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General => General Discussion => Topic started by: harps on November 01, 2015, 07:19:50 PM

Title: Solar at home
Post by: harps on November 01, 2015, 07:19:50 PM
Gday all

Just wondering if anybody can recommend a good solar company around brissy/Lockyer valley I have had a couple of quotes and have read some not so great things about the companies.

Cheers

Dave
Title: Re: Solar at home
Post by: KingBilly on November 01, 2015, 07:46:11 PM
Can recommend these guys http://www.positronicsolar.com (http://www.positronicsolar.com)

KB
Title: Re: Solar at home
Post by: richee on November 01, 2015, 07:54:05 PM
Just had these guys install at my place www.localpower.net.au (http://www.localpower.net.au)

Great job and every thing is working a treat.

No affiliation, just a happy customer

Richard
Title: Re: Solar at home
Post by: HotFuzz2010 on November 01, 2015, 08:38:32 PM
Try Truevalue Solar. They came down to northern NSW to do ours earlier this year.


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Title: Re: Solar at home
Post by: dales133 on November 01, 2015, 08:44:29 PM
Gday all

Just wondering if anybody can recommend a good solar company around brissy/Lockyer valley I have had a couple of quotes and have read some not so great things about the companies.

Cheers

Dave
Ive got a mate in maroochidore thst consults and supplies solar .
If your interested i can get him to contact you
Title: Re: Solar at home
Post by: prodigyrf on November 01, 2015, 08:46:42 PM
I can recommend True Value Solar after an install on my rental unit in Adelaide, 2 for the BIL (one metro and one country Mannum) and a nephew and friend in the metro area. All happy with their installs and they were doing some cracker deals and I must admit to start with I thought this could be the big volume mob and bang crash but not so as they're part of a large multinational group.

When the tenant rang  to say the solar wasn't working (nearly 5 years) and I checked it out it was the inverter and googling the model indicated it was not a reliable Chinese one and I thought here we go with the runaround with warranty. Not so and they handled it all over the phone but did advise it would take 3 weeks to fit a new one (different make) and with the isolator outside true to their word all done with no-one needing to be in attendance. I guess being a big mob you could get the odd rough subby complaint with an install but none whatsoever with that lot so you decide how they stack up on price.

Title: Re: Solar at home
Post by: jetcrew on November 01, 2015, 08:52:58 PM
Can recommend these guys http://www.positronicsolar.com (http://www.positronicsolar.com)

KB


x 2

they know thier stuff and with current FIT at 4-6c you want a company that understands panel sighting to equal household usage at different times of the day.

In short sight your panels to maximise USE and minimise EXPORT ...under the prev set up of 44c FIt you wanted that the other way round no now though.

Why sell power at 4-6c only to buy it back 28c 3 hrs later.

I have sacrificed overall production for matched production at the times I use power at home..so panels sighted for morning use and after school time ..thus meaning i am not actually buying any power.

Savings from solar are now about NOT BUYING IT from street NOT what you export/sell to the grid.

Good luck and work out if they know what they are talking about.. salesman still running the total Kwh production lines have no idea IMHO its all about matching production to useage in order to prevent you buyingh power from the street this saves you 28c ..selling it makes you 4-6c ...I'd rather not buy then sell. ;D ;D

Jet :D :D   
Title: Re: Solar at home
Post by: prodigyrf on November 01, 2015, 09:10:05 PM
Actually unreliable Chinese inverter it wasn't as I discovered on the net because the fuse had gone. Most of them use Metal Oxide Varistors (MOVs) as surge protection devices and they degrade over time and as such should be coupled with fast acting fuses. The inverter that failed was apparently fitted with a lesser quality rated fuse and blew early in its life and for about $40 a geek on one site had the good gear to get from Jaycar and how to sort it with 3 new soldered in MOVs and a specific fuse.
I never went there as TVS put in a brand new inverter under warranty but I'll bear it in mind should the new one ever go out of warranty. 
Title: Re: Solar at home
Post by: UIZ733 on November 02, 2015, 06:08:32 AM
Try Truevalue Solar. They came down to northern NSW to do ours earlier this year.


