Recommendation for Solar Panels

• 

  lgacb08 on 23/06/2022 - 20:40

  +2

  kW, not kWh. kWh is unit of energy, not power output.
  You need to check if you have 3 phase power, if you don't then check with local distribution if they have any limit on system larger than 6.6kw on single phase. Your roof is an interesting case with steep roof angle, if you can spread it out to other direction (west or east) then it'll be better over long term.

  • 

    Mahakaal on 23/06/2022 - 20:41

    +1

    It’s 3 phase

• 

  SBOB on 23/06/2022 - 21:56

  Is that 45 degrees with the roof facing east?
  If so, Hope you can front load your energy usage to pre midday.

• 

  baxter on 24/06/2022 - 00:28

  I suggest you have a look in the Whirlpool forums if you want some good feedback on your system. Certainly need to post a better photo which actually shows which direction the various faces of your roof actually are. As mentioned above with a large system a combination of panels facing different directions can actually work really well if you're able to use the power produced at different times of the day. With so much surplus energy being created you may actually get good value from a battery, even at current battery prices, especially given that you'd be able to use that power later in the day - super useful for heating and cooling into the evening. And these days the general advice is to put as many panels as possible on your roof as they are so cheap compared to their pay off. I believe it's even possible to oversize your system and simply have the inverter output limited if need be to 10kWs depending on what you're allowed to do by your retailer. What $$ is your quote for?

• 

  Mahakaal on 24/06/2022 - 07:39

  Thank you very much

• 

  inYourdream on 24/06/2022 - 08:25

  First thing you need to look up is the installer, make sure you choose the one that been in the industry for like more than 5 years.
  Then the next step is to choose which brand of panels and inverter you want,
  I personally go with mid range panels which is Longi and the inverter is Fronius.
  Also the best side to put your panels are in the north side as you will get sun in the early morning and also plenty of energy during summer
  Good luck

  • 

    Mahakaal on 24/06/2022 - 08:40

    Thanks

• 

  Quantumcat on 24/06/2022 - 08:36

  I used ECG Electrical as my installer, they were fantastic. They keep an eye on all their installs years afterwards through Fronius monitoring. When there was a hail storm they rocked up to repair one of their customer's panels before they even knew anything was wrong.

  Contact them and ask them to give you a range of quotes with different equipment

• 

  Mahakaal on 24/06/2022 - 08:40

  Thanks

• 

  klonky on 24/06/2022 - 09:22

  +1

  I too used ECG and they were great. Id advise to get them to advise you on the system you need. They will look at your electricity bills, size of house etc and give you the most optimal system. Unless you are 3 phase and able to export alot to the grid or have a battery storage or you use a HEAP of electricity during the day, 13.2kW might be overkill.

• 

  netjock on 24/06/2022 - 09:44

  Flat roof. Needs to be mounted on tilt frames facing north. I assume left side is the highest and unobstructed roof.

  Growatt would most likely be string inverter. If there is any shading you might want to get individual optimisers onto each panel (enphase)

  Have you got to Solar Quotes to get 3 quotes to compare?

• 

  Youfah Mizzum on 24/06/2022 - 10:12

  +1

  OP you might wanna check your directions/aspect.

  Last I knew, east is to the right side when north is up.

  But yeah, go to solarquotes dot com dot au and request quotes.

• 

  Treepod on 24/06/2022 - 13:05

  +1

  Check out Solar Quotes to look for installers in your area. You can also read up on reputable brands for panels and inverters. It's good to educate yourself a bit about solar first so you have an idea of what your installers are talking about and of they're using gift products.

• 

  Wooooooo1 on 24/06/2022 - 16:25

  +1

  I've recently been researching solar and this is what I have picked up to date:
  - 13.2kw panels and 10kw inverter seems to be the limit for 3 phase if you want to feed in as most electricity companies limit feed in to inverters 10kw or less (This is in Qld, so Canberra may be different)
  - There's a matrix of price vs quality for both inverters and panels on this link, which makes it easier to understand what you're getting https://www.solarquotes.com.au/solar101.html
  - Most string inverters have 2 MPPT, which allows you to have panels facing 2 orientations if connected in series. You can sometimes have 3 orientations if connecting 2 orientations in parallel to one MPPT and the 3rd orientation to one MPPT. However most were suggesting to connect in parallel you needed to have the same number of panels facing each orientation.
  - While north is the most optimal direction, if most of your usage is in the evenings, it may be worth splitting some of your panels to face west to gain more evening production.
  - Traditionally string inverters were more impacted by shading, so if partial shading occurred on one panel it would knock out production on all remaining panels on that string. However with more modern half cut panels with bypass diodes this was reducing this impact. Systems like Enphase have microprocessors on each panel so they operate independently rather than relying on a central inverter, so may be beneficial if heavy shading
  - If the roof slope is only 5 degrees, there's a risk that there's not enough slope for the rain to clean the panels, so more frequent cleaning may be required, or tilt frames installed however this may not look aesthetically pleasing.
  I ended up going for an entry level system with 10kw Solis inverter and 13.2kw Jinko panels on the basis that the inverter still had a 10 year warranty and the inverter would probably need to be changed in 10 years time to accommodate battery technology, so for me it wasn't worth paying extra for the top end inverter. Those 2 brands were also listed on the Solarquotes matrix as recommended brands
  Hope that helps