Seriously thinking of house solar.

[Chuck]

Two days this week we've had temps in the mid 40's & on the first on around 1630hrs our neighbor checked with us to see if we still had power as they had none. Yep, ours was ok so invited them to stay a while till theirs came back on but they decided to go down to the Plaza shopping centre for a couple of hours.

About 30 mins later our A/C stopped working & we realised this was being handled by the power company - reducing the amount of available power in the busiest part of the day for them. No argument there but it made it very sticky for a cupla hours.

So.

Recalled seeing something on the TV a few days ago re a bloke who has installed a TESLA unit of some sort (batteries I think) & his quarterly power bill has reduced massively ... something lie 60 cents a day or similar. The overall cost of the TESLA unit was around $16K. My initial thought was - WOW but after a little while I was wondering if he already had the solar panels on the roof - I think he must have had them already.

Trina stated that if the $16k was the overall price then we should go for it as well.

Is it as good as it looks - or.....

What sort of $$$ would I be looking at for a good set up?

ps: power came back on about 8pm.

[Newcastle George]

Chuck, all sorts of things to consider when looking at the payback period, your age, do you intend to live at the same premises until you drop, what is the feed-in tariff offered by you electricity provider, the size of the solar system required to cover your current power usage, do you have off peak hot water. We would not have installed solar if just my age was considered but Julie is considerably younger than myself and she wouild not consider moving house within the next ten years. When selling a house the fact that it may have solar has no bearing bon the sale price.

When we first looked at installing solar the payback period for a 3.6kw system was too great but when we looked again early last year we were able to get a 6.6kw system for half the price of the 3.6kw system and we were able to wrangle interest free finance which allowed us to retain funds.

George

[T1 Terry]

If you are looking for a battery system to run your air con while the grid is down, the Tesla battery won't do the job. It will keep a few lights on and maybe keep the fridge going if it isn't a monster, but that's about it.
To power the air con depends on just what type you have, if it is a 3 phase ducted system, then it would require 3 inverters in a special configuration to power it and enough battery storage to supply the inverters for how ever long you needed to power the air con and the house.
Then you need to recharge the battery, either via off peak power at a reduced rate or solar. The solar could assist in powering the inverters and there for running the house while the sun was shining and the battery supplying the power at other times.
As for feeding back to the grid, I won't bother because the payback is long and the money offered is pitiful. The govt rebate battery also has strings attached, they can take that stored power out of your battery any time hey want, so it wouldn't necessarily be there for you to use when you need it.
So, to give you an idea of cost, need to know what sort of air conditioner and what other loads you would need to run off the battery. I'm guessing you aren't looking at going off grid, just need the battery as a back up supply and use it to reduce you power usage by running off the solar and batteries when you can but seamlessly switching back to mains power when the battery/solar can no longer supply the power you need, then switch back when it can.

T1 Terry

[Greynomad]

Chuck,
Our new house did not have solar, despite the east-west orientation providing a perfect north-facing roof area.
(We didn’t have solar panels in Melbourne either, but designed a very solar-efficient layout & didn’t need them.)
Layout of new house although OK is not as good, so six years ago investigated — and found the payback period far too long to be economical.
Looked at the subject again 18 months ago. Costs were much lower, consequently made financial sense given our age (70+). We will actually have full payback within 7yrs on a 6.5kw system (24 panels).
Our first solar-aided power bill was 50% of non-solar average. They continued to drop over 12 months as we got used to optimal power usage. For the past three months we have been in credit! And we often run the a/c 18hrs/day in summer!
Still lose power in blackouts, so we’re considering going off-grid with big lithium batteries. Cost is not yet govt subsidised. Payback time will be significantly longer, but we would avoid further blackouts (a reasonably regular occurrence here).
SiL has battery-backup solar, not off-grid, and she still loses power in blackouts, however, where she is they are rare. Dunno why she bothered. All she gained was better power on the (many) overcast days in Melbourne’s winters.

