My Personal Massive Success with Solar Power

[Shemjaza]

I've had Solar power and a storage battery installed in my house and it has been incredibly successful.

Using energy from the sun rather than relying from mostly coal power we use here in Victoria is an inherent good, but in addition to that it's personally sabing me so much money that it will have paid for itself in under a decade (especially with rising power costs).

The solar cells charge my battery and then any excess is sold back into the grid at a very reduced cost.

I'm looking forward to my next bill to see how it runs from the darker winter months.

 

[eclipsenow]

We're building a granny flat for our son (just married) and part of the reno is massive solar. We run a design studio from home, and my son has a massive computer also as he's researching Visual Effects and could be rendering that in freelance from home one day.

So I've got something like 50 panels between the granny flat and our house. But I'm not investing in batteries yet as I hear the sodium batteries will be about a third cheaper when they get mass produced. But good on you doing the right thing now! (We kind of ran out of cash - but with our $6000 a year power bill being cut back by all the solar we're producing now, maybe in a few years the solar will pay for the battery?)

 

[sjastro]

By comparison my power bill even after all the countermeasures I have taken is;

 

[Occams Barber]

I've had Solar power and a storage battery installed in my house and it has been incredibly successful.

Using energy from the sun rather than relying from mostly coal power we use here in Victoria is an inherent good, but in addition to that it's personally sabing me so much money that it will have paid for itself in under a decade (especially with rising power costs).

The solar cells charge my battery and then any excess is sold back into the grid at a very reduced cost.

I'm looking forward to my next bill to see how it runs from the darker winter months.

View attachment 330067

Looks like you're doing well! I'd like to go solar but, unfortunately, I'm a renter.

Out of curiosity - does your power bill include electric heating, hot water and/or cooking or are you on reticulated gas?

OB

 

[Shemjaza]

Looks like you're doing well! I'd like to go solar but, unfortunately, I'm a renter.

Out of curiosity - does your power bill include electric heating, hot water and/or cooking or are you on reticulated gas?

OB

Cooking and heating is gas, but water is electric... plus we have multiple high end PCs and a 3D printer chewing power periodically.

 

[Shemjaza]

We're building a granny flat for our son (just married) and part of the reno is massive solar. We run a design studio from home, and my son has a massive computer also as he's researching Visual Effects and could be rendering that in freelance from home one day.

So I've got something like 50 panels between the granny flat and our house. But I'm not investing in batteries yet as I hear the sodium batteries will be about a third cheaper when they get mass produced. But good on you doing the right thing now! (We kind of ran out of cash - but with our $6000 a year power bill being cut back by all the solar we're producing now, maybe in a few years the solar will pay for the battery?)

Nice.

The battery was the majority of the set up cost... but given how so much of my power use doesn't line up with peak power generation times it felt like a no brainer for my situation.

I've recently been working out to the west where they are constructing a whole lot of solar and battery farms to power the city... it's honestly leaving my more optimistic about the future.

 

[Shemjaza]

By comparison my power bill even after all the countermeasures I have taken is;

View attachment 330068​

That's an extremely close comparison.

How many people do you have in your household?

 

[eclipsenow]

That's an extremely close comparison.

How many people do you have in your household?

Isn't the question more about what their average monthly power usage is? I'm an environmentalist and climate activist but we use LOADS of power per person for business and family health reasons. (Winter affects my sleep bad - and I'm guilty of burning loads of power just to warm the room to sleep.)

 

[sjastro]

That's an extremely close comparison.

How many people do you have in your household?

One.

 

[Shemjaza]

Isn't the question more about what their average monthly power usage is? I'm an environmentalist and climate activist but we use LOADS of power per person for business and family health reasons. (Winter affects my sleep bad - and I'm guilty of burning loads of power just to warm the room to sleep.)

True, but I was wondering how far below average they had pushed their usage.

One.

Nice work getting usage down.

 

[Bob Crowley]

We've had a small solar power system since 2011, and only recently has our credit with the power company started to decrease. Part of the reason is higher prices for connection to the mains, and increasing power costs themselves.

We also get a subsidy as the federal and state governments were trying to encourage Australians to get solar power back then. Now though about 30% of Australian households have solar panels.

https://www.energy.gov.au/households/solar-pv-and-batteries#:~:text=Australia%20has%20the%20highest%20uptake,homes%20with%20rooftop%20solar%20PV

The other reason is that I think our solar panels are losing some of their effectiveness after nearly 12 years.

We don't have battery backup.

One of the things the OP will need to factor in will be the replacment costs of solar panels and battery. It's something we'll have to think about ourselves in the not too distant future, and unless we get the same size system again we would lose the subsidy (although that will stop in 2030 anyway, and the 44 cent per KW feed in tariff offered by some utilities will end in 2028).

Solar Rebate QLD End Date

The Australian state government introduced the solar rebate in 2011. The solar rebate ends on 31 December 2030.

gosolarquotes.com.au

 

[Shemjaza]

We've had a small solar power system since 2011, and only recently has our credit with the power company started to decrease. Part of the reason is higher prices for connection to the mains, and increasing power costs themselves.

We also get a subsidy as the federal and state governments were trying to encourage Australians to get solar power back then. Now though about 30% of Australian households have solar panels.

https://www.energy.gov.au/households/solar-pv-and-batteries#:~:text=Australia%20has%20the%20highest%20uptake,homes%20with%20rooftop%20solar%20PV

The other reason is that I think our solar panels are losing some of their effectiveness after nearly 12 years.

We don't have battery backup.

One of the things the OP will need to factor in will be the replacment costs of solar panels and battery. It's something we'll have to think about ourselves in the not too distant future, and unless we get the same size system again we would lose the subsidy (although that will stop in 2030 anyway, and the 44 cent per KW feed in tariff offered by some utilities will end in 2028).

Solar Rebate QLD End Date

The Australian state government introduced the solar rebate in 2011. The solar rebate ends on 31 December 2030.

gosolarquotes.com.au

I'm hoping that the improved technology and lowered prices over the next 15 or so years will make up for the lack of a subsidy.

 

[eclipsenow]

I'm hoping that the improved technology and lowered prices over the next 15 or so years will make up for the lack of a subsidy.

Exactly!

 

[prodromos]

Going solar with battery is the only viable way to go. There have been a lot of subsidies offered to encourage installation of solar, but it was always connected to the grid. This was so the supply authorities didn't have to invest in new infrastructure, but you still have to pay to be connected to the grid and if too much power is being generated by domestic solar installations they can remotely disconnect your inverter from the grid, which means you are no longer getting money back from your excess solar. That has been a big issue in NSW as solar was pushing the supply voltage way above the maximum permitted. Solar was being remotely disconnected and people were no longer receiving the projected income they were promised. If you have a battery then your excess solar is stored for your use after the sun goes down, so you are not paying the supply authority for that power. The ideal is to go completely off grid, but then you will need some sort of backup generator for days where the sun don't shine.

 

[Lost4words]

I got solar panels on the roof of my kennel.......

It powers my scratching machine!

 

[Bob Crowley]

What about treadmills for fleas? Give them something useful to do and you wouldn't need a scratching machine. Win-win all round!

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