Solar as a Service

[Goose]

Got a pamphlet from origin energy for Solar as a Service: https://www.originenergy.com.au/for-home/solar/plans-offers/solar-as-a-service.html

This is new to me. Curious to know if anyone else has it or how one would work out if the payback is better than owning the solar system outright?

It works like this. They will install solar on your roof for free, but meter the usage it provides your house, and thus 'sell' you your own solar power at a rate of about 12-15c over 7-15 years. This i presume pays off the service over time. At the end of contract you can buy the system. If you sell the house during the contract then the new owner can take up the deal, or you may have to pay the system off outright in the sale.

[HKB Electronics]

What their doing is moving their power generation equipent to your roof!

If you use all the power it can generate during the day and your getting it at a cheaper
rate then it might be benificial. The grey area was what happens if you don't use it, it seems
to imply that you pay for all the power the system generates, if you don't use it then it goes
back into the grid and they sell it to someone else, therefore your paying for what they are
selling to someone else!

I have solar, after the power wall has been around for awhile and proved itself I will be
looking at going off grid as I can only see the supply charge continually increasing as
more and more move to solar and the power companies try and recoup their losses.

[Goose]

The grey area was what happens if you don't use it, it seems
to imply that you pay for all the power the system generates, if you don't use it then it goes
back into the grid and they sell it to someone else, therefore your paying for what they are
selling to someone else!

Thats a really good point.... its not clear what happens to power i generate but don't use? My guess is they sell to the mug next door at 28c KW/h. 

After reading a bit more, i'm suprised that even after 15 years the system isn't paid off... in 15 years time a 5kW system will seem like a child's toy!

I'm thinking this isn't for me.

[tk421]

Thats a really good point.... its not clear what happens to power i generate but don't use? My guess is they sell to the mug next door at 28c KW/h. 

After reading a bit more, i'm suprised that even after 15 years the system isn't paid off... in 15 years time a 5kW system will seem like a child's toy!

I'm thinking this isn't for me.

If a power generation company is selling it to you, they will be making the most money somehow.  do it yourself with a power wall

http://www.cnet.com/au/news/tesla-powerwall-home-battery-coming-to-australia-by-late-2015/

[Garfish]

If your household works during the day solar as a service is not for you, you need to use all the energy you generate. As you pay on generation not consumption and supplier sells it twice.  You pay for it and your neighbour then pays for it when they use the generation from your roof. 

You take a 3 month trip to do a quick trip. You turn off everything, your electricity bill would go up with solar as a service..

Great idea but need to be careful with it

[briann532]

hmmmmmmmmmm......

As a solar installer, all I can say is hmmmmmmmmmmm.............

As far as solar goes, if you can use it during the day, its worth it, but if you're not home or running stuff to utilise the sun, then don't waste your dough.
And as far as payoff period. A decent installer should be able to give you a system that pays for itself in 3 to 4 years max.

Battery storage is now up and coming and is getting cheaper, but still has a market growth needed to bring the price down.
Soon, soon, soon, though.....

I'm a bit peeved, I need to pay to connect to the grid while the house gets built. Once I'm in the meters come off and its Samsung battery's for me.......
Hopefully they'll be cheap enough by then......

[grafy82]

hmmmmmmmmmm......

As a solar installer, all I can say is hmmmmmmmmmmm.............

As far as solar goes, if you can use it during the day, its worth it, but if you're not home or running stuff to utilise the sun, then don't waste your dough.
And as far as payoff period. A decent installer should be able to give you a system that pays for itself in 3 to 4 years max.

Battery storage is now up and coming and is getting cheaper, but still has a market growth needed to bring the price down.
Soon, soon, soon, though.....

I'm a bit peeved, I need to pay to connect to the grid while the house gets built. Once I'm in the meters come off and its Samsung battery's for me.......
Hopefully they'll be cheap enough by then......

A local installer and owner of Country Solar in Townsville just put the big Samsung battery bank setup in his home. $25000 with a 15 year battery lifespan. Price will have to come down heaps before average Joe will consider it. Though it will be nice the day you can tell the power company to get stuffed.

