Solar Purchase Help and Advice Wanted

gautamp on 31/07/2018 - 15:43
Last edited 04/08/2018 - 10:10 by 1 other user

hi,

I am finally thinking of taking a plunge into the solar energy and looks like I am drowning by the technical specs and overwhelming information that the sales guys throw at you.

Basically looking at getting 6kW system with a possibility of inverter battery ready. While I say that I am thinking if that is the recommendation of this group.

At some point, I was thinking if I should just go for normal (non-battery) provisioned invertor. Future may be something else

Here is the Costing

Company 1

5.175 kW Q-Cell & Solar Edge System
15 x 345w Q-Cell Q.Plus Solar Modules
15 x Solar Edge P370 Optimizers
1 x Solar Edge HD Wave Inverter

Price $6k plus

Company 2
6kW Seraphim 270w & SolaX X1 5kW Hybrid
No Battery system

Price $4500

finance plan, 7%, no deposit around $20 per week is available.

All the company have checked in some way roots to PRC, the cost goes high if I choose LG or something else. I am not against PRC so that is ruled out in my evaluation.

Please guide and comment on what are your views, future battery supported or no battery.

Thanks for your time.

G

Why solar. I Work from home and thinking of using more electric heating and cooling and saving some $$. Also making some contribution to the clean green environment.

Home & Garden Solar Battery Ready

Comments

  • AlienC on 31/07/2018 - 15:58
    +4

    The prices look ok just make sure to research your company and check their reviews.

    Eurosolar for example is a famous bad one that have been known to be hit with heavy fines for cheating the system via solar rebates and are also now insolvent. They have phoenixed or basically reopened and setup shop as some other companies now I forget their name but if you are in western sydney beware.

    Here is a good simple resource I used for getting solar information and reviews.

    https://www.solarquotes.com.au/solar101.html

    The owner/help support is very helpful too feel free to ask them any of your questions and they can tell you how good of a price and bargain you are getting also Company/Installer information and recommendations.

    As an example in my case study I was offered 24 x 275 watt Seraphim Panels totalling 6.6kw and a 5kw Solis Inverter with wifi monitor but no optimizers or micro inverters and not battery ready so no battery for $3199 as part of financial end of year sale deal end of last month June to early July.. housemates have deposited $300 foolishly.. we will see if we can get that back or not or what will happen so yeah that is one bad real life case scenario you can use to avoid.

    I advise to double check your company and quotes also with https://forums.whirlpool.net.au/forum/143?g=371 - Green Tech Whirlpool Forums where you will get vastly superior knowledge and recommendations on anything ranging from solar to nbn help to electrical stuff or whatever they know and have it all.

    But yeah definitely look up reviews of whatever company you go with and research your quotes.

    There is even a hierarchy of panels and inverter brands on that solar quotes page I linked which is very helpful in determining what you need and get etc but you seem to be already knowledgeable on premium LG panels so you are on the right path I believe so.

    Also consider the direction of the panels as the direction it faces can affect what time of day production will be at max and at min and so forth.. as a general guide I think west facing panels generate more towards the end of the day and east facing panels generate more towards the start of the day or something like that but research that page I linked you and you should be ok.

    • gautamp on 31/07/2018 - 16:23

      thanks, Boss. You are gem

  • Archi on 31/07/2018 - 16:07
    +1

    I've recently installed a 5KWh solaredge inverter and jinko panels with optimisers.
    if you get solar edge make sure they give you the wifi module so that you can monitor the production on an app and see it graph format.

    for the month of july I'm averaging 12KWh per day I've only had the system since april.
    April - 400KWh
    May - 300KWh
    June - 225KWh
    July - 310KWh

    300KWh for this month. @$0.095 per KWh tarrif that's just under $30. but I run the pool pump during the day which uses about 1/3 that is produced so really I'm saving about $100 bucks a month.

    theoretically I should be able to produce somewhere between 5000KWh - 5500KWh per year. if i only sold it back to the energy company and not used any of it during the day that's $500. I paid 5K for my system it'll taKe 10+ years to pay back. lucky most of it gets used during the day… washing on timer, dishwasher on timer, pool pump on timer and charging of tools and phones and tablets all during the day

    if I used all 5500KWh.. then the pay back period goes down to 3 and a bit years @$0.29 per KWh. but that's impossible

    • gautamp on 31/07/2018 - 16:27

      thanks Archi, Liked your analysis. My goals are also to use everything in the day. Not looking for the grid benefits since that's not worth it. For 5k you spent (5KWh solaredge inverter and jinko panels with optimisers). Can you please share your company. If not here then private message if possible.

