https://www.ozervnews.com

Soooo confusing to say the least, had a rep from "Chriselec" (solar) come to give "quote" etc (would you believe he had to phone his boss BS) That made me a bit suss . He sant through all the ins and outs and payments etc but it is all gobblie goop to us, Then there is the Tesla battery mob??? who has gone through this stuff ? I can send the stuff he sent if anyone would like to have a look . Any help would be appreciated

Dot, one question, if for the house can all panels be placed so that they face North? Also, if quote includes battery, how many years do they guarantee that they will last?

George

If you really want solar and battery that feeds into the grid, ask Tindo when they have their next open day so you can go and have a look at what it's all about, get a special deal bundle package as a show promotion and feel confident that what you bought is fully backed by a local company. Initial cost, certainly not the cheapest, long term cost, miles ahead of any of them. When a supplier will replace solar panels at the 10 yr mark because some of them aren't doing what they say they will, you know you are on a winner.
Each time we go down that way with a vehicle we can fit solar panels in, we buy up as many as we can carry of these second hand panels that Tindo have replaced. They still work fine, it was the mini inverters on each panel that failed, but rather than just rewire without the mini inverters, they replaced all the panels ..... there was a small cost because the panels they replaced them with were over the 300w mark and the early panels were 250w, but let's see any other solar provider offer that sort of back up ......

It really depends if you are going to keep the house or not, there is zero added value in having solar on the house or not on the house when it comes to the selling price. The only time solar and batteries adds to the resale price is when the house goes off grid stand alone solar. If you have a well set up system, invite the potential buyers in to a cool air conditioned house with all the normal electrical appliances and tell them there are zero electricity bills, the solar and battery supplies it all. Then drag out the old power bills before going off grid and add up how much 10 yrs of power bills, plus the increases each yr, will save over that period .... the cost sells itself without the added warm glow of sticking the finger up at the power companies ....... and telling the tele-marketers that if they were going to save you hundreds of $$ a yr, they would actually have to give you the money, you don't have power bills because you are off grid

T1 Terry

Newcastle George wrote: ↑Fri Dec 17, 2021 1:28 pm Dot, one question, if for the house can all panels be placed so that they face North? Also, if quote includes battery, how many years do they guarantee that they will last?

George

George, would you like me to send you the info they sent us? if so PM me your email address

It is a mine field trying to get all the information as most times you only deal with a sales person not the installer or electrician or a solar expert most of what you are told is nonsense. An important point to consider is will the company be around in 5,10,15 years. A lot of companies will not the in existence to provide support..

We recently installed solar on our new home I went with a company that has been around for over 20 years and one that I have dealt with on issues and batteries for our motorhomes and had always found them good and honest. Yes they were not the cheapest some were considerably cheaper. The chap who came out to give us the quote was one of their senior technicians and explained everything to us in simple terms. They have contacted us twice since installing the system to check how things were going and if we needed any help. This is is a lot different to some companies as soon as the money is banked end of relationship.

For the record the company is "Springers " a family company that supports the CMCA and attends some of their rallies. They are North and South of Brisbane.

Merry Christmas everyone.

Peter I hope that company you mentioned Peter is not "Jerry Springer" The one that we got was also a family business from Qld but now in SA. (criselec) Have had some input from a couple of people pointing out some issues to clarify.

I agree with Peter.
Some years ago our inverter decided to turn up its toes while we were in the Brisbane area.
Went to Springers, who were v helpful. Checked our current inverter to see if it was a simple fix, and when they found it wasn’t they offered us an excellent price on an upgrade from 1500W to 2000W, meaning it was only marginally more than fitting a 1500W replacement.
They also phoned me a week later to check it was performing to our satisfaction!
Recommend them wholeheartedly.

Dot, please clarify whether you are talking about solar for your house or bus.

George

This looks to be the mob Dottie is talking about and they do household solar https://chriselec.com.au/solar/ fortunately, there are no door to door RV solar sales people .... yet.

This looks like a very long read, sit down with a drink of choice and read it bit at a time, it will be a real eye opener to many people.


Anyone thinking of going solar/battery/grid connect should first look at the success rate of the products offered. Many of the cheaper solar quote mobs use Chinese solar panels that don't have a great life expectancy is history is any guide. Teir 1 is great line many of these mobs roll out, but don't be fooled into thinking that means they have any sort of record relating to be being 1st quality. Best Google just what Tier 1 means if you are using that as a guide.

Next is the inverter, look up the name and model and see what list of failures pops up .... including catching fire or simply not working correctly from the day they were installed ...... then follow up how the problem was solved. The actual back up provided by the company you dealt with can often be less than excellent with the complaint just being pushed off to the manufacturer .... in China naturally .... Brcause you weren't the person who they dealt with when they filled the purchase order, you get the "lost in translation" run around till you give up ... or try the legal system solution .....

Next comes the solar battery. The B/S being pushed across South Australian TV at the moment really brings the whole advertising rules into question ..... Read through this and see what you think they are saying https://www.solarbatteriesadelaide.com. ... 7GEALw_wcB

I know I mentioned Tindo before, but at least they will back up what they sell, but don't be mislead into interpreting

Whether you’re watching TV, blasting the air con, charging your phone or just boiling the kettle, you’re adding to your power bill. The power that you generate during the day from your solar system can easily be stored in a battery for use during the day or at night

Into meaning, you can power the TV, blast the air con, boil the kettle ..... the only true bit out of that is you could charge your phone, so not a completely misleading I guess.
The first thing to understand is the capacity one of these batteries offers:
kWh means little to most people, but it says 1,000w energy for 1 hr. Still eyes rolling? Look at the kettle base, 2400W? Still head spinning ....

Lets break it down further to watts per minute, that might make it easier. 1,000 watt hrs x 60 = watt mins = 60,000 watt mins ....don't give up yet, 2400w means that it will require 2400 watts for as long as it is powered, in this case, boiling the water. So, 60,000 watt mins will power the kettle for 25 mins ..... so a 7kWh battery would theoretically boil the kettle for 7 x 25 mins ..... sounds a lot doesn't. The other things mentioned was the TV and blasting the air con, but being after the sun has gone down, you might want to turn the lights on and a few other things ....... start adding up each appliance, how long it is turned on and how many watts it uses, add them together and then divide that huge number, 7 x 60,000 = 420,000 mins at 1 w, or how many minutes at the number you just came up with .... if you are power conservative, maybe 1 hr if all that 7 kWh was available ..... which it isn't.

Generally they want to keep 20% in "reserve" they like to call it, so only 336,000 of those watt mins is left .... but wait, there's more ... or worse in this case.

They say they don't charge to 100% for longer battery life ...... about 95% is the best you'll see, the top end is kept for "balancing" purposes .... you need to understand a lot more about the battery chemistry to really understand what they are saying between the lines, but basically, the cell balancing system used is "limited" in just how much it can move in a given space of time, so the proper full voltage is never reached so no cell goes over voltage and is damaged ...... the same reason for 20% held in reserve .... plus the over rating of the true battery capacity .... but that's another matter.

So now you really only have a usable capacity of 75%, or in this case 315,000 watt mins or 5,250 kWh.

But, it gets worse.
To get that govt subsidy, you promise to make that 315,000 watt mins available for the grid to use when ever they need it, and peak load, that period when you are paying over 40 cents a kWh, is the most likely time they'll need it, the same time as you need it ...... bet you can't guess who gets first dibs on it, you did sign it away after all ......

There are no free lunches, the govt is not here to help you, keep this in mind when ever you see a great deal ..... the fine print says otherwise .....

T1 Terry

TL:DR