Solar Power

Phil №❶ · **Reply #60: February 21, 2012, 10:34:40**

Even though they look obvious, I like to see people doing something green for the planet. Every little bit helps.

I don't understand why the govts have reduced the feed in tarrifs. If all Aussie houses were fitted with a modest unit, we would significantly reduce our carbon input & save on future power new power plants.

Dazzler · **Reply #61: February 21, 2012, 10:45:50**

I totally agree Phil (I think of it as a money tree)

Phil №❶ · **Reply #62: February 25, 2012, 01:29:37**

Quote from: Dazzler on February 25, 2012, 01:26:46

Bloody beautiful here 25 or 26c with a light sea breeze (solar panels are working overtime)

Do you watch your meter going in reverse

Dazzler · **Reply #63: February 25, 2012, 01:38:43**

Quote from: 847563 on February 25, 2012, 01:29:37

Quote from: Dazzler on February 25, 2012, 01:26:46
Bloody beautiful here 25 or 26c with a light sea breeze (solar panels are working overtime)

Do you watch your meter going in reverse

It was only installed on Tuesday and Aurora have already sent me the agreement to sign and return (on Friday) so they can swap my meter to the same sort but one that is programmed to do that...

I went out to see what it was reading and the inverter is ticking and the display is stuck on 1297.50 kw (but the red error light is not on?)

I have turned off the isolator switch and will see if it resets (not a good omen??)

Surferdude · **Reply #64: February 25, 2012, 03:57:48**

Quote from: Dazzler on February 25, 2012, 01:38:43

Quote from: 847563 on February 25, 2012, 01:29:37
Quote from: Dazzler on February 25, 2012, 01:26:46
Bloody beautiful here 25 or 26c with a light sea breeze (solar panels are working overtime)

Do you watch your meter going in reverse

It was only installed on Tuesday and Aurora have already sent me the agreement to sign and return (on Friday) so they can swap my meter to the same sort but one that is programmed to do that...

I went out to see what it was reading and the inverter is ticking and the display is stuck on 1297.50 kw (but the red error light is not on?)

I have turned off the isolator switch and will see if it resets (not a good omen??)

Doesn't sound good. I thought you already had a smart meter installed?
It's only the old ring type meters which you can see going backwards.
We're 2 months into our current quarterly meter reading period which pretty much co-incides with our panel installation.
So far we've generated about 700 kw. Our average 3 month useage at this time of year is 880kw (but that included the Rverse Cycle Aircon which is now on the off-peak meter and that is just over 400kw. (@14c per k/w that's about $56.
We've probably used the aircon more this year because we know it's costing us less and will be more than offset by the rebate we're generating from the panels.
Remembering too, that 56% of our quarterly bills was due to hot water which is now eliminated. What little we might use after several wet days is absorbed into the off- peak figure above.

I know it will drop in output in winter but I'm estimating it'll only come back to around about our average daily useage.
When our first bill turns up I'll update the figures to "real time".

Dazzler · **Reply #65: February 25, 2012, 04:11:31**

Quote from: surferdude on February 25, 2012, 03:57:48

Doesn't sound good. I thought you already had a smart meter installed?

I sent a text message to the electrician and he said he will be in our area on Thursday this week and to keep him posted of any more problems.. I've checked it a few times since and seems OK now (touch wood) It has a 5 year warranty.

The electrician said Aurora will swap my smart meter for one the same that has been programmed to import/ export. Easier than reprogramming the one that is there...apparently

Phil №❶ · **Reply #66: February 25, 2012, 04:14:58**

Dazz, What makes you think you have a problem that requires a reset.

Even with a smart meter installed, our mob charge $200 to wave an IR devcce that tells the meter to log the return energy. What a rip off

Surferdude

We had the ring type originally, so I used to watch it run backwards until our new one was fitted, very satisfying.

Dazzler · **Reply #67: February 25, 2012, 04:15:42**

Sounds like you have a great setup Trev..

Ours seems to generate about 10K/W per day at this time of the year (on a sunny day) a bit less of couse if it is cloudy.. I'll be happy if we knock 180 to 200 off our summer bill and $100 off the winter one.. Our panels are in the sun from dawn until dusk (no way they can be shaded)

Surferdude · **Reply #68: February 25, 2012, 04:15:53**

Quote from: 847563 on February 25, 2012, 04:14:58

Surferdude

We had the ring type originally, so I used to watch it run backwards until our new one was fitted, very satisfying.

Yeah. Me too.

It meant we weren't paying for electricity useage whilst it was going backwards. But the cost was 22c each way.
Once the smart meter went in it was 22c for useage and 55c for power sent back to the grid.

Dazzler · **Reply #69: February 25, 2012, 04:19:07**

The inverter was making a clicking sound and the instant energy readout was stuck on 1297 kw or something like that.. I switched off the isolator in the power box and then the switch under the Inverter and it took a few minutes for the display to go blank.. I then did the reverse and after a minute or so it said ready and started generating power again..

