I am a 21 years old uni final year student (at the edge of unemployment and student) in South Australia, with about 50k in my bank account by working part-time for 5 years
Do you think to buy a land in a remote area for like 20k, then put some Solar Panel there to generate some electricity, so I can sell the electricity to the grid to earn money? Is a better idea than keeping the money in a bank?
Because I want to live in that land later on and to be self-sufficiency there.
Wow..this is like a lightbulb moment..
Go for it!!!
Report back after you make your millions.
yeah,nah
you're better off getting some bitcoins
The land would have to be connected to the grid though.
Are you mad?
Putting solar on land that we desperately need to grow cotton, sheep, coal mines or even a coal-fired station?
https://www.solarquotes.com.au/blog/brewongle-solar-battle-m…
http://www.westernadvocate.com.au/story/5063761/brewongle-si…
By Christ this is a stupid country. The local farmers are claiming "it's an eyesore" when it's not even visible from the road, "but but farming" when they're planning on running sheep, and the local member Toole is just that. Go coal!. (As Mayor or Bathurst he was gung-ho for Labor's NBN, as a National Party member… well…)
Oh @OP, yeah nah.
Putting solar on land that we desperately need to grow cotton, sheep, coal mines or even a coal-fired station?
you should've added a sarcasm tag to this
If people reading the entire post can't pick up on the tone, odds are they're already beyond hope and voting One Nation. I doubt they even know what 'sarcasm' is.
sometimes it is hard to tell as there are people are genuinely deluded enough to buy into that shit.
like the morons who oppose wind farms because - they are loud, birds are killed by the blades, they use up valuable farming land, ummmm…they attract witches, and only communists believe they actually work.
$50K sounds like a lot I know but in a venture like you propose $50K is not enough.
I'm no expert (so I welcome experts jumping in and telling me i'm wrong) but I am somewhat intrigued by the concept but had never really thought about it long enough to consider the outcomes.
Land: $20k (not sure where you would find this land for this price but anyway)
Stamp Duty / Fees: $3k
Solar system (say 10kw) non roof mounted say: $15k
Say $40k because you probably have to fence off the block to keep people from stealing your panels.
If this thin generates 4.5kwh per day on average per kw of installed capacity (4.5x 10) x 365 = 16,425kw produced per year
16,425 x 17c (is this the feed in tariff currently?) = $2,792 per annum
If you subtract council rates, water rates (payable in SA even if you dont have a connection but a pipe passing your block), emergency services levy, electricity daily supply charges, liability insurance etc
I think you may find you're barely breaking even before you consider depreciation on your equipment - then what ever you have left (if you can actually get a cheque from the electricity supplier would be subject to tax and possibly GST if you are running it as a business.
I can't see this working.
Go big or go home.
10kW is essentially nothing.
The biggest problem @OP faces is connecting to the grid. It's myth that the solar panels on your roof feed into the grid, they don't. The grid is is the big transmissions lines, your panels only prop up as far as the transformer your connected to - your neighbourhood basically.
That doesn't exist in places where you can buy land cheap, so you get to add the cost of a sub-station as well.
Of course you don't get the feed-in rate either, you get to sell wholesale which is about 10 cents kWh. Might be less.
Years ago I worked for a venture capital company, and we'd get people like @OP wander in. Same spiel with bigger numbers, and none of them ever considered how they were going to connect their farm to the grid. "Ok, so you are here, and the nearest power line is over there, so how many towers were you planning to build and how much rent for those towers are you planning to pay to the landholders?"
then what if go back to my own house (own by my mother)
if I use all 50k to buy solar panels and put it on my own house
am i going to have
(15k=2792 [315k=50k])
27923.33= 9306
am I going to have 9306 per year?
and the solar panel can be removed and move to somewhere else right?
do you know any good deal on solar panels?
The rules of thumb are that solar irradiation is 1kW per square meter, cells are 15% efficient (150W/m2) and one watt of solar costs $1. Currently FIT is say $0.15.
Your $50k buys 50kW of solar, so per hour nets you $7.50 (50kw * $0.15), for an 8 hour day that's $60 or $22,000/year.
Of course it doesn't work like that, long term will be less than half of that due to rain, winter etc so more like $10k/year.
Note that FIT is usually capped at 10kW systems, so now you're down to $2k/year after spending over $10k for the system. There is/was a small commercial system like FIT that was for systems up to 100kW.
