That article mentions Vector's SunGenie program, which I guess is Auckland based.
Are there any Solar installers doing a similar package elsewhere using the same design? Any idea of what such a system would cost if purchased outright? I like the idea of being able to use the PV panels when the mains power fails, and to be able to store power for use at night. But normally batteries are expensive, and tiresome to maintain.
gchiu: $8k for 1kW sounds expensive when I compare to the quote I received ( which I think was expensive ) of $11k for 3kW. I believe $10k is average for a 3kW array installed. I'm curious as to what your average power consumption is. Mine is a lot more than yours. But our house is poorly insulated being a working man's cottage from the 1920s.
Also, I believe the 25 year warranty is manufacturer's warranty so better to use a brand name.
-The initial cost seems to cover all install etc and adding extra panels/inverters seems to make it cheaperit was about another $1000 to get up to 1.5kW, so Id' guess getting up to 3kW comes in around $12000, still more than you were quoted but Im hoping theres still room for some haggling :-) Average Power consumption seems to around 20 per day up to 35 in winter, the chap from the company says he thinks this time of year we'd see a "conservative" output of 6kW per day, I think at the levels we are looking at the sell back to the grid aspect isnt relevant.
I have just had 3.12kW installed (39 days ago). I am down in ChCh but in those 39 days I have seen an average daily generation of around 7.6kWh. So I would say his 'conservative' estimate of 6kWh per day, for 1kW of panels, is extremely 'optimistic'!.
I have been told (and read somewhere as well) that you can expect generation of about 14% of your installed capacity over a year. I.e. if you have 1kW installed, then over 1 yr you can expect around 1225kWh of generation. This works out to about 3.4kWh per day on average. So at this time of year you could expect far less, and then a lot more in the summer months.
Plugging my system into these calculations yields a yearly total of 3730kWh, and a daily average of just over 10kWh. So my current average of 7.6, over 39 days of winter sun, is looking about right in terms of this formula.
SumnerBoy: I have just had 3.12kW installed (39 days ago). I am down in ChCh but in those 39 days I have seen an average daily generation of around 7.6kWh. So I would say his 'conservative' estimate of 6kWh per day, for 1kW of panels, is extremely 'optimistic'!.
I have been told (and read somewhere as well) that you can expect generation of about 14% of your installed capacity over a year. I.e. if you have 1kW installed, then over 1 yr you can expect around 1225kWh of generation. This works out to about 3.4kWh per day on average. So at this time of year you could expect far less, and then a lot more in the summer months.
Plugging my system into these calculations yields a yearly total of 3730kWh, and a daily average of just over 10kWh. So my current average of 7.6, over 39 days of winter sun, is looking about right in terms of this formula.
thanks for that @Sumnerboy Im thinking to get any real benefits we need to look at a 3kW set up, we have a great roof to accomodate it, so its just a question of if I want to have 12 panels. It seems to be somewhat risk free as a 25 year warranty seems standard and they seem to pay themselves off, but I might shop around a little before commiting to anyone.
PM me if you would like a copy of the spreadsheet I used to work out the payback period. You plug in your last years usage, the size of your intended array, and the tariffs etc. Gives a pretty good idea.
Major thing to watch out for is your panels. There are reports of piles of older panels being re - stickered & sold. Also purchasers should ensure they have confidence that the manufacturer is going to be around in 25 yrs to honour those performance warranties. As far as hybrid systems go, there are very hi tech lithium -iron battery systems available, suitable for off grid as well. Expected battery life is 20yrs, think around $45k including 5kW of panels & 11kWh of storage. I can get a Tier 1 quality grid tied system for $14k all up (5.3kW) or $11k for 4kW. PM me for details.
This made me sad as we are missing out in NZ ... 3 kW system for $3,100 (in Western Australia).
The whole text quoted...
"Reality is that I put a 3kW system on my roof a few months ago for about $3,100 (in Western Australia). I sell excess power back to the grid on days when I'm not using much, and buy from the grid when I am. My power bills have been close to zero most months, and I even had a rebate in May when I was on holiday. In the near future, I'll invest in batteries and additional panels to store enough power to run my house overnight.