Phil №❶ · **Reply #70: February 25, 2012, 04:21:27**

Dazz

Naturally, they are most efficient at 90 Deg sun angle. As yours are in the sun all day, what time would you estimate the best efficiency occurs. What direction do they face. Our have to face NW due to the house / street alignment. I'm happy with them so far.

Surferdude · **Reply #71: February 25, 2012, 04:23:31**

Ours can't be shaded either. Our house is basically north facing where the panels are mounted but it has a very slight angle towards the NE so from late afternoon the sun is hitting at a pretty useless angle (more than made up for by the early morning kick-off.
But in winter with the sun slightly further north they'll be effective later in the day. Also, I think with the roof line being what it it the sun in winter will be hitting the panels closer to 90 degrees which may give just a bit more effectiveness, also helping to offset the shorter days.

So, yes we're pretty happy with the set up.
At the end of the day, as I have probably already mentioned, I don'y know of any other "blue chip" investment where I can invest $10,000 for a 20% to 25% return.

edit. I was just about to post this when yours came up.
Great minds.

Phil №❶ · **Reply #72: February 25, 2012, 04:33:49**

surferdude

How are you coping with the rain, as it'sd your "wet" season, wouldn't you generate a fair portion in the "winter" months. It's good that the sun angle improves in winter for you. Being a lot further south & in the hills, we get a lot of cloud & the sun angle is not as good as summer.

Surferdude · **Reply #73: February 25, 2012, 04:50:36**

Quote from: 847563 on February 25, 2012, 04:33:49

surferdude

How are you coping with the rain, as it'sd your "wet" season, wouldn't you generate a fair portion in the "winter" months. It's good that the sun angle improves in winter for you. Being a lot further south & in the hills, we get a lot of cloud & the sun angle is not as good as summer.

We've had a pretty wet summer this year, especially since the panels' installation.
The weekly generation to date has been

79.5
83
89
59.6
57.7
44.1
76.1
84.7
86.5

You can see the wet weeks. In that period I've only twice turned on the switch for the "booster" on the solar hot water. It seems to be able to handle 3 days with minimal sunshine. That would reduce in winter of course with longer showers.
Our daily average useage over the last year was around 9.5kw. But that included the airconditioning which is now on off-peak.
Since the installation our daily average generation for the period to date has not gone below 9.8 and is currently at 10.48. It might drop a bit on Tuesday when I take the next reading as we've had a wet couple of days.

Phil №❶ · **Reply #74: February 25, 2012, 04:59:26**

Excellent record keeping there.

AlanHo · **Reply #75: February 25, 2012, 08:01:59**

880 Kw generated is impressive - but here in the UK last calendar year we used 5539 Kw.hr of electricity plus 13,564 Kw.hr of gas. Our house is a conventional brick built detached with 4 bedrooms, insulated cavity walls, insulated floors and roof and a condensing combination boiler fired central heating system.

I imagine we would need a football sized pitch of solar panels to become independent.

Dazzler · **Reply #76: February 25, 2012, 08:11:06**

Quote from: 847563 on February 14, 2012, 06:08:54

You should get a simple instruction manual for the inverter with some specifications, check to see what it's maximum is, maybe the 2kw inverter has an inbuilt capacity to accept higher power for a limited period of time.

It copes with up to 2300 watts..

Quote from: 847563 on February 25, 2012, 04:21:27

Dazz

Naturally, they are most efficient at 90 Deg sun angle. As yours are in the sun all day, what time would you estimate the best efficiency occurs. What direction do they face. Our have to face NW due to the house / street alignment. I'm happy with them so far.

Ours face very slightly north east on a roof with a 23 degree pitch. You can see from the photos they are mounted fairly high on the roof so get some sun from dawn to dusk but as you would expect, best time seems to be between say 11am and 3PM AEDT..

Surferdude · **Reply #77: February 25, 2012, 09:06:10**

Quote from: AlanHo on February 25, 2012, 08:01:59

880 Kw generated is impressive - but here in the UK last calendar year we used 5539 Kw.hr of electricity plus 13,564 Kw.hr of gas. Our house is a conventional brick built detached with 4 bedrooms, insulated cavity walls, insulated floors and roof and a condensing combination boiler fired central heating system.

I imagine we would need a football sized pitch of solar panels to become independent.

Our actual useage for the year was almost 8000 kw. But over half that went into the electric HWS. Which was high. It seems most use about a third to 40% of the total power.
The 880 referred to everything else but HWS which is/was on a separate meter. We've eliminated that with the installation of Solar HWS which was just a bit less tha half the $10,500 total outlay.
The solar panels generate power for everything else except the aircon as above.
We don't use gas.

Phil №❶ · **Reply #78: February 28, 2012, 12:37:36**

surferdude, Dazz

Just as well we all got our solar HWS, bye bye government rebate

Dazzler · **Reply #79: February 28, 2012, 21:26:03**

That seems a backward step Phil

Got our latest Power bill in our email this morning..