A 10kW system is going to cover around 75 square metres. A 50kW system would cover half the tradition 1/4 acre house block.
You can get real data, people publish their numbers, eg in Sydney: https://pvoutput.org/aggregate.jsp?id=22501&sid=20402&t=y. That may have cost $5k to install (at the time), and would be paying around $600/year now.
So if 3kW of panels gets you $600/year, then 10kW would be about $2000 (and 50kW about $10000).
If you've got a spare $10,000 and can wait 5-10 years then it's worth doing. And yes, they're your panels. You can take them with you when you move, but maybe not cost effective.
(As an aside, I thought the idea of subsidises to buy Chinese panels and then pay 5-6 times market rates for the power they produce was a stupid idea, and I'm happy FIT rates are going down to what they should be. Still too high.)
@D C:
so you said:
"FIT is usually capped at 10kW systems", "There is/was a small commercial system like FIT that was for systems up to 100kW."
is that mean each address can only have 10Kw for FIT? otherwise, I need to sell that to some other commercial system which will pay me less?
@fungyou100: Residential has a limit they'll pay FIT for. You can install as large a system as you like, but only the first 10kW is subsidised.
The other scheme was for small business, an incentive to put panels on your factory or whatever. Its rates are probably closer to wholesale these days (as residential should be).
I guess there's no reason why you can't fill your backyard full of panels to claim the small business tariff, you probably only need an ABN and another electricity board. Payback might take a bit longer though.
@D C:
you mean Residential has a limit they'll pay FIT!!?
so is that mean can I use my mother's, brother's, father's name so i can have 4 names? with 40Kw in 2 house?
you also said, "Payback might take a bit longer though."
what do you mean by payback?
@fungyou100: The cap is 10kW times whatever the rate is, so at 15 cents that's $1.50 per hour maximum. Read the contract as usual, might be other limits in there.
FIT applies to the property, doesn't matter who owns it. Obviously to have 4 systems you need 4 houses.
FIT is paid at a lower rate for business as opposed to residential, you get paid less so the ROI takes longer (maybe twice as long).
@D C: Theoretically, in order to fill panels in his backyard, he will need council approval done. Geological assessment would be required by council as well and structural certification for mounting system….. Those ones can easily cost $6000 extra
So these requirements pretty much make larger solar system exclusively for businesses.
@D C:
how about apartments?
each unit have 10kw?
also is that mean if I store the electricity and keep selling electricity out when there is no sun there will work?
@fungyou100: Apartments? Where exactly are you going to put the panels? Can be done, but it's a strata thing.
also is that mean if I store the electricity
Store it where? Batteries are cheap, but not quite cheap enough yet. Getting there.
The end game for all this is as @Dozingquinn said, you store the energy to use later on. FIT will go away (you'll only get wholesale rates at ~5 cents / kWh or less) and rather than charge your Tesla off the grid at 30cent/kWh at night, you'll charge it off that big pile of Eneloops you've been hoarding all these years. (Ok, maybe not the Eneloops.)
@D C:
i mean have a lots of solar panel and produce more than The cap 10kW
and
while(everyday){
if (solar panel produce more than 10KW){
sell the 10kw
store the rest in Battery
}
else if(solar panel produce == 0){
sell the Battery Electricity
}
else {
sell the Electricity
}
}
}
@fungyou100:
You can't afford the batteries.
Anyway, the point of the batteries is so you get 'free' power a night rather than pay 30 cents/kWh for it.
50k in my bank account by working part-time for 5 years
Thats heaps good, I work full time and don't save that well, sounds like a great amount to invest.
Though for your question I feel that deprecation of the panels and cost of land tax etc with the low return makes it not worth it. Honestly I kinda feel that at the moment solar panels are more about being environmentally friendly then being cost effective, otherwise power companies would be right on it a long time ago if they could make money off it easier.
With another $30k you could get a real high yielding asset.
You've done well to save that kind of dough at your age. Hat's off to you!
If your heart is set out for that, I would research local governments etc … if you can get a grant/subsidies etc or if you can get permission to install panels in the first place. You know how councils are like LOL!
Cheers
Removed - dupe
Firstly:
These two are to be applauded.
The real value of solar, is using the generated energy instead of exporting it. These days, no one gets rich exporting solar.
