Simax 4.5Kw Home Solar System (Info please)

[jwb]

My 3KW system has me currently about 1800 in credit

[DrewXT]

Are they going to pay you?

We leave it in the account to offset our winter bills...

Average yearly gas and power has been about $1500 since we installed our system in 2009, and it's now fully paid for itself

[Bird]

anyone got a good contact in Melbourne to come out and quote ??

Neighbour had some shonk come out and quoted him really cheap - but he worked out that the system was 1/5th the spec of the other quotes he had!!!! thus why ti was cheap and would never have worked.. he hasn't done anything yet but that was 18mths ago..

[terravista]

There's a mob in Brisbane that have set up thier own solar panel production to go with thier installed system media advertising and call centre (40 people in one room).
The name rhymes with Yoorosola. (no affilliation etc) and should be familiar with TV watching cricket lovers lately.
The factory was opened with attendance of a bunch of local and State pollies last year.
I don't know what the quality is like, but it seems more like to be used for advertising purposes so it can be said "we manufacture our own Australian panels" which is true, but what is not stated is that according to inside information they can only build around 30 panels a day. This is due to be increased, but with the number of containers coming and going, 100% production could take a while.

[WilSurf]

I went through Energy Matters and they contacted a local to come out.

[speewa158]

Everybody bangs on about the feed in tariff but that is after you have generated the power to run your house through the day . Summer for cooling  , winter to heat . My 4.5 K system covers all my usage including 2hp irrigation pump , transfer pump & all the shed power as well & still it comes out in front . An all electric house with in slab heating was costing about $4 to 5 K to cover & now lm in credit by about $1K . That's over & above what l should have been paying for the whole thing . Do it & watch the change happen 

[Bird]

I still love our solar system.
Another "NOT REQUIRED" in payable by... :-)

so what are your usage amounts?

[WilSurf]

so what are your usage amounts?

My own calculations over the last months is 7.7 units/day.

[jetcrew]

Just for some other side feedback for those considering solar under the newer 6c feed in tariff .

I am on
0.6c FIT
6.0KW system-3Kw facing NE.. 3Kw Facing NW  (Spit arrays)

4 PPL in house
Pool Pump 4 hrs per day
wash / dish washer
Me in shed welding and installing.

Our last bill was $89.25

thats over a $550 saving  for that quarter alone ..winter sees a higher bill but prob still a $400 saving so for us a $1500+ saving per year .

Solar is still worthwhile imho you just need to speak with the right PPL who understand the game has changed.

Morons still getting around telling PPL to switch everything off all day and sell it all to the grid  guy tried it on my dad door to door ... he had no idea had sold 1000,s of systems he said.

Jet

[paceman]

Just for some other side feedback for those considering solar under the newer 6c feed in tariff .

I am on
0.6c FIT
6.0KW system-3Kw facing NE.. 3Kw Facing NW  (Spit arrays)

4 PPL in house
Pool Pump 4 hrs per day
wash / dish washer
Me in shed welding and installing.

Our last bill was $89.25

thats over a $550 saving  for that quarter alone ..winter sees a higher bill but prob still a $400 saving so for us a $1500+ saving per year .

Solar is still worthwhile imho you just need to speak with the right PPL who understand the game has changed.

Morons still getting around telling PPL to switch everything off all day and sell it all to the grid  guy tried it on my dad door to door ... he had no idea had sold 1000,s of systems he said.

Jet

but what about those of us who use most, if not all of our energy in our house in the afternoon or night?

until battery storage is effective and more cost effective, i can't see how solar works for people like us (also 4 people)

[DrewXT]

anyone got a good contact in Melbourne to come out and quote ??

Neighbour had some shonk come out and quoted him really cheap - but he worked out that the system was 1/5th the spec of the other quotes he had!!!! thus why ti was cheap and would never have worked.. he hasn't done anything yet but that was 18mths ago..

just sent you a PM

[jetcrew]

but what about those of us who use most, if not all of our energy in our house in the afternoon or night?

until battery storage is effective and more cost effective, i can't see how solar works for people like us (also 4 people)

Very true mate but you could simply cover what the day time usage is even as low as 10 kWh and simply suze a system to cover that only .

10 a day for free saves you $3 per day x365 = $3285 per yer your not paying and a small system will be paid for in 2 years.

Ever KWh you don't buy saves you .30c so get an accurate figure of exactly what your house uses during the day as it must be something and go from there .

But at .30c a unit the best saving is in not buying it not exporting it

[paceman]

Very true mate but you could simply cover what the day time usage is even as low as 10 kWh and simply suze a system to cover that only .

10 a day for free saves you $3 per day x365 = $3285 per yer your not paying and a small system will be paid for in 2 years.

Ever KWh you don't buy saves you .30c so get an accurate figure of exactly what your house uses during the day as it must be something and go from there .