Thanks to a warm summer and judicious power use (master/slave power boards etc...) Daily useage down from 23Kwh same time last year to 21.5 Kwh

First week of production from our 10 panel "2.0Kw" system = 68Kwh and yesterday we had our best day so far 11.5 kwh (which in theory would mean in summer we could be generating up to half of our power)

..and considering our power includes all of our heating, cooking and hot water that is an amazing result. Hopefully no more hiccups with the inverter... (touch wood)

Surferdude · **Reply #80: February 28, 2012, 23:05:44**

Quote from: 847563 on February 28, 2012, 12:37:36

surferdude, Dazz

Just as well we all got our solar HWS, bye bye government rebate

What's the story 84?
We didn't get a Fed rebate anyway as we already installed batts.
But AFAIK the Qld Govt one ($600 we got) is continuing.

Phil №❶ · **Reply #81: February 29, 2012, 06:08:03**

Gillard has pulled the plug on the scheme 4 months early with no consultation. The dude from Rheem is "not happy Jan" and says jobs will go. He is annoyed that the govt continues to subsidize o/s produced solar cells, but shuts down locally produced HWS manufacturing rebates. I figured this and we got Solar HWS & Cells in 2010.

Surferdude · **Reply #82: March 09, 2012, 09:32:41**

Little update of an observation here.
As (I think) 84 has said and I have read, panels are supposed to lose some of their efficiency over about 25C.
However, although I haven't been keeping a daily tally, I do tend to look at the readout at the end of each day and over the last few weeks we've had our hottest days just over the 30C mark. Today was 31C and we generated 13.6 kwh. What I'm saying is that I've noticed that on the hottest days we are generating our highest readings. We got over 14 kwh a couple of times and both time they were 32C days.. If we have 28 -29C we generally see around 12 kwh.

We've just passed 800kwh generated and should see a bill in about 3 weeks. By then we'll probably have generated a Megawatt in total.

Still very happy.

I'll update you on the aircon costs after I see the bill, too. I've been monitoring its useage on off peak and I reckon it's costing us about $1 per day to run for on average 8 hours.

Phil №❶ · **Reply #83: March 09, 2012, 09:46:53**

I have a repeating reminder in my mobile to read the KwH each Sunday. Been doing it for 2 weeks, wish I'd kept records from the start. Will make an interesting graph, with overlaying graphs for the following years too.

Surferdude, Dazz, Are your cells mounted on a track. Mine are and they're quite close together. I'm thinking of modifying the mounts with blocks to provide an air gap for the cells to breathe. On mine, between the tracks there isn't a clear air path. According to the web, any cooling is advantageous to the cells power output.

Dazzler · **Reply #84: March 09, 2012, 09:55:12**

I have a reminder in my phone to check our output each week at lunchtime on a Tuesday (the anniversary of when the inverter was commissioned) The 2nd week was 64 Kwh (due to a couple of wet and heavily overcast days) Had several days of full sun that have generated 11.5kwh and a couple of cloudy days as low ad 5 or 6 kwh..

The new programmed smart meter was installed late yesterday .. weather was only so so today but already exported 5kwh of excess power today plus whatever we saved off our useage

Phil №❶ · **Reply #85: March 09, 2012, 10:03:34**

Quote from: Dazzler on March 09, 2012, 09:55:12

I have a reminder in my phone to check our output each week at lunchtime on a Tuesday (the anniversary of when the inverter was commissioned) The 2nd week was 64 Kwh (due to a couple of wet and heavily overcast days) Had several days of full sun that have generated 11.5kwh and a couple of cloudy days as low ad 5 or 6 kwh..

The new programmed smart meter was installed late yesterday .. weather was only so so today but already exported 5kwh of excess power today plus whatever we saved off our useage

Ah, I see you have OCD too.

Dazzler · **Reply #86: March 09, 2012, 10:11:06**

I've got a very long piece of paper with $3100 at the top and I'm taking each days saving off a $1 at a time...

Not really .. but you get the idea..

Surferdude · **Reply #87: March 09, 2012, 10:32:24**

Mine are on two rails. They're well clear of the tiles so I don't think there's an issue with cooling. Don't think it matters how much gap there is between each panel as the air blowing underneath should provide the cooling.

And Dazz, ours went on line at lunchtime on a Tuesday too.

I check them around lunchtime each Tuesday.

Surferdude · **Reply #88: March 19, 2012, 10:38:46**

Just found another (probably the best) benefit of solar power.
Ever since deregulation, which happened before we moved back from Sydney we've been pestered by door to door salesmen, offering great deals if we'd switch to origin Energy. They really are very pushy and annoying.
So, today, there's two of them, one showing the other how it's done.

"But' says I, 'we've got solar panels and solar hot water and we're getting money back".
End of story.

Pretty much stopped him in mid-sentence.
They'd have got slim pickins in our street. The next 3 or 4 houses down our side all have panels (not visible from the street).
I'm still

3 hours later.

Phil №❶ · **Reply #89: March 19, 2012, 10:45:58**

Thanks for bringing that point up, now you come to mention it, we've never been approached since our panels were fitted.