Is Solar Installation Worth It with $0 Feed in Tariff?

• 

  cashless on 02/10/2023 - 20:10

  +2

  Yes, but only if you harvest the additional power generated for yourself. So, use the power up yourself by running all high usage during the day (useful for houses with pool pumps etc).
  Or get a battery

  • 

    SBOB on 02/10/2023 - 20:12

    +4

    Or get a battery

    Likely just result in an even worse roi if the maths are done unfortunately.

    • 

      TEER3X on 02/10/2023 - 20:20

      +1

      Agree, this may be an option down the road if it makes economic sense, but currently it does not.

• 

  SBOB on 02/10/2023 - 20:10

  +2

  We don't really use much electricity during the day on weekdays,

  Only you can work out the ROI on the investment based on your own usage.

  If you don't use much elec during the day and cant load shift high power devices like hot water, washing etc to 'sun' hours, then it's unlikely to be a good ROI calc

  With regards to an elec car, would also depend how often you would be able to charge it at home during the same 'sun' hours.

  Do the maths, though the switchboard upgrade may likely be a requirement come elec vehicle so perhaps weigh that cost up with that in mind.

  Also, with low elec usage and a long ROI you'd want to make sure you're buying decent gear with a decent installer around to warrant it for the long term.

• 

  AustriaBargain on 02/10/2023 - 20:25

  Treat yourself to some climate control.

• 

  silverstone2023 on 02/10/2023 - 20:53

  +1

  Isn’t Ausnet the distributor? You would need to speak to a retailer, eg Energy Australia, Origin, etc to check what FIT they offer on their solar plans.

  • 

    TEER3X on 02/10/2023 - 21:37

    Correct, sorry I meant distributor.

• 

  thefreelunch on 02/10/2023 - 20:55

  +1

  It would be hard on a short-term financial basis, but maybe medium to long term if your house doesn't use gas, you get an EV, or you have some similar big electric appliances. I wouldn't underestimate the impact of a zero feed in tariff though. Even small feed-in tariffs add up as it’s very difficult to use all that you generate.

  Here’s some real-world numbers for our 6.6kW panels, 5kW inverter from last month.
  Our house is fully electric, WFH, switched maximum use to sunlight hours (washing, dishwasher, hot water heating, ducted air con).
  Even so, of the apx 900kWh generated, we only consumed about 390kWh to power the house (or 41% of generated power) in Sep.
  On our current plan, and combined with a small 6c feed in tariff, I estimate solar saved us about $125-$150 for the month.
  The weather was mild so we weren’t running the air conditioning – savings will go up a lot in summer when it’s running most days (and obviously down in winter).

  • 

    TEER3X on 02/10/2023 - 21:42

    Unfortunately have gas oven, gas hot water and gas ducted heating. AC is evaporative.

    If I can save about $60/m (or more) it is worth it to me.

  • 

    VQLD on 10/10/2023 - 14:41

    What is you bill before solar and after solar? over few months.
    maybe add 40% to the previous bills to adjust them to the current rates.
    This would give a better idea how much solar can save.

  • 

    mitmiu on 09/11/2023 - 21:39

    how much your electricity bills this month? or on average? I have solar too, but gas heating gas cook and gas water. I saved meagerly like $10 per month on average .It's more like get a free system after 5 years

• 

  jjjaar on 02/10/2023 - 21:12

  If you can shift your usage to daytime (especially things like dishwasher, washing machine and dryer) and have an electric hot water system, then you will definitely see reduced bills even with no FIT.

  • 

    TEER3X on 02/10/2023 - 21:39

    Gas water heater, but looks old, so will replace that with electric when the time comes.

    I can run most things in the morning or afternoon when I'm home but don't think any of my things have a delayed / timed start.

• 

  star-ggg on 02/10/2023 - 22:39

  +2

  Dosen't sound like it. I would wait until you go fully electric. Solar panels are still steadily getting better every year (more kW per panel) same with battery tech and cost. It's worth waiting if you have no use for it now.

• 

  netjock on 02/10/2023 - 23:32

  Try https://www.ausnetservices.com.au/solar/solar-application to see if it is indeed zero feed in?

• 

  AngoraFish on 02/10/2023 - 23:44

  -1

  6.6 KwH is well over-speced for your usage profile. You can probably drop 4 solar panels, break a 4.5KwH system, still comfortably cover your household use, and save $1.5K in the process meaning that you get the system much closer to free.

  My 4.5KwH system completely covers my household useage when the sun is out, including with the aircon on full and a couple of people working from home during the day (instant gas hot water and cooking).

  A discounted solar panel you don't use is not a discount, it's a cost, particularly with 0c feed in tariff, but practically speaking even if you were getting the default 4.9c / KwH feed-in it's pretty negligible in the scheme of things - maybe an average extra saving of $10 a month total if you're lucky.

• 

  kaleidoscope on 04/10/2023 - 00:09

  I use a 6.6kW system and for me, about half my usage comes through solar. These are my rough numbers for past 10 months. Hope this helps

  Generated Solar kWh - 7600 (760kWh/mo)
  Consumed Solar kWh - 3200 (320kWh/mo)
  Feed in Solar kWh - 4400 (440kWh/mo)

  Solar loan cost - $47/mo (for 4 years)
  Consumed kWh cost - 320 * 0.23 = $73.6/mo (@ 23 c/kWh) (this is what I would have paid otherwise to retailer if it wasn't for solar)
  FIT - 440 * 0.054 = $23.8/mo (@5.4 c/kWh)

  • 

    VQLD on 10/10/2023 - 14:25

    Solar tariffs (with FIT) usually have higher rates and higher service fee.
    So, would be interesting to compare your previous bills $$ and what you pay now. Over 10 months this would give an idea when solar will be payed off..
    Especially, having HWS on CL tariff before and paying full price for HWS on cloudy day now when there is not enough solar power and you importing from the grid.
    Ta.