Help with Parent's Solar Panel and Electricity Bill in Brisbane

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  arescarti42 on 30/09/2014 - 22:26

  Without knowing a whole lot about solar panels or how solar feed-in works, I'd say 46 kWh over 3 months sounds low for a 1.5kW system if that's what it's actually outputting. The fact that the panels face west won't help, as it means that they won't get any direct sunlight until the afternoon. What the weather has been like over those 3 months (i.e. has it been cloudy) will effect output, as will anything blocking the panels such as nearby trees or other houses.

  Of course that's only if the panels have only outputted 46kWh. If it's only feeding in excess power produced (i.e. power that your parents don't use first) than 46kWh seems highly plausible. I doubt a 1.5kw system would be able to fully offset even a small household's electricity needs.

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  Shadow54 on 01/10/2014 - 10:41

  If the parents are home all day using electricity and have a 1.5KwH solar system, there'll be precious little excess power available to feed into the grid. 50c per KwH feed-in tariff - something we can only fantacise about here in Victoria where the feed-in tariff is now 8c per KwH and there are moves afoot to make us PAY to put power into the grid! If I could get 50c per KwH I would be installing a huge system and gratefully accepting large cheques from my power company: might even to give up my job…….

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  geek001 on 01/10/2014 - 10:53

  My understanding was that under the old scheme, all generated power is fed back into the grid, because they are getting 50c/kWh, whereas they pay around 26c/Kwh from the grid. However, I don't know if this is how the system was setup. How do I check?

  In Brisbane now, I think the feed-in tariff is pitiful as well, 8c/Kwh. So I think solar panel installers install the systems in such a way that only excess gets fed back into the grid now.

  I am sure a few Ozbargainers would have thought of the same thing as you, Shadow54, but I think there is a yearly cap on maximum payout under the old scheme.

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    wildbill on 02/10/2014 - 08:07

    "My understanding was that under the old scheme, all generated power is fed back into the grid,"

    Qld has a "net feed in" scheme - i.e. your house uses the generation first and only the excess is fed into the grid.
    This excess is what you get paid for.

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      geek001 on 02/10/2014 - 08:21

      Thanks for the comment, I have since discovered that this is the case. So basically the solar panel setup is that excess power gets put back into the grid.

      Then the bill makes sense, since they use power during the day. Does anyone know if it is worth upgrading the solar panel to take advantage is the 50c/kWh tariff, since basically 1.5kWh is just about covering their power requirements during the day. Would my parents need to contact Origin or Energex that they are upgrading their solar panel?

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        Geewhizz on 03/10/2014 - 06:31

        I don't know the answer to your question, sorry, but I'm guessing they will try and find a way to avoid paying that sort of feed in tarriff on the extra panels.

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  kbear2002 on 09/10/2014 - 15:18

  i was under the impression that any changes to the solar system (adding more panels ect) would void the contract that your parents have (which gives them the 50c/kWh tariff) and would be moved onto the new tariff prices (8c/kWh) or what ever they have now … correct me if i am wrong …

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    forkus on 16/10/2014 - 13:14

    I heard something similar to this but have also heard it only changes if you need to change your inverter to accommodate more panels.

    Again, just what I have heard and more than likely wrong.