Hi bargainhunters,
I thought I'd give this site a try as there's a lot of savvy people on here.
My mum is interest in getting solar panels and wants a few quotes or even special discounts
- see solar offer for fiftyupclub.com – does anyone know of other websites like this?
Such as onebigswitch.com.au etc
It would be very helpful if you could list as many you can think of.
Thanking you in advance.
Deal sites are only going to get offers from cut rate mobs who do the cheapest install with the cheapest systems and the shoddiest workmanship and who plan to close up shop in a few months then start up a new business to do the same thing all over again. They're easily picked, cause they'll offer a truly magnificent warranty. Knowing that they wont be around in 12 months time anyway.
You get what you pay for and in solar you want to be dealing with someone who will still be around in 5-10 years time and subsequently installs quality systems in a professional manner.
And the offer is $500 worth of lightbulbs… Up to 20 per household… That makes them $25 each!? Expensive lightbulbs even for LED's!
Or alternatively, there's some creative "RRP" accounting going on, which in my world starts to ring alarm bells about what they're going to quote the RRP of the Solar system as!
ie Solar System RRP is $5000 but we'll sell it to you for $2000. (using the cheapest components we can find)
Even if you believe that an LED lightbulb is worth $25, it's hardly a "special" deal on solar panels..
Get some quotes from http://www.solarchoice.net.au/
They have been around for years and have a great weekly newsletter via email on everything solar. Shows that they put some effort into this.
Hey Happymeals, organisations like 'Onebigswitch' are also in it to make money. Onebigswitch(and it's subsidiaries) is/are 20% owned by Murdoch so they make even more money when they have a 'new' 'special'. Sites like iSelect and it's subsidaries only allow you to choose from organisations that pay them. I would not be surprised if solarchoice was the same
Many of the group 'deals' aren't. Whirlpool's green site is the best bet. (+1 scubacoles)
Hi bargainhunters, I thought I'd give this site a try as there's a lot of savvy people on here.
Well you could always…
Please only people with actual experience to add to this thread.
Well good day to you…
Nothing from those sort of sites is likely to give a good quality install.
Best bet is to head to Whirlpool Green Tech forum and search for recommendations of solar installers in your area.
Before even considering solar, your mum should do some energy usage analysis. These days, solar can only really be financially justified if you can use/move the majority of your energy usage to daylight hours.
If your Mum is at work all day, that's going to be pretty difficult, especially if her washing machine/dishwasher don't have timer options.
You get paid so little for feeding power into the grid that it's barely worth it at all, so the system has to pay itself back in savings from not importing power.