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Absolute mongrels. Our system had a lightening strike and they flatly refused to have anything to do with it. Would not even inspect the damage. In the end in desperation I contacted the Inverter manufacturer (Latronics) and they were magnificent. I sent the unit (they sent a courier) and it was returned and repaired all free of charge.

I'll say it again, True Value Solar = Mongrels. Caveat emptor.
Title: Re: Solar at home
Post by: plusnq on November 02, 2015, 07:14:15 AM
x 2

they know thier stuff and with current FIT at 4-6c you want a company that understands panel sighting to equal household usage at different times of the day.

In short sight your panels to maximise USE and minimise EXPORT ...under the prev set up of 44c FIt you wanted that the other way round no now though.

Why sell power at 4-6c only to buy it back 28c 3 hrs later.

I have sacrificed overall production for matched production at the times I use power at home..so panels sighted for morning use and after school time ..thus meaning i am not actually buying any power.

Savings from solar are now about NOT BUYING IT from street NOT what you export/sell to the grid.

Good luck and work out if they know what they are talking about.. salesman still running the total Kwh production lines have no idea IMHO its all about matching production to useage in order to prevent you buyingh power from the street this saves you 28c ..selling it makes you 4-6c ...I'd rather not buy then sell. ;D ;D

Jet :D :D   

Totally agree. The model has changed and as battery storage gets cheaper it will skew everything towards this model. I'm betting they will introduce a connected to the grid fee soon.
Title: Re: Solar at home
Post by: Fizzie on November 02, 2015, 07:31:18 AM
Another option is https://www.keen2bgreen.com.au/ (https://www.keen2bgreen.com.au/)

They put our panels in & very happy with the job & the result. Based on the Gold Coast but cover full SEQ, Northern NSW area.

Positronics mentioned above also have a good rep while TVS have the exact opposite - they apparently build to a very cheap budget so that's the result you get.
Title: Re: Solar at home
Post by: terravista on November 02, 2015, 01:29:29 PM
We probably can't name any company who we think you should NOT to use, but if you come across a company we used for our house that rhymes with Stod-arts or the company our daughter used with a name similar to Yurosola, there is no way in hell would we use recommend them.
Title: Re: Solar at home
Post by: Snapman007 on November 02, 2015, 05:36:51 PM
If you go with a big company you need to accept that some of your costs go to paying the girl that answers the phone, the salesman that comes out to quote and the office rent. Usually the salesman will have no idea what's involved with the install as that's not his job

We used a small local electrical business. The owner/operator came out to quote and did the install. No office staff involved and if I need to phone him I have his mobile number. He was $800 cheaper than any of the bigger companies on our 6kw system with Sma inverter.
Title: Re: Solar at home
Post by: harps on November 02, 2015, 09:47:32 PM
Thanks all for the advice i have contacted a couple of the recommended companies for quotes, the one i was looking was a great price but i felt they were using inferior products, i prefer to pay more and get quality then cheap out i see too often the results of using cheap chinese parts and it rarely ends well.

 Cheers

Dave
Title: Re: Solar at home
Post by: prodigyrf on November 03, 2015, 12:41:02 AM
Absolute mongrels. Our system had a lightening strike and they flatly refused to have anything to do with it. Would not even inspect the damage. In the end in desperation I contacted the Inverter manufacturer (Latronics) and they were magnificent. I sent the unit (they sent a courier) and it was returned and repaired all free of charge.

I'll say it again, True Value Solar = Mongrels. Caveat emptor.
That's disappointing from your point of view but I would have thought your household insurer was your first port of call. Had no probs with my inverter warranty but I'm Adelaide metro based. Whereabouts was TVS based for you? Nice of Latronics to repair the damaged inverter for you gratis and I'll bear that in mind.

PS- When you think about that TVS Head Office had picked a good inverter supplier from experience but were poorly represented in your area at the coalface.