There are so many of us in WA switching to rooftop solar that the local electricity utility hasn't even powered up some of the fossil fuel plants it built recently, and looks at risk of getting caught in a "death spiral" as more people transition to renewables and fewer and fewer customers remain to pay off the utility's investment."
The above is a comment at the following link... http://beta.slashdot.org/story/207119 There are many other good comments too in reply to the article (which is not so interesting).
Thats crazy cheap. The prices I saw at the homeshow were pretty insane still IMO. No chance of a payback.
I was thinking of getting enough to take a decent chunk out of my 1.2kW baseline load and possibly get some to put some heat into the hot water tank during the day, but it seems that noone has made a programmable thermostat for hotwater yet, so I can use solar power to take it up to the limit of the tank if available before feeding back to the grid but only use the grid power to take it to a minimal amount if there isnt enough solar.
richms: Thats crazy cheap. The prices I saw at the homeshow were pretty insane still IMO. No chance of a payback.
What kind of prices? I know they're much cheaper in Australia and their cost structure can't be too much different.
I was thinking of getting enough to take a decent chunk out of my 1.2kW baseline load and possibly get some to put some heat into the hot water tank during the day, but it seems that noone has made a programmable thermostat for hotwater yet, so I can use solar power to take it up to the limit of the tank if available before feeding back to the grid but only use the grid power to take it to a minimal amount if there isnt enough solar.
Did you mean something like this? http://www.enasolar.co.nz/Products/immerSUN
Without temperature sensors in the HWC I am not sure how effective that immerSUN product would be. When you have excess PV then it is fine to heat the cylinder right up to 80 degrees (or whatever is safe!). But if you have a couple of low-PV days and the system has to boost the cylinder, you only want it heating up to 55 degrees really. How does it know when the cylinder is hot enough? Unless it uses dual elements/thermostats, each set at a different cutoff?
Another option for all this is the Open Energy Monitor project (from the UK @ http://openenergymonitor.org/emon/). It is a bit more technical but you can do quite a bit once you get started. I know Porboynz is using the system, as am I.
I am very close to extending it to replace my solar hot water (evac tubes) controller with an Arduino hooked up to the OEM system. This will allow me to easily monitor my HWC temps and make decisions about whether to divert excess PV or not, and when to manually boost if required.
bfginger: What kind of prices? I know they're much cheaper in Australia and their cost structure can't be too much different.
The cost/benefit situation in OZ is a bit different, historically they have had mandated feed in tariffs (sponsered by state govts) at very high (frankly unsustainable) rates, I think most of those schemes have been closed to new installs, but there may still be some still out there,
Also Australia's use patterns ( other than in Tasmania) are very different to NZ. There is very high demand in Summer for AC, when coincidentally there is also more clear days, - using PV to balance AC load works well, (esp in the higher latitudes) the high PV generating time coincides well with high AC use..
richms: Thats crazy cheap. The prices I saw at the homeshow were pretty insane still IMO. No chance of a payback.
I was thinking of getting enough to take a decent chunk out of my 1.2kW baseline load and possibly get some to put some heat into the hot water tank during the day, but it seems that noone has made a programmable thermostat for hotwater yet, so I can use solar power to take it up to the limit of the tank if available before feeding back to the grid but only use the grid power to take it to a minimal amount if there isnt enough solar.
This is a challenge that I part solved with a 310 litre stainless HWC that has 2 x elements. The top element I have on a time clock to ensure hot water is available for morning showers and evening dishes duties etc. It heats about enough water for 2 showers, maybe 70 litres. The bottom element gets any excess solar PV power fed to it by the Open Energy Monitor project PV Router (from the UK @ http://openenergymonitor.org/emon/) This works really well considering, its like I am using my HWC as a low cost battery turning excess power into hot water. Any energy diverted into the bottom element heats the whole HWC reducing the power needed by the top element to lift the top slug of water up to a useable 55C.
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