Has anyone here had solar panels fitted for renewable energy and can recommend a reputable company for WA? Have seen sum good deals floating around $1750 fitted + inverter but im not comfortable with sum of these dealers asking for a big deposit upfront, waiting up to 6mths to have ur panels fitted & cheap panels coming from China should they require a warranty claim down the track.
Solar panels in WA
LMoj0 on 02/03/2011 - 17:44
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Ive had a read thru WP, not all 76 pages tho. After reading thru a few pages, was hoping sum users here can narrow it down for me
I would post the same question on WP.. that's where I started and found the most support.
The market is saturated with players all trying to cash in on the govt RECs.
Here are some tips :
- Almost all panels now days are from China
- Stick with brand name panels like ET Solar, Sharp, Suntech, etc.
- Stick with brand name inverters like SunnyBoy, Aurora, Xantrex and you can't go wrong
- Make sure whoever you get to do the install does a proper site assessment before you give them any money, this should include determining the best roof face,taking into account obstacles and shading issues, a written power generation estimate for their planned installation, and an estimate on your $ savings & payback time taking into account your current power usage.
- WA operate a net feed in tariff, this means you only get paid for the excess energy exported to the grid AFTER what you house has used.
- WA pay 47c per kW exported, so the idea is to maximise export during the day to offset the cheaper power you use during the night. If you are not able to export then your payback period will be longer.
- A typical payback period for $3000 1.5kW system, generating on average 6kW per day, and exporting 4kW is about 4-5 years, it is only after this time that you are actually generating 'free power'
Expect to pay about $3k for a decent 1.5kW system, and about $8-10k for a decent 3kW system. Stay clear of BBE, Modern, Nu-Energy & Origin, all sell crap and Modern even charge 5x more then everyone else.
Good luck :)
What's wrong with Origin? We got Sharp panels and they work fine..
So do I, including a Sharp inverter and they are great, in fact Origin was one of the best 1.5kW deals for $3k, and interest free terms over 2 years is great.
That was then.
Now they are selling junk yum-cha / lucky dragon inverters and have a wide range of panels of which you have no control with regards to what you get. Admittedly the panels are not that bad on paper, but the inverters are junk.
Also my first installation was botched by Origin because the placed the inverter on the north facing wall, exposed to the sun. That is bad, and not something I realised until posting on WP. They finally came back and mounted in out of the sun but it took 6 weeks of annoying them.
They didn't do a site inspection, didn't give me any performance estimates, and even asked ME where to put the panels, when that should be part of their system design.
Small losses here and there end up stealing a lot of power over time, things like using 2.5mm cable from the inverter to the meter-box can cause cause losses greater than 1% over long runs, this may not seem like much, but that is the maximum most inverters will tolerate. Origin uses 2.5mm where the CEC stipulates 4mm is the minimum.
These are the kind of differences between a good install and a production line mass install, the Origin system will work fine perhaps not to it's full potential.
If you are looking for a proven system on the cheap I would have a look at eco-kinetics..their ECOKES panels are OK, they have had problems with their Oelmaier inverters in the past so if you do go with them, I would recommend only going ahead if they can supply a SMA sunnyboy inverter.
Hope that helps.
Origin still do Sharp panels, but the best way to go about it is to know who the installer is and see if you can talk to them prior to the installation. I had a 1.5KW Sharp system (panels and inverter were Sharp) from Origin and installed by O'Donnell Griffin a couple months ago. Then my dad wanted a 3KW system and I had a chat with the installer and he said that with all their systems (larger than 1.5KW) they would always use Sharp panels and either an Aerosharp or Fronius inverter. He told me that the reason they're using other brands now is because it's harder to get Sharp now as stock isn't always available. So if you can organise to get the Sharp panels I think Origin still has the best deal with the competitive price and interest free periods.
If you can get Sharp gear, and have a straightforward install :
- North facing roof with enough room for 7-8 panels, with minimal or no shading issues
- Somewhere shaded to mount the inverter out of the elements, preferably the garage
- A cable run equal or less than 10m from the inverter to the meter box
Then I agree Origin would be the best option, but as thechengman pointed out it's the installer that decides what you get based on their stock.