      Thanks,
      G

      • Archi on 31/07/2018 - 16:34
        +1

        captain green solar,

        they weren't the cheapest but had good reviews, but then I got a dud installer which I had no control over apart from complaining to the company.

        some of the companies just subcontract out the installation. so my advise would be find a company that also installs them selves, there is that little bit more of accountability. put it this way I initiated the install at the beginning December 2017.. it should have only taken 6-8 weeks. but the installer kept on delaying and giving stupid excuses and the system didn't get finished till april. I missed out on the best production period

    • gautamp on 31/07/2018 - 16:36

      Also, your install (5KWh solaredge inverter and jinko panels with optimisers) is not battery ready correct?

      I was told that after I put down the deposit it will take some checks by some registered people before approval. Is this true or just some sales technique to show we have strict compliance and process.

      Thanks for your comments.

      g

      • Archi on 31/07/2018 - 16:43
        +1

        no there is some forms to fill out and checks they need to do for solar rebates which they collect on your behalf.
        from start to finish should only take 6- 8 weeks
        most system are battery ready, the solar edge ones are anyway.

        I wont be thinking about battery till I get paid back for this system which is about 5 years,

        because… I had to get a level 2 electrician to modify my switch board (that's $1200) because I had no room to fit the new digital net meters. and ausgrid doesn't look after that nor does your solar installer.

        you get the system installed
        then contact ausgrid to update your meters (which is free if you don't already have them)
        but if any extra work is required then its out of your pocket. installer for the system only installs the breaker into switchboard and connects the wires to the switchboard. they don't worry about meters.

        • gautamp on 31/07/2018 - 16:51

          Great insight, so i have to first find if my meter is 'new digital net meters'. I am in a new estate in West Melbourne, do you think it will have one. Will check on that point. Thanks.

        • Archi on 31/07/2018 - 16:58
          +1

          @gautamp:
          Wont need to check your installer will tell you whether you need to or not as they will need to inspect in order to start working…
          besides only the Ausgrid or whoever the equivalent people are in Victoria can tell you whether you have room on the board or not for the new meters,
          just google the images and compare you'll know pretty easy, or just ring and ask the energy supplier.

        • Archi on 31/07/2018 - 17:03
          +2

          @gautamp:
          you need to work out whether it is worth your while to get solar.

          if you work all day and never home during daylight hours, then most likely not worth that much. your better off getting on energy plans that have a time of use tarrifs.

          I have a huge 5 bedroom house and swimming pool, 2 kids and 2 grandparents that are home all day. they use a lot of energy. so it was worth our while.

        • gautamp on 01/08/2018 - 11:04

          @Archi: Thanks for all the replies and comments. Yes, I have been deferring this for a while since I was out the whole day. But plans changed and now I can work from home for most days and planning to use more electric appliances during the day and skip Gas. It's making me poorer every time I see that heater ON:-(. Work hard and then let the gas bill suck it from me :-)

          Thanks All
          G

    • [Deactivated] on 04/08/2018 - 09:28

      Hey Archi, Are your monthly figures total or excess electricity produced?

      • Archi on 05/08/2018 - 08:51

        Monthly produced…

        I have 15x 275 watt panels and a 5KW inverter

        • [Deactivated] on 05/08/2018 - 18:43

          I looked at optimisers when I was researching which system to go with and they looked pretty good, however, they needed to be installed in a specific order that didn't suit my roof/panel layout, so I went with micro-inverters. I just received my first full month figures for energy produced (July). We are both in Sydney and I know there are other factors to take into account but you have 4.125kw of panels and produced 310kWh.
          I have 7.8kw of panels and produced 931kWh. Something seems amiss.

        • Archi on 05/08/2018 - 23:12

          @PhilThis:

          I have a big tree on the eastern eastern side of my panels that belong to the council in front of the neighbours house. I had been requested council to maintain and trim, Which they didn't really do a good I'd a job..
          so im just going to trim it my self at the end of winter when my neighbour has time.

          my panels are installed close to flat and not on an angle like they are suppose to be. Because my roof layout and condition. The solar company that installed says I have about 5 to 10% loss of efficiency being installed flat. I had also a shit installer, Which the solar company
          gave me monetary compensation as a discount off the original price quoted for the system. 25%off

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