But at .30c a unit the best saving is in not buying it not exporting it

as usual, mate, you make perfect sense...

so do you guys have special meters that you use to measure usage throughout the day?  did you get that info from your electricity supplier?

[DrewXT]

as usual, mate, you make perfect sense...

so do you guys have special meters that you use to measure usage throughout the day?  did you get that info from your electricity supplier?

I track my generation using a website called PVOutput, which requires me to have an old laptop running all the time, that interrogates my inverters via Bluetooth every 5 minutes.  My graphs are here: http://pvoutput.org/list.jsp?userid=2324

For consumption, there are a number of options, mostly using current clamps to determine voltage used/fed back - popular ones being the Current Cost http://www.smartnow.com.au/products/envir-energy-monitor/envir-display/, TheOwl http://theowl.com/, and WattsClever http://wattsclever.net.au/ - these can also be integrated to PVOutput, so you can graph out generation and consumption

[WilSurf]

The Fronius invertor we have, has a wifi card.
However when I changed the channels on my router, I can't see all data and the invertor can't get access to the router for some reason.

[paceman]

I track my generation using a website called PVOutput, which requires me to have an old laptop running all the time, that interrogates my inverters via Bluetooth every 5 minutes.  My graphs are here: http://pvoutput.org/list.jsp?userid=2324

For consumption, there are a number of options, mostly using current clamps to determine voltage used/fed back - popular ones being the Current Cost http://www.smartnow.com.au/products/envir-energy-monitor/envir-display/, TheOwl http://theowl.com/, and WattsClever http://wattsclever.net.au/ - these can also be integrated to PVOutput, so you can graph out generation and consumption

thanks, mate.

so, the current clamps are fitted in the meter box?

[DrewXT]

thanks, mate.

so, the current clamps are fitted in the meter box?

yeah, you typically clamp a bus bar feed that doesn't have the solar feedback on it if you're trying to capture consumption.  The new WattsClever 4500 uses the optical flash on the Smart Meter, but doesn't have the ability to have data extracted from it - bit of a bitch, because the flash counter is the most accurate way of tracking the power consumption...

[paceman]

yeah, you typically clamp a bus bar feed that doesn't have the solar feedback on it if you're trying to capture consumption.  The new WattsClever 4500 uses the optical flash on the Smart Meter, but doesn't have the ability to have data extracted from it - bit of a bitch, because the flash counter is the most accurate way of tracking the power consumption...

so, if i was looking for a system that could measure consumption and do some basic reporting (daily usage, etc), do you have a recommendation?

[DrewXT]

so, if i was looking for a system that could measure consumption and do some basic reporting (daily usage, etc), do you have a recommendation?

before we got our solar, I tracked consumption manually by reading the power meter every day...  I did that for a year or so, give or take a few days here and there, and don't really bother any more...

If I was going to put in an automated system, I'd probably look at the Current Cost, as it's fairly expandable, and if you have a supported Smart Meter, you can get the OptiSmart reader, which reads the flash counter.

the software I read the inverter with (and also supports the Current Cost, etc) is called PVBeanCounter which you can read up on at www.pvbeancounter.com ...

pretty simple software to configure and get up and running.

[paceman]

before we got our solar, I tracked consumption manually by reading the power meter every day...  I did that for a year or so, give or take a few days here and there, and don't really bother any more...

If I was going to put in an automated system, I'd probably look at the Current Cost, as it's fairly expandable, and if you have a supported Smart Meter, you can get the OptiSmart reader, which reads the flash counter.

the software I read the inverter with (and also supports the Current Cost, etc) is called PVBeanCounter which you can read up on at www.pvbeancounter.com ...

pretty simple software to configure and get up and running.

thanks for the options, mate... much appreciated...

[WilSurf]

And another bill of $0 :-)
I like those.

[briann532]

That just reminded me, I need to contact my retailer.......

We have been receiving credits for the last year and it just keeps accumulating. They never actually gave me any money.
I think they owe me a couple of grand now.

I should chase it up.....
Bet they wouldn't forget about it if I owed them money!!!!

[AdrianLR]

That just reminded me, I need to contact my retailer.......

We have been receiving credits for the last year and it just keeps accumulating. They never actually gave me any money.
I think they owe me a couple of grand now.

I should chase it up.....
Bet they wouldn't forget about it if I owed them money!!!!

depends which state you're in. There may not be an obligation to pay in cash. You may be able to offset your gas bill if it's the same retailer. The credit may also lapse after 12 months. (I only know about Victorian rules).

[fuji]

My 3KW system has me currently about 1800 in credit

I have had a 3.2 kW system for 3 years and am always in credit. Very happy and was installed by a one man show. I opted for SMA inverter as they are one of the best. Panels are Chinese but work well. I do get 60 cents rebate a kW.