommend the company we used but they are local to SA. Also be very careful with going with those that have a high feed in tarriff. Often this is only for a short period of time, then drops back to quite a low tarriff, and are often more expensive to install, so you probably aren't any better off.

It really depends where you live and what incentives are available. Feed in tariffs differ across the states and territories. A good solar company should be able to spell out your payback period based on your house's orientation and your current usage.