So you’ve got a solar power system on your roof – or you’re thinking of buying one – and you want to get a fair deal for the solar you don’t use and send to the grid. That’s only reasonable, isn’t it? After all, the solar power you export is being used by your neighbours who are buying it from their electricity retailer for around 25-35 cents per kilowatt hour. So why settle for a low rate if you can do better? But here’s the thing. Electricity retailers know just how strongly many solar households feel about getting a ‘fair go’ on their solar exports. Many of them play on this by offering a juicy feed-in-tariff but then hike up the daily supply charge and/or increase their rate for the electricity you draw from the grid. So it’s buyer beware…(that should probably be written in capital letters!) The Victorian Solar [Read More]
Going solar even if Powercor says ‘No’
Is it worth getting solar if Powercor – the company who owns the poles and lines in our region – limits how much solar power you can export back to the grid? The short answer is generally YES. This article explains why. Powercor approval Before you can get a solar installed, your solar provider will submit an application to Powercor for connection to the grid. Powercor will respond in one of three ways: Approve the size system you’ve requested Limit the amount of power you can export to the grid (e.g. you request 5kW and Powercor says you can only export 2.5kW) Set a ‘zero export’ limit – i.e. you aren’t allowed to export any power from your solar system to the grid. The good news is that in each of the above scenarios you can still get a solar power system installed (up to 5kW inverter capacity and 6.6kW [Read More]
Solar Panels: Is North-Facing Still Best?
One of the questions we get asked a lot is: “I don’t have a north-facing roof, is it still worth getting panels if they face another direction? The short answer is generally YES. That’s because solar panel efficiencies have improved so much that you only lose 10-15% of your solar production if your panels aren’t facing north. In fact, depending on the time of day when you use most electricity, you may get a faster payback on your solar investment if your panels face east or west (for morning or late afternoon heavy electricity users). Back in the days of high feed-in-tariffs of 60 cents per kilowatt hour, everyone was trying to export as much of their solar to the grid as possible. People were doing things like the vacuum cleaning at midnight just so they could put as much of their solar power back into the grid as possible [Read More]
Why a 6.6kW solar system is the new ‘solar sweet spot’
There’s no doubt about it, the average size solar system is getting bigger. Five years ago, most households were buying 3kW solar power systems (that’s approx. 12 panels). Now, a 6.6kW solar system is all the go (around 24 panels). The big question is why? There’s three main reasons: The cost of solar power systems keeps falling, making bigger systems more affordable. More panels = more STCs (the Federal Government’s ‘rebate’) = a bigger point of sale discount for you! 6kW is a great size for anyone thinking about adding a battery. But what about a 5kW solar system? A 5kW solar power system used to be all the rage. But solar suppliers – and their customers – have done the maths and worked out that going 6.6kW can be better value. And by 6.6kW, what I mean is that there’s 6.6kW of solar panels installed on the roof, with [Read More]
