New House Unknown Solar Panel - Help

justanick on 05/10/2023 - 14:28

Hi All,

We recently purchased a house in Sydney South and it came with solar panels and an inverter. We don’t know much about it’s make model and details like what kW power etc.

I went to my inverted today found solar power circuit breaker was off for 2 months that we moved into this house.

The inverter has a brand called SolarRiver 1700TL and Samil Power.

1) How do I find out which company installed the solar panels?
2) How do I find out the size and power and if the inverter is working well?

I contacted the realestate agent he said he doesn’t know and the old owners are not responding to him.

Electrical & Electronics

Comments

  • jv on 05/10/2023 - 14:40
    -5

    Why do you want to know?

    • AustriaBargain on 05/10/2023 - 15:34

      Why didn't you bold the word why?

      • jv on 05/10/2023 - 15:41

        It didn't satisfy the criteria.

        • AustriaBargain on 05/10/2023 - 15:50

          The voices in your head didn't tell you to do it this time?

          • jv on 05/10/2023 - 15:52
            +5

            @AustriaBargain:

            The voices in your head

            It was a majority vote.

  • GordonD on 05/10/2023 - 14:41
    +1

    Here's a clue to its power output, thanks to google, which apparently is broken on your PC.

    A Samil Power SolarRiver 1100TL is rated at 1100W. A 1600TL is rated at 1600W. A 2300TL is rated at 2300W. And so on.

    So what do you think a Samil Power SolarRiver 1700TL is probably rated at?

    Yep, 1700W.

    So its an old fairly small system that you're probably best off replacing with a much bigger new system.

    And go here
    https://www.solargain.com.au/solar-service/samil-power-inver…

    So is there anything else we can do for you that you could have done for yourself in less time that it took you to create this thread?

  • Drakesy on 05/10/2023 - 14:56
    +1

    IMHOG throw it out and start again, 6.6kw is the minimum these days

    • KaTst3R on 05/10/2023 - 14:58
      +1

      Actually the ROI for 6.6kw is pretty bad and also the drop in efficiency during winter was worse than anticipated. I regret not building a bigger system.

      • Drakesy on 05/10/2023 - 15:10
        +1

        In WA its the sweetspot where the subsidy covers most of the labour to install and some of the panel costs. I did the maths on a 10kw system and it was a 10 year payback period vs a 5 year for the 6.6kw. (only spent $2200 on my system back in 2021).

        WA pays 2.5c per kw during the day and 10c per kw after 3pm so selling back to the grid was never going to be great. In Sydney i believe the buyback is much higher so may be worthwhile.

        • KaTst3R on 05/10/2023 - 15:11
          +1

          It make sense. It depends on location also.

        • DiscountForThee on 05/10/2023 - 16:50

          Wow, didn't know it was so low in WA! Over in QLD you can get deals for about 8-10c/kWh which makes the payback period pretty great.

          • Drakesy on 05/10/2023 - 16:56
            +1

            @DiscountForThee: Yeah i guess on the flipside the initial subsidy paid by the gov is higher.

  • Nugs on 05/10/2023 - 18:28

    "solar power circuit breaker was off for 2 months"
    Maybe that's why they sold the house?
    .

  • justanick on 06/10/2023 - 01:19

    Thank you for the feedback. I’m new to this solar system and after I logged some online quotes the sales team were pushing me to sign up without explaining the details.

    Now that I know thanks to @GordonD I have a small investor only 1.7kW where as most have 6.6kW system.

    It’s odd I couldn’t find the company’s info for example contact info etc on the main board. Google search leads to Samil power left Australia and not much info on Solar River.

    If I have to get a new company involved do I get to keep the existing solar panels or start from scratch(ie they will take away my existing panels and install new ones)?

    If I have to install solar panels should I go with solar gain? What’s the rough out of pocket cost for 6.6kW system?

    We work from home and use aircon a lot during the day. Does the solar power up my devices and send the extra (if any) to the grid?

  • brad1-8tsi on 06/10/2023 - 11:46

    It sounds like a 10yo+ system and a cheap one at that. It's probably fuxored. Have you tried booting it up?

    Personally, I'd get a new system fitted after reading all the SolarQuotes guides. Get the biggest system you can fit.

    Have the installer leave the old panels and inverter and advertise on gumtree as "condition unknown". You'll get $300 for it.

    • justanick on 06/10/2023 - 11:58

      Thanks a lot. I contacted Solar galaxy today waiting for the quote. I’m trying to see minimum amount of out of pocket expense or instalment payments.
      There are so many solar panel providers now it’s hard to decide.
      What would be my out of pocket expense for 6.8kW and 10kW solar power panels and inverter?

      • brad1-8tsi on 06/10/2023 - 13:26

        have you red the guides at SolarQuotes? That is always step 1 even if you don't use their referral system

        I had 5.4kw of panels (maxed out my 40sqm roof) installed in May for $5300. Expensive because of site access and 3 stories. Jollywood panels are amazingly good performers. Goodwe inverter is about as cheap as you'd want to go IMO. MyEnergy Group who I bought from cannot be recommended.

        I've had good results from Captain Green

        • justanick on 06/10/2023 - 16:58

          Could you please share the link to solar quotes guide? I searched in Google getting all sorts of solar companies to contact.

          Isn’t there a site like your CTP car insurance quote where the government gives you the best quotes?

          • brad1-8tsi on 07/10/2023 - 00:48

            @justanick: notice how I wrote it all 1 word? solarquotes. 1st google hit.

            captain green 9.9kw $6721. ask what their best price is if u sign up straight away.

  • justanick on 30/10/2023 - 20:25

    Hi All,
    After a lot of thinking and research we are almost close in taking solar panels and remove our existing panels old panels. Our electricity bill for 2 people living came around $700 a quarter.
    Can someone please help us making our final decision?

    1) Do you guys know if we should get Jinco or HT SAAE panels?
    2) It’s a two person house with a 19kWh per day usage according to Energy Australia. We previously had 10kWh per day usage when we lived in an apartment.
    Should we opt in 6.6kW or 10.2kWh or 13kWh? This is something I don’t know where to calculate the power it will generate a day for the above configurations?
    3)Our home usage which is sucking up for energy is the older model ducted aircon. In summer we will use mostly at night plus day at least 12 hours a day.

    I hope I could provide most of the info for you to help us decide.

    • lgacb08 on 30/10/2023 - 22:08

      Are you looking at electric vehicle upgrade or adding more people to the household? If the answer is yes then best going for at least 10kw or even 13kw because with your consumption right now I can see you have the potential to make use for most of it. Mind you I was starting of with only aroun 10kwh/day for 4 person household but that has gradually creep up to 20 now, with just background use and heating. In winter we easily go 30kwh for split heating but not much you can get from solar for that.

      • justanick on 30/10/2023 - 23:22

        Thank you so much.
        We are a couple now with no kids at the moment. We would occasionally have our parents living with us for a month or two max in a year. We are planning for a family but maybe in a year.
        No plans of getting electric car at the moment.

        Do you know what panels do you have? Jinco or something else.

        How much kW a day 6.6KW, 10.1KW or 13.2KW produces on an average?

  • justanick on 31/10/2023 - 10:34

    Apparently the calculations are multiplied by 4 for each KW.

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