Thx h4lcyon, the info was very handy. Been doin abit of reading. Just rang eco-kinetics since they are round the corner frm me, they are now using Tianwei panels. Do u know if they are any good?
Inverters used are now SMA sunny boy. Im currently looking at their 1.5kW coz my avg. daily power consumption is pretty low at 4.6 units/day. So should be able to sell approx 2 units back to the grid daily.
I don't have any experience personally, but reading the Eco-Kinetics thread on WP it seems people are asking the same question about the panels.
This guy reckons they are alright.
why do people do this if the "payback" time is 4-5 years?
why do people do this if the “payback” time is 4-5 years?
Because that is an excellent return on investment.
The rental property market returns what… 5 to 6% per annum
Your savings account with the local bank returns what… Nothing
A 6 year simple payback is a 16.66% return on investment per annum.
There is almost NOWHERE you can invest money with that kind of return. You can borrow it at 10-12%, get almost 17% back, and thus you are still earning 5% for absolutely nothing.
Does that help you understand?
You could borrow for less if you are in a position to re-draw from your home loan, and then use the income towards repaying that money back.
This is why some people have forked out $40k for 10kW systems, the payback period works out to be roughly the same, but after that period the income is even greater.
I thought the payback period is simply that you've saved the money that you had to outlay upfront.
You don't really actually gain anything (aside from slight increase in house value) until after the 4-5 year period. The savings after this time assume:
- you don't have any maintenance or service costs
- they don't change the feed in tariff rebateAgreed regarding service and maintenance costs, panels normally have a 10yr warranty & 25 year performance guarantee. Inverters are between 5 - 15 years.
If after 5 years you inverter fails, the cost for replacement will be significantly less than today.
Even if you used all the power generated from you solar panels and are not able to export to the grid, you are still saving the cost of purchasing that power from the grid.
Because after that it's free power (and money).
For example a 1.5kW system gives us a $50 credit each quarter for our power, rather than a $250 bill. Now that we have a 3kW system , this has increased to $250 credit per quarter.
Any credit over $50 can be cashed in via cheque + this money is tax free income :)
Actually is it really 4-5 years payback?
I mean I crunched the numbers based on the selling to grid and buying from grid ratio.
It seems like my 3kW system can take up to 8 years for payback.
Unless I am calculating something wrong.The marketer said that in average the 'day' time solar is 9 units and usually can sell at least 2 units back into the grid. Is that the case?
Anyone has experience with 'Solar or Cozy' company? Are they trust worthy?
It depends on a number of factors as to what your average generation per day is :
- Roof pitch
- The direction the panels are facing (North is optimum)
- Shading issues, even things like shade from an antenna or toilet stink pipe can knock out a decent amount of generation
- And other things mentioned above
The CEC lists the average as 13.2kWh per day for Perth, apart from Alice springs Perth & Darwin the best places for solar power generation. More info @ the CEC site
The number of kWh you are able to export to the grid depends entirely on how much electricity you use during the day, unless you've provided them (the marketers) with some information they are just guessing.
Read your meter(s) in the morning, preferable as the sun is coming up or just before, and then again at night as the sun is setting, do this for a week or two to work out your day time, and night time usage.
From this you can work out your projected export, and payback, the less power you use during the day the shorter the payback period.
This is where the net feed in tariff provides financial incentive for people to look at their power usage, and make changes to maximise return.
EDIT : I should add, good operators would ask you all these questions + more, do a site inspection, then give you an estimated generation and savings graph.
Then is there any reliable company you recommend or heard positive reviews from?
There is a Perth Installations thread on WP.. you could start 10 pages back from the current one, and you should have a fairly good idea.
If anyone in Brisbane is looking to have solar installed, I recently received an email from this buying group that uses quality parts, does all their due diligence with respect to site inspections, and have decent pricing.
I'm not affiliated with them, I just support organisations with moral decency, and this is one.
I would start at WP