You got a Solar System ?

[itchybro]

What Size System Do You Have ?
How Many People In The House ?
How Old Is The System ?
Do You Run An Indoor Grow During Summer Including Air Con For Cooling ?
Do You Run An Indoor Grow During Winter including Air Con For Heating ?
Care To Share Your Experiences / Numbers / Bill Size ?

 

[Porky]

6.6kw
4 people
Going on 3 years
Yes grow all year round
Have aircon but for house not grow area
Mine cost 9k
Was getting winter bills of about 900 a quarter. Went down to about 600 after solar. Now the power companies have successfully lobbied the government over and over to fuck the feed in tariff down to 1/3 of what it was it's really only worth having solar now if you have a battery to sore your electricity or you home during the day to do stuff like washing clothes and vacuuming. My wife works from home 3 days a week so it's still sort of viable for us!
Also depends on ya power company and what rates you're on. I'm on a low rate for peak but my feed in is only 8.5cpkw where if my wife wasn't home during the day I change and go for a higher feed in but that means I'd pay more for me peak power!
If ya can afford it from the installation of ya solar get a battery!!
My area the power companies are building on street battery's for multiple houses to connect to. They all feed the batteries during the day while everyone's at work then they get the power back for free but you pay a rental fee monthly for using the power companies battery. Great idea if the power companies don't get greedy and continually up the rental price which of course they will. They are only offering this because apparently in my area shit loads of people already have their own batteries and that's eating into their profits!
I'm looking at a few batteries to buy mid to late next year. Fuck the greedy foreign owned power companies!!

 

[Squire]

6.6 kw
3/4 people
6 years
6 aircons only use when have to rarely use all at once
Cost 5k
Used to get rebate all the time
Since the fuck over monthly bill is 60-120 with qld rebates
Got to look after the old pensioners
I don't think it is worth the money for battery's the initial cost as well as how long they last.
What the power companies do here in summer is allow the grid voltage to rise so the inverter won't push power to the grid .
Too much solar and they can't use it

 

[itchybro]

Thanks for that @Porky & @Squire , handy info

the system I'm looking at is also 6.6kw ( 15 Jinko Tiger Neo N-type panels / Goodwe DNS G3 inverter ) , with fed & state rebates the cost is $4950 which could come down to $3550 up front if i want a interest & fee free loan of $1400 from the state gov , paid back at $29.16 per month for 4 years , not sure i need another loan but it's on the table

not as many living in my house & most usage would be during the day , when i was running indoor grows they were mostly lights on at night , especially in summer to help keep the heat more manageable , that would change of cause to day time lights on but in summer an air con is going to be needed I'm thinking

i think batteries are getting closer to being viable but still not there yet imo , not sure what the numbers are now but it wasn't that long ago when battery warranties were 10 years & it would take about 15 years to recoup your battery cost outlay , meaning you had to gamble on the battery lasting 15 years otherwise if you had to replace the battery in ten or less years you were going backwards , i do really like the idea of having a battery though , & for the record though def not having a electric car

have you guys seen or checked out the electric hot water pump rebates or even the split system air con rebates which stopped a year ago but are about to kick into gear again apparently , that's here in Vic not sure about other states

 

[Billygoat]

3.5kw
4 people.
10 years old
52c feed in tariff.

Currently no grow. Bill around $700 a qtr. solar only knocks off around $200. Must use heaps of power during the day.

When growing with only 1 light, bill gets up around $1,100 per quarter.

I’ve got heaps of roof space for more solar, but the couple of companies I’ve spoke to in the past don’t wanna know about it while I’m on the old tariff.

 

[Old fox]

3.5kw
4 people.
10 years old
52c feed in tariff.

Currently no grow. Bill around $700 a qtr. solar only knocks off around $200. Must use heaps of power during the day.

When growing with only 1 light, bill gets up around $1,100 per quarter.

I’ve got heaps of roof space for more solar, but the couple of companies I’ve spoke to in the past don’t wanna know about it while I’m on the old tariff.

Why is that an issue for any company to sell you an upgrade? Your generous tarrifs shouldn't affect their bottom line? Your pricing deal is with an energy provider, not a panel vendor

 

[Billygoat]

Why is that an issue for any company to sell you an upgrade? Your generous tarrifs shouldn't affect their bottom line? Your pricing deal is with an energy provider, not a panel vendor

Something about not being able to alter the size of the array, otherwise losing the tariff…

 

[Billygoat]

And can’t run two separately metered arrays..? It was last year I enquired.

