Has anybody else installed a Solar PV home system? I'd be interested in experiences. I just purchased a 2kW system, so I'll keep you posted of how it goes.

We decided to install based largely on the projected price of electricity. The return on investment should be around 2-3 years based on that, allowing for REC's.  If we're away for a month or two, which we're planning to do, the unused electricity will be fed back into the grid, so theoretically we should get a credit for that period.

Yeah, I've heard about that kind of material. The downside is that although it looks good, if you have any in the shade, or not at the optimum angle to the sun, you stand to lose a great deal of efficiency.

I was looking at steered concentrator technology, but the waiting time was too long. They are only interested in major developments.

I think heat pumps and direct solar airconditioning will eventually come to the fore in Australia as it has in Europe. Solar airconditioning systems, such as the Astech design show a lot of promise. It's very inefficient to convert solar energy to electricity then use that electricity to power air conditioners.

http://www.buildup.eu/cases/9552

gizmo_2655 wrote on Sep 29^th, 2010 at 2:48pm:


I don't doubt that it's a good idea, but as with anything else, introduce it to Australia and you'll be paying roughly 2.5 times the price that they are in the US. At work, I've started buying a lot of things direct from the States, and it saves a fortune.

As a side note - you'd never achieve 35% with standard Solar panels. You can barely achieve 35% with triple junction cells and concentrators (lenses that focus the sun's light on to the cells).

Solar PV/thermal hybrids, such as the ones made by a company in Israel claim 75% efficiency (PV and Thermal combined).

   

Cost savings with feed-in tariff was $2500 per year based on the current price per unit.

If you can get a cost saving of $2,500 on a 2kwh system, you are doing very well.
I have had a 1.5kwh system installed one year ago and it has produced some 1120kw which equals to about $600.00 saving.

I'm getting a 1.5KW system. The 2yr interest free deal with Origin. It should be installed by December, but I'm hoping for a bit sooner.

I also opted for the 66 cents per kw/h feed in price, which I understand is a minimum for 15 yrs. In that case, I wouldn't expect any more, but it would've paid for itself a few times over in 15yrs.
I'm hoping that I will only be paying slightly more than my usual electricity bill whilst it is being payed off, by my estimation.
Being that I'm far more confident in my own theory vs. practise estimations than anybody else's, I think that the solar deals that are around these days should be snapped up, even though there are more efficient panels on the way.

Whatever we say about wanting to do what is right for the environment, the bottom line is always price.

One thing to be very careful of when evaluating the ROI on a solar system is the assumption used for number of hours of daily sunlight.  I saw one recently where they used 7 hours of daily sunlight to bump up the ROI; when being realistic one should only count on ~4hrs/day to take into consideration inclement conditions and the efficiency of the panel.

The only thing that is preventing me from installing a system myself is a massive palm tree in the way of our north facing roof space; the Mrs values the palm tree more.  Now where did I put that round-up.

Interesting. Maybe the calculator I used was a bit optimistic. Of course the price of a grid kWhr has gone up, and with a higher rated system there would possibly be more feed-in tariff above the usage threshold. The cost saving without feed in tariff included was around $1200.

We had very little sunshine during the winter, therefore the output from solar was rather poor.
I installed 8panels and the Salesperson quoted 6Kwh average per day but so far the output was 4Kwh so to recover my investment it will probably take more like 6 years.
I have asked some technical questions but have not been able to get answers; like, is there any difference in feed-in power when power is being used, and if the line voltage raises above 240volts, is the feed-in reduced.
Apparently the best results are when the temperature is about 25degrees.
I,am surprised that Germany has so much solar power, when their sunny days are a lot fewer.

A few weeks back I had 3 quotes from solar power installers, ranging in price (after all the rebates etc.) from $12000 for a 2.52 kWh system to  $4700 for 1.6 kWh.  Looking at my current power bills and the costs of these systems I estimated it would take between 2 and 5 years to recoup my expenses.

I decided not to go ahead as I think the price of these systems will only come down. I thought I detected an air of desperation to get me signed up before the rebates ended. Also, I have a large tree
in my yard which I was told would reduce the effectiveness of the system by an estimated 40%. Ironically the local councils green policy will not allow it to be removed.