[Jackdawg]

25k with a 15 year life? Worth it for me, my power bill is not much shy of $5k a year. Pay that off well under 1/2 the life of the battery then it is all cream. 

[gronk]

To go off grid, while you have the option of poles and wires is not worth it..  That may change , but the whole package would want to be a lot cheaper than it is now.

[gronk]

25k with a 15 year life? Worth it for me, my power bill is not much shy of $5k a year. Pay that off well under 1/2 the life of the battery then it is all cream.

Crikey, with a power bill like that you'd need twice the battery size, so 50K for you !!

[briann532]

Roughly $22,000 for a 10KW system with 13 KW battery bank. (less install cost for me  )
Work out that you pay 76c a day just to be connected - $277 a year.
Then add cost of power on top at 6 or 700 a quarter for an average home it adds up very quickly. - $2500ish and rising rapidly....

No way I'll be on the grid when I've finished building.

Septic tanks, rainwater collection and dams. Solar power and hopefully some fruit trees and a vegie patch.

[gronk]

Then add cost of power on top at 6 or 700 a quarter for an average home it adds up very quickly. - $2500ish and rising rapidly....

6 or 700 for an average home ?? At least you are 1/2 the usage of Jackdawg, but what are you people running ?? Even when my kids were home, $450 tops and that's with a pool, solar heating for it and fully ducted aircon !!

With a normal battery bank, could you run ducted aircon day in day out ??

[briann532]

6 or 700 for an average home ?? At least you are 1/2 the usage of Jackdawg, but what are you people running ?? Even when my kids were home, $450 tops and that's with a pool, solar heating for it and fully ducted aircon !!

With a normal battery bank, could you run ducted aircon day in day out ??

You could, but not if there was no sun.............. Ie in winter when the days are short and the sun is weak.
It's not a problem though as in winter we won't be using the aircon. The fireplace will be getting a workout instead.
The 1000 acres or so of forest down at the farm should provide "maybe" enough wood for a winter or 2.....
Possibly offsetting the carbon savings from the solar, but ah well, the equilibrium of life.......

In regards to "what are you running" - 2 kids who haven't yet worked out that lights can be turned of as well, air con doesn't work with all the doors open, and IXL heaters aren't actually room heaters and make-up lights.
A wife who has no idea what a bill is let alone what one would cost, and no idea that leaving air con on on a 2 week holiday is not really cost effective.......
Tv's PC's and chargers 24 hours a day, (used to have) pool pumps, ponds, and ceiling fans going all day.
But other than that - not a lot 

Cheers
Brian

[jetcrew]

The other option is a hybrid system some 240 some 12/24v.

If i was to build I would go down this path..lights fridges tv ect on 12/24v and have the 240 for bigger items, main issue I see is that in suburbia you will still pay a service fee even if you spend 20K on batts. If your out bush and its 20K to run a pole then the whole situation changes as Brian says.

If I ever get the time I will rewire  my house to 12/24v and have every light /fridge running off a small solar system,even a 40A charger that runs off the grid tie during day would work to charge the batts up 300A/h of agm would do the job, keep the grid tie for daytime and run wash machine pool pumps etc during day when its free off the grid tie then at night try to run as much off the 12/24v system as possible to limit purchase from the grid. when my home fridge dies it will be the catalyst for this job to start .

Daytime - off grid tie and use as much as possible limit export
Night time- use the 12/24v system to run as much as possible , limiting purchased power

jet      

[gronk]

IF I was well off and I built a house out of suburbia, then yes, I would go solar and batteries.  No aircon as the house would be solar passive.

ATM in suburbia, I'm on smart meters, so all major juice eaters are used during the night....pool pump, washing machine, dishwasher etc.

If you've got the discipline, use nothing during the day...bit hard with solar heating though.

With the rebates still on offer ( not as good as yrs gone by ) why wouldn't you install solar panels  and feed back into the grid and pay no power bills, but have the benefit of using all the appliances you like ??