Solar Rebate

[grog]

Just wondering what the rest of the world gets. I started at 18 c/ kw, dropped to 12 now gone to 5. Used to get $250 quarterly bill input now lucky $70.Another govt rope in  and rape effort.

[Eric GSX1400K3]

I get 7c per kWh I generate, the bastards charge me 21c/kWh. On average I am in credit but only just, the multi crystalline panels I have had for 8 years are almost obsolete, an upgrade to monocrystalline is on the cards. We try to run all appliances during the day (washing machine, pool pump and such, and have upgraded most indoor lights to led.

[Tony Nitrous]

I'm looking at an Off Grid stand alone system. Panels, battery wall, back up diesel generator.   When doing the sums I came across a power industry website condemning it.   Saying it was selfish and irresponsible to have solar and not feed into the grid and be a supporting part of the community.

So I'm supposed to invest in solar to support their businesses ? 

[Snapey]

When I had solar installed I was told my provider would be around to replace the analogue meter with a smart meter. In NSW it's not mandatory to change so the old analogue stays. I take great delight in watching the meter go backwards so instead of a lousy 5c/Kw rebate if I had a smart meter I get the current the feed in rate of 28.3c.

[Eric GSX1400K3]

selfish and irresponsible to have solar and not feed into the grid and be a supporting part of the community

The selfish and irresponsible part is paying only 1/3rd for exactly the same electricity that consumers generate, or put another way, charging customers 3x the amount. Are the electrons I send back into the grid not worthy or are they 1/3 the size?  It should be a flat tariff / rate per kWh and then perhaps a fee to use the infrastructure (meters, cables etc).

I say go for your life Tony, stuff 'em

[Tony Nitrous]

selfish and irresponsible to have solar and not feed into the grid and be a supporting part of the community

The selfish and irresponsible part is paying only 1/3rd for exactly the same electricity that consumers generate, or put another way, charging customers 3x the amount. Are the electrons I send back into the grid not worthy or are they 1/3 the size?  It should be a flat tariff / rate per kWh and then perhaps a fee to use the infrastructure (meters, cables etc).

I say go for your life Tony, stuff 'em

I'm thinking the same.  I'm nowhere near a common domestic feed but there's a high voltage feed to the nearest town that crosses my block. I've paid to put my own power pole in, and for the power company to put a 25KVA transformer on the line to feed to it. Being rural, fire, storms and floods, power going off here isn't that rare, and with a smaller population we don't seem to be a priority.

Closer to the time I'll do the maths, but I've ran a heap of stuff including welders on an 8KVA generator, I'm guessing I don't really need 25 although I'd always go a bit higher than I need.

I'd be happy to be on the grid but I don't feel it's a reasonable deal long term, and as you say selling something for $1when you know you'll be buying it back long term for $3 isn't my idea of economics.  When I've sorted a few more bills I'll be looking at panels, diesel generators and battery walls.

[VladTepes]

We got a new 10 Kva system (Biggest possible on grid system allowable under legislation at the moment) .

Yep they sure charge a lot more than they pay.
Even at the lower feed in tariff (of 10 cents currently) we are doing OK and its worthwhile.

But there are no guarantees the rug won't be pulled out from under that arbitrarily.

For all the talk about renewables, when the cash is concerned, it's all bullshit.  The govt supports the energy  companies and the companies are driven solely by profit.

[1AW022]

I have a small system (3kw) which is fine for a single man to run his stuff during the day
I get 7c feed back to grid

I thought about upgrading to a bigger system... but no point as I'm never home when the sun shines... all my use is after dark
So battery is the go for me
But... by the time I continue to pay me supply charge... and the cost of battery... would take more than 10 yrs to pay for itself
So holding off for lower battery prices

I was told... if going over 5kw they reclassify you as a commercial application and no feed in money back
This is why you get 6.6kw systems but only 5kw invertor

At least in WA anyway.

