0kw solar export in the Wyndham council area

Lcharmed_tiger6 on 16/08/2020 - 21:05

Hi all,

I'm looking at getting solar installed at my property but Powercor has come back and said we won't be allowed to export excess power back to the grid. To go ahead with the installation, we now have to pay $550 more for a smart meter/limiter and hope that we'll be allowed to export later on…
Just wondering, how many others in the Wyndham council area have had this happen and how long did it take for you to be allowed to export? Or, are you still waiting and if so, how long has it been?

Thanks :)

Home & Garden

Comments

  • serpserpserp on 16/08/2020 - 21:41

    Wow didn't realize that this was Council area dependent? Or is it just Powercor?

    • netjock on 16/08/2020 - 21:46

      Think it would be Powercor. It would be depending on grid capacity. I thought that 5Kw of feed in per phase was almost guaranteed

      Powecor basically runs the network for western Victoria and it won't apply to all areas.

    • charmed_tiger6 on 16/08/2020 - 21:50
      +1

      I just put Wyndham to try and get responses from nearby people.
      5kw is what was applied for and Powercor came back with 0kw.

  • 0FoxGiven on 16/08/2020 - 22:03
    +2

    I have a few friends in the Wyndham Area who recently had a PV system installed. They were also not allowed solar export.

    Two other friends who lived close to the friends mentioned previously were allowed solar export. The solar installer said it could be because both sets of people were getting their power from different transformers and one of them is maxed out for solar export.

    • charmed_tiger6 on 17/08/2020 - 13:19

      Do you know if the friends that weren't allowed have been given any information on when they might be allowed? The solar installer is telling us that it might become available soon but they are probably saying that because they want a sale still… That's why it would be interesting to know if others in the same area have managed to go from 0kw export to some sort of export and how long it took.

      • 0FoxGiven on 17/08/2020 - 13:27

        The installer didn't give them any hopes on that front. They still went ahead with the install because they could at least offset their day use and because they would still get the Victorian rebate.

        Without the VIC rebate, their ROI period would probably take 4-5 years

  • brad1-8tsi on 16/08/2020 - 22:43
    +1

    Get a battery. DC Power Co are pushing their product at the moment

    • lgacb08 on 18/08/2020 - 10:23
      +1

      No way you're gonna recoup the cost, the only place that can barely make even is SA with 50c/kwh import and a huge state government subsidy

      • brad1-8tsi on 18/08/2020 - 13:52

        Of a battery? You will recoup the cost eventually but it's about 7-8 years at the moment.

        There's no point getting rooftop solar if you can't get some money for excess power production. We export 60%-70% of the output of our 5kw system @20c/kwh despite our best efforts to use it all at home. The last time I checked our payback was <3yrs. Without that 20c/kwh it would be >double that.

        • serpserpserp on 18/08/2020 - 21:19

          What is wrong with a 6 year payback? 10 years ago that would have been solid!

        • lgacb08 on 18/08/2020 - 21:50

          not 7-8 years but more than that, more than the warranty timeframe of the battery unless you're subsidised heavily.

          • brad1-8tsi on 20/08/2020 - 10:52

            @lgacb08: Prices have come down a lot and my back of the envelope sums are pointing at 7-8 years payback on an $8k battery.

            Is that worth it if you have solar and get a reasonable FIT? Probably not.

            Is it worth it if your heart is set on solar and the local supplier won't pay a FIT - maybe. Otherwise I just wouldn't bother with a rooftop solar PV unless I had a huge quarterly power bill and minimal export.

            For us:
            In the Summer quarter total use is 300kWh and export 2000+kWh.
            Winter qtr is our worst - 650kWh total use and 650kWh exported (yes equal amounts).
            Shoulder quarters are 500kwh used and 1300kWh exported.
            5000kWh x 20c = $1000 which is a lot of money to forego so you may as well pump it into a battery or set up some indoor hydroponics.

  • MS Paint on 17/08/2020 - 01:34
    +2

    At 10 cents just use it instead of exporting. Buy a 6ft fish tank with a wave generator.

    • charmed_tiger6 on 17/08/2020 - 12:47
      +1

      I'm guessing this is referencing the 'How much kWh do you use?' post. Our average is only 8.1kwh-ish a day and no plans for dealing with a wave generated fish tank lol

      Feed-in would've been great for us due to how low our daily usage is… it sucks that we're being told that we can't AND that if we still want to go ahead we have to spend more. If only batteries were much cheaper as we'd be set with the system we're looking at.

  • Third_Gear on 17/08/2020 - 07:47

    Get a manual review done by power core. I had a similar issue and it came back all good. Your solar installer can do this.

    • charmed_tiger6 on 17/08/2020 - 12:40

      Do you have to pay for the review and did it take long when you did it?

  • JimmyF on 17/08/2020 - 08:47

    To go ahead with the installation, we now have to pay $550 more for a smart meter/limiter and hope that we'll be allowed to export later on…

    Seems the grid is deemed too 'full' in your area :(

    The $550 is for a export limiter device, you can look at different solar systems that have this built in, enphase micros for example, have a export feature as part of the package, which might be better for you if you have shading of different angled roofs.

    The other option is drop a extra $10-13k on the system and put in a Tesla Powerwall for example to suck up that extra power, give you a grid backup etc.

    • charmed_tiger6 on 17/08/2020 - 12:54

      I wish I had an extra 10-13k, a battery would be amazing for us!

      • JimmyF on 17/08/2020 - 14:40

        so you downvoted me because you're poor? Cool!

        As I said, if the power company sez no, you don't have any choice BUT a battery

        • charmed_tiger6 on 17/08/2020 - 16:04
          +1

          I didn't down vote you. I'm not sure who did

        • lgacb08 on 18/08/2020 - 10:26

          Of course you'll get a downvote because all your suggestions pointed to way more expensive solutions, but why do you care about it anyway, get a life or get smarter with your response.

          • JimmyF on 18/08/2020 - 13:32

            @lgacb08: There isn't any way to magically remove the export limit if the grid gods said no, as I said the grid is deemed too full in the OP area.

            you'll get a downvote because all your suggestions pointed to way more expensive solutions

            hahha ozbargain people are so twisted indeed. So because the 'solution' costs money, it gets a downvote.Thats crazy logic.

            The OP choices are

            • Install solar power with 0 export, waste any excess solar power.
            • install solar power with 0 export + battery so they can 'store' excess power for reuse.
            • don't install solar power.
            • lgacb08 on 18/08/2020 - 22:04

              @JimmyF: your posts just failed the logic of financial returns, almost everyone installing solar do it just purely for financial gain and the way OP post sound he is exactly one of such, getting no FIT mean OP's timeframe for return of investment will be extended by around 4-5 year more (assuming he'll probably self-consume around 1500kwh at 25c/kwh which is very generous for someone only use 8kwh a day, so $375 per year).
              If he go ahead with an extra $550 smart meter that will be 1.5 year extra.
              If he spend $3000 extra to get microinverter that'd be 9 more year.
              Or if he spend 10k, he might be 100% sufficient, so that'd be around 3000kwh x 25c = $750 in savings a year that will take an extra 13 year, which is well beyond the warranty period of the battery.

              • JimmyF on 18/08/2020 - 22:40

                @lgacb08:

                your posts just failed the logic of financial returns

                Sorry, didn't know that was a 'requirement' here when putting forward what you can and can't do for zero export limits.

                What you might see as a 'failed' financial path, someone else might see as a self sufficient path that cost isn't such a driving force.

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