[T1 Terry]

Chuck,
Our new house did not have solar, despite the east-west orientation providing a perfect north-facing roof area.
(We didn’t have solar panels in Melbourne either, but designed a very solar-efficient layout & didn’t need them.)
Layout of new house although OK is not as good, so six years ago investigated — and found the payback period far too long to be economical.
Looked at the subject again 18 months ago. Costs were much lower, consequently made financial sense given our age (70+). We will actually have full payback within 7yrs on a 6.5kw system (24 panels).
Our first solar-aided power bill was 50% of non-solar average. They continued to drop over 12 months as we got used to optimal power usage. For the past three months we have been in credit! And we often run the a/c 18hrs/day in summer!
Still lose power in blackouts, so we’re considering going off-grid with big lithium batteries. Cost is not yet govt subsidised. Payback time will be significantly longer, but we would avoid further blackouts (a reasonably regular occurrence here).

It never will be for off grid, they only subsidise the solar for off grid and batteries for when they can drain them when ever the want. The claim is to stabilise the grid, but in reality, if your stored power is cheaper than what they can buy from the generators, guess which power they will use?

[supersparky]

Instead of spending a motza to make the house aircon functional in an outage, would it not be feasible to make the mhome or van totally off grid capable, with a big enough lithium system to run aircon for a few hours.
Sorry Chuck, just remembered that won't work for you guys Maybe you could look at a smaller off grid deal that just runs one aircon, enough to keep you comfortable until normal supply is restored. I reckon that T1 bloke knows someone that could work that out.

[Keith Morris]

"tanks" here---Chuck,
Why not consider a petrol generator that you can run a lead to your aircon and a few lights and fridge etc. A 6kva remote start generator should do the trick, and would only cost you a very small amount compared with your off-grid thoughts.
If you move you can take the gene with you. I have one at my house in WA and it is wired into the power supply with an isolation switch to disconnect from the street supply. This set-up lets me run everything; fridges, freezers, all lights, ducted evaporative air-conditioner to all rooms and all power in the garage. Is this worth a thought.
The cost of getting a electrician to wire the system was almost the cost of buying the 6kva generator, but this was because there was a 350 km travel time each way.
Keith.

[Keith Morris]

"tanks" again--Chuck---look what I found on the ebay site.
FOR ONLY $1700 AND FREE SHIPPING FROM PERTH TO AUSTRALIA WIDE.

9KVA PETROL PORTABLE GENERATOR GENESYS - LONG RANGE TANK
Blue Diamond 9KVA Portable Petrol Genesys Generator comes with easy key start, massive 13Hr run time, double folding handles for easy maneuverability, a robust heavy duty steel frame for extreme durability and heavy duty all terrain wheels. Includes Hand Held Remote Start.
Reliable and proven motor and ease if use interface digital meter included (3 in 1).

This 9KVA portable generator provides 9375W of power. Providing on-site electricity for all uses, trade or home, who need a reliable source of power but don’t have access to a mains or in case of power outage.

All Genesys Portable Petrol Generator models are backed by a generous 3 year – 500 hour warranty for your piece of mind.

iS THIS WORTH THINKING ABOUT. kEITH.

[Keith Morris]

"tanks" here again, ----Chuck,
I just found 15HP Industrial Series Generator • HP: 15Hp • KVA: 8.1KVA • Max Watt s: 6500w • Rated Watt s: 6000w • Power Outlets: 3 (15amp) • Tank Capacity: 25L • Electric Starting System • Sine Wave Technology • Automatic Voltage Regulator • Torini 4 Stroke Engine • Large Volume Mufflers • Ergomical Recoil Start Grip • 12 Volt Outlet
DB Rating is 72.
this 3 PHASE DIESEL extra silent 6.5kw/8kva for $1,825 free delivery Australia wide from Seaford (Vic I think).
Your neighbour might want one also.
Keith

[Keith Morris]

"tanks" here---this is another one on ebay with delivery included ex Melbourne from S.P.Tools.
Model SPG 8100-E diesel 3 phase $1900. Next day delivery available.
look up s p tools model spg 8100E and have a read of the specs.
Keith.