[Eric GSX1400K3]

I have a small system (3kw) which is fine for a single man to run his stuff during the day
I get 7c feed back to grid

I thought about upgrading to a bigger system... but no point as I'm never home when the sun shines... all my use is after dark
So battery is the go for me
But... by the time I continue to pay me supply charge... and the cost of battery... would take more than 10 yrs to pay for itself
So holding off for lower battery prices

I was told... if going over 5kw they reclassify you as a commercial application and no feed in money back
This is why you get 6.6kw systems but only 5kw invertor

At least in WA anyway.

when we got our 5.2kW system that was the highest capacity domestic possible under the rebate scheme  I believe that has now increased to 6.6kW. The inverters (DC to AC) have to be rated higher to allow for efficiency variations and potential cell upgrades.  I have 26 of 200W panels installed (5200W total) and the inverter is rated for 6kW I believe. We are a family of 5 so this (just) meets our needs. Panels are getting old, haven't checked their efficiency recently, but they need a regular clean to make sure they perform.

[BbigMmac]

Here in the Netherlands they pay you just as much as you pay them as long as you don't produce more than that you use in a year. If you provide more then you get about €0.19 a kwh. Not much but bought the panels to go break even and that's good enough for me. Won't be long before the Dutch gouverment shorts you on that also.

[Tony Nitrous]

I have a small system (3kw) which is fine for a single man to run his stuff during the day
I get 7c feed back to grid

I thought about upgrading to a bigger system... but no point as I'm never home when the sun shines... all my use is after dark
So battery is the go for me
But... by the time I continue to pay me supply charge... and the cost of battery... would take more than 10 yrs to pay for itself
So holding off for lower battery prices

I was told... if going over 5kw they reclassify you as a commercial application and no feed in money back
This is why you get 6.6kw systems but only 5kw invertor

At least in WA anyway.

when we got our 5.2kW system that was the highest capacity domestic possible under the rebate scheme  I believe that has now increased to 6.6kW. The inverters (DC to AC) have to be rated higher to allow for efficiency variations and potential cell upgrades.  I have 26 of 200W panels installed (5200W total) and the inverter is rated for 6kW I believe. We are a family of 5 so this (just) meets our needs. Panels are getting old, haven't checked their efficiency recently, but they need a regular clean to make sure they perform.

Thanks, that's interesting.

I do have a couple of things that although not in daily use do need 8kva, so I was thinking of that as a target number. It's rare there's more than two of us in the house so a combination of oven, washing machine and water pump running is probably our normal peak.

A minor downside to being Off Grid is that every time you turn a tap on, take a shower, use the dish washer, use the washing machine etc etc the water pump kicks in as there's no mains pressure.  It's not a huge pump but it's getting a lot of use.  I had thought of a smaller stand alone system to remove it from my existing bill. It's seperate from the house on its own plug.

Interesting topic.  I have a lot of homework to do.
Before I put a power pole in and got a mains feed I was getting quotes for a solar / battery / auto-start generator set up.  Anything worth having seemed to start at a minimum of $55k. The $4k to get a 25KVA transformer installed meant that mains was a more  realistic short term fix.

[Eric GSX1400K3]

What about a wind powered generator as a supplementary feed into a battery wall?  Runs 24/7

https://www.offgridenergy.com.au/off-grid-power-systems/components/wind-turbines/

[Tony Nitrous]

What about a wind powered generator as a supplementary feed into a battery wall?  Runs 24/7

https://www.offgridenergy.com.au/off-grid-power-systems/components/wind-turbines/

I'm actually in a fairly "high wind" area so thats certainly not out of the question.  I like that I can hide solar panels and that there's a lot of different options but I wouldn't rule out wind.

I also have a creek that hasn't stopped flowing in two years and at one point drops well over a metre so something water driven has been suggested.

[grog]

Not sure about house batts. Tesla cost 17-18g, life of 10-15 yrs. Lasts 24 hrs if a blackout. Could be a disposal fee when spent. By 10 yrs could easily be down to 60% efficiency. I ave around $900 yr for power. $400 of that is connection fee, still there with batt. Realise power cost will go up, if it doubled, batt cost would work out about even with not having one. Maybe im wrong but thats how i worked it out.

[Hooli]

If you buy a Tesla you can use the car as a house batt too & then lose even more money as you also have a useless EV with knackered batts.