Thanks for the responses, I’ll check out the NIWA solar tool.

Hi guys, I've recently installed a solar system at home (Sigenergy), I've dug into a bit and uncovered some software problems/issues. With the increase in solar interest in New Zealand in recent times, it seems to me that it would be worthwhile setting up a dedicated solar forum inside Geekzone. Whirlpool in Australia has one and it's getting a lot of usage. Of course Australia is way ahead of New Zealand in terms of solar usage and penetration. That would give us a place to talk about particular systems and the issues that we found in using them. What do you reckon? 

Just noticed a FB post from Simeon Brown noting they are looking into a law change to allow plug-in Solar in NZ, sounds like a good idea

DjShadow:

 

Just noticed a FB post from Simeon Brown noting they are looking into a law change to allow plug-in Solar in NZ, sounds like a good idea

 

Not holding my breath on this one. Europe has very low limits because they have houses with tiny supplies in many cases, hope that its not crippled so badly here and that we can legally plug in a decent amount and not have to worry about them seeing too much export if we get more than that.

Seasport:

 

Hi guys, I've recently installed a solar system at home (Sigenergy), I've dug into a bit and uncovered some software problems/issues. With the increase in solar interest in New Zealand in recent times, it seems to me that it would be worthwhile setting up a dedicated solar forum inside Geekzone. Whirlpool in Australia has one and it's getting a lot of usage. Of course Australia is way ahead of New Zealand in terms of solar usage and penetration. That would give us a place to talk about particular systems and the issues that we found in using them. What do you reckon? 

 

i suspect the answer will be there just isnt enough threads on it at present to create another dedicated forum for it

Seasport:

 

Hi guys, I've recently installed a solar system at home (Sigenergy), I've dug into a bit and uncovered some software problems/issues. With the increase in solar interest in New Zealand in recent times, it seems to me that it would be worthwhile setting up a dedicated solar forum inside Geekzone. Whirlpool in Australia has one and it's getting a lot of usage. Of course Australia is way ahead of New Zealand in terms of solar usage and penetration. That would give us a place to talk about particular systems and the issues that we found in using them. What do you reckon? 

 

There is a NZ SigEnergy Facebook group, are you part of that?

https://www.facebook.com/share/g/14iwrEXjvhE/

Yes. And I'm also on the Australian Sigenergy Facebook groups because there is a lot more activity, because they have so much more solar than we do in NZ. But I'm sure we're going to see very solid growth in Solar in New Zealand now that the politicians (and public) are waking up to the favourable business case due to the decreasing cost of solar hardware and the relentlessly increasing energy costs, caused largely by a dysfunctional market. 

Oops. I just realised that I'm not a member of the New Zealand group so I've just joined. I've got a few insights into the network behaviour of the Sigenergy gear which I think can be improved. 

Sunshine Solar installed my system, but I would never recommend them to anyone.

Even in Christchurch they use subcontractors, inspite of what we were told, so quality of installation could differ.

The hardware performs well when it does go, but that's where the good finished for me.

No response to emails trying to get the installation issues resolved.

I see that they are advertising for staff in Christchurch at the moment. Two vacancies are for "technical leads" and they are also looking for a roofer, so guess they have been using contractors up till now.

Our install got signed off yesterday making an whole 0.1kw today in this horrid weather. We used Aotea here in Dunedin, overall they were excellent. 

Have turned on the Sigen AI mode with the plan to move to move master. Even though we are not on it yet Ive put the rates in to see if the battery will get us through peaks, which it looks like it should.

k1w1k1d:

 

I see that they are advertising for staff in Christchurch at the moment. Two vacancies are for "technical leads" and they are also looking for a roofer, so guess they have been using contractors up till now.

 

part of the sales pitch was that unlike to competition, they didn't use contractors, but also recently heard that a lot of staff had left.

The article about some proposed subsidy for plugin systems for renters says that they would be $1500 which the $3000 subsidy would cover. $1500 for 2 panels and an inverter seems wildly excessive considering I got 2 panels from trade depot for about $160 each delivered and a grid tie inverter is available for a couple of hundy. 

This article is worth discussion. Quite a few missed details and inaccurate prices quoted but generally advising self-consumption over export is to be commended.

HarmLessSolutions:

 

This article is worth discussion. Quite a few missed details and inaccurate prices quoted but generally advising self-consumption over export is to be commended.

 

Thanks for the article link, i also ended up reading https://solarscout.co.nz/solar-guides/solar-panel-costs-nz/ on their website and i have a question for those who can possible shed some light. I am currently getting quotes for a solar install for our new house build. I see in the article it mentions $1.7-$2.0 per watt being the sweet spot for Solar only. 

What is a good sweet spot for $ per watt for a system including batteries? 

For more info, my quotes so far are for:

~9kWh panels
6kWh inverter
8kWh battery
No Gateway

mokoshakalaka

 

Thanks for the article link, i also ended up reading https://solarscout.co.nz/solar-guides/solar-panel-costs-nz/ on their website and i have a question for those who can possible shed some light. I am currently getting quotes for a solar install for our new house build. I see in the article it mentions $1.7-$2.0 per watt being the sweet spot for Solar only.

 

That's a suggested price range based on a 6.6kW system. Smaller systems would normally cost more per W, and larger system should cost less.

EDIT: To add that their calculations look off to me. The say a 6.6kW system costs $13000-$15000, which equates to $1.97-$2.27 per W. They then say to use $1.70-$2.00 per W as a price guide, so what size system are they actually basing this on? You can't give a price guideline independent of system size, unless I'm missing something.