 

[Sun Ra]

Something about not being able to alter the size of the array, otherwise losing the tariff…

An old work buddy of mine who is pretty handy on the tools - ex plumber - he added extra panels himself
and kept the old/good feed in tariff deal.

 

[Indy]

Yep, if you got onto the 44c feed in tariff a while back (in QLD). You lose it if you expand on your existing system, and have to sign onto a new feed in deal, and probably only offer the current going rate.

i've got similar specs as Bill. But grow most of the year, the hobby seems to set me back about $250 a quarter. And largest bill to date has been like $650. Got A/C's (DC inverter split systems) throughout house, Pool, and off-peak hot water.

 

[Indy]

For us on the 44 cent feed in tariff. It looks as if the party concludes in July 2028.

Solar Bonus Scheme 44c feed-in tariff

Eligibility and conditions for receiving the 44 cent solar bonus feed-in tariff.

www.qld.gov.au

 

[itchybro]

i know 2 people in Vic with high feed in tariff , one of them has a smaller system they had installed years ago , they're getting 60 odd cents but if they change / upgrade the system good tariff is gone , the other guys i know on a good tariff & have a smallish system say there deal is coming to an end soon

someone else who paid for his daughters system , something like 13+kw says the electrical companies have limited the feed in amount to 5kw max , not sure if that's per day / week / month or bill , either way that's a joke makes you want to have a battery or 2 & not connect to the grid at all & keep & use your own power

seems like a large bill @Billygoat

 

[Porky]

Fuck me my feed in is 12c pkwh that's low but me peak is 27c pkwy
How the fuck are QLD electricity companies pays that??

 

[Billygoat]

Fuck me my feed in is 12c pkwh that's low but me peak is 27c pkwy
How the fuck are QLD electricity companies pays that??

It was an offer when solar first came out. They can’t change it until 2026 (or thereabouts).

The conditions included that the electricity account had to stay in your name or it ended.

At the time though solar was nowhere near as cheap. My 3.5kw was around $8k.

The bigger 6 or so kw systems were at least 12k… so somewhat relative I guess.

 

[Porky]

It was an offer when solar first came out. They can’t change it until 2026 (or thereabouts).

The conditions included that the electricity account had to stay in your name or it ended.

At the time though solar was nowhere near as cheap. My 3.5kw was around $8k.

The bigger 6 or so kw systems were at least 12k… so somewhat relative I guess.

Ahh well enjoy it while it lasts. I reckon you'll be close to the 12c I'm currently on.
Pretty sure we all under those cunts at aemo as it's national legislation so they set the price (after the fucking power companies tell em what they want the price to be)
Like everything thing we are paying way more than we should!!

 

[Indy]

Currently 7c feed-in for regional QLD. Ergon Energy (QLD Gov Owned).

 

[itchybro]

from what i hear from currant adopters of solar here in Vic 12c is dam good @Porky i think it's more single figure amounts like 4 & 5c kw
from google
" In Victoria, from 1st July 2023, the minimum feed-in tariff is to fall from 5.2c to 4.9c per kWh. Solar plans are limited to a solar system with less than 10kW output. Higher feed-in tariff plans are limited to PV systems up to 10kW. "

 

[Absorber]

Ahh well enjoy it while it lasts. I reckon you'll be close to the 12c I'm currently on.
Pretty sure we all under those cunts at aemo as it's national legislation so they set the price (after the fucking power companies tell em what they want the price to be)
Like everything thing we are paying way more than we should!!

Put batteries in and use your power you generate then you can tell them to fk off

 

[Indy]

Won't be bothered with batteries initially when my current contract expires mid-2028. I'll replace the inverter to one that allows you to use your own power generated throughout the day, and let the any remainder trickle feed back into the grid, for fuckall return.

 

[Absorber]

Won't be bothered with batteries initially when my current contract expires mid-2028. I'll replace the inverter to one that allows you to use your own power generated throughout the day, and let the any remainder trickle feed back into the grid, for fuckall return.

Doesn't your inverter already do that?