In the future it will be about storing excess solar within on site batteries - then on-selling that power to other people - but we are not there yet.
Good luck - and keep assessing opportunity.
Mine bitcoin using the electricity instead of exporting it to the grid
OP…can I ask what you learned in the first 2 or 3 years of university?
It's a pretty dumb idea because it would be hard to get council approval for it unless it's in an industrial area. Just buy a cheap house or build a cheap house and put solar panels on the house and rent the house out.
then what if go back to my own house (own by my mother)
if I use all 50k to buy solar panels and put it on my own house
am i going to have
(15k=2792 [315k=50k])
27923.33= 9306
am I going to have 9306 per year?
and the solar panel can be removed and move to somewhere else right?
do you know any good deal on solar panels?
Hi mate, as an engineer working in solar industry, I would not recommend anyone to buy solar systems purely for feed-in. Think about it: Even if you can get feed-in tariff for 17 cents. The electricity rate you are paying would be more than 25 cents in average.
It would be better for you to buy smaller systems starting to get savings from offsetting your electricity usage as the rate is higher
A bit like it is silly to withdraw from your mortgage and put the cash in a savings account
Very true
well, why not? I can use the electricity and also sell it at the same time!!?
(my father is the one normally pay the bill anyway)
because I see the return is so good?
low entry fee 100% return in 6 years?
much better than put that in a saving account with 1.8% per years…..
How about investing in managed funds for the amount OP has you can pay electricity bills in full, nothing to install and not worry about your money
https://www.canstar.com.au/compare/managed-funds?profile=Mul…
Annual cost for $50,000 investment = $1156.00?
that is less than 3%? or i miss read it?
Check this one cost is around $465 per annum for $50k investment
Vanguard LifeStrategy High Growth Fund and you can continue your present job without installing any thing and worrying about selling it back to grid
@Curiouscat:
that mean i put in 50k in there and wait for 10 year that will become $74,842?
or that will become $74,842+50k= 124842
@fungyou100: Yes you are right, in 10 years it will be $50k + $74842
It's not guaranteed but it's very likely.
That is true. It's always a solid investment. What I don't recommend was just pure feed-in and ground mount system.
As long as you can find a decent solar company install and be able to monitor/maintain your system, you will be fine.
Congrats on saving and thinking of investing.
Have you considered growing agricultural products on land.
If I had 50k in kitty I would consider growing chillies and ginger which are atleast $7 per kilo anytime of the year learn hydroponics and make $50k into around $125k in a year get a organic certification and don't ever look back.
There can be many produces like these but if you are looking for something which can be linked to sustainable living, this might be in the same direction.
Thanks,
K
I feel like invest in plants is more riskful!!? first, I have no idea about it, also plant can die in extream weather especially I have no experience with it at all!!?
and planting need time… I have a degree in programming, I think I can get a job in IT industry while having my solar panels up but not a farm in a remote area?
and I think chilies and ginger are not easy to grow in Australia?
chilies and ginger in China are much so cheaper!!?
and my mother try to plant chilies and ginger all the time but still fail
or do you know how to plant them?
but anyway I want to live sustainably and the skill of aquaculture is needed for that!! (maybe I will study part-time for it next year?)
Hi,
I am a Commerce graudate, horticulture is not my forte but if you Google sustainable living in youtube there is a Queenslander who is great at horticulture and his tips are awesome .
I have been able to grow jalapeños, mint and Coriander in our garden bed, cucumbers and carrots are on their way and I am a complete noob and I haven't spent more than 30 mins in a week for all this.
Studying hydroponics is a great idea, I know a guy who has make some fortune growing peri peri chillies in regional Melbourne with organic certification, he gets payment advance for his harvest for the whole farm where he is growing chillies.
Good luck with everything, just wanted to put this across as a an option..
well, I guess the 30 min each week wouldn't make you enough of plants for sale?
I have a lemon tree at home and I am like selling it for 3 dollars per kg in gumtree
and I have like 3 or 4 customers wanting it!!?
and each month I think my tree can make 6 kg?
@fungyou100:as. I said if I had $50k, I would have done it on large scale in regional area I would expect few acres and not 2.5 mts long and 18 mts wide garden bed.
Garden bed is a hobby, if I wanted to scale it up I would grow ginger and chillies for sure. Both are almost maintenence free and when they grow they grow heaps.
great IDEA