[QLD] Solar Panels Gold Coast

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  Drakesy on 05/10/2023 - 16:02

  +1

  Geezus thats a bill and a half. Do you have a full on horticulture operation going on in the basement?

  • 

    cafeman on 05/10/2023 - 19:41

    You'd have a heart-attack at ours - pre-solar we were running at around $800-$1,000 a month! Way too many electronics / pumps / heaters / central air etc.

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  fredz0r on 05/10/2023 - 16:08

  +1

  I Iive on the Gold Cost as well and have a pool, ducted aircon and have electric vehicle. Solar would definitely help. I got a $3k package 5 years ago. I think it was a Goodwe invertor 6.6kw and the maximum amount Candian solar panels. For the first 2 years I didn't pay a bill. Feed in tarriffs continue to drop and usage charges and daily rates have risen My bill now is just under $200 a month and have 4 adults and a teenager. Most of that cost is charging my car over-night which works out to be $22 a week, My solar system generates about 35kWh a day. What you want to do when you have solar is run all your stuff during the day. Essentially you can run you pool pump, aircon, run the washer, dryer etc for free while the sun is shining, I would also consider changing electricity providers. You do get a healthy on time discount however your usage charges are 50% more than I pay and daily supply charge is high also.

  • 

    YELNATS on 05/10/2023 - 16:13

    Thanks for the reply. Do you mind sharing the installer and were you satisfied with their work? Current energy provider is Alinta and I am looking at changing to someone else.

    Cheers

    • 

      fredz0r on 05/10/2023 - 16:20

      I think they were called Solar Nation. Didn't have any dramas with the install. I am currently with Sumo and will change at the drop of a hat if someone else is offering a better deal.

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  DiscountForThee on 05/10/2023 - 16:13

  With a >$800 bill, yes, solar would be absolutely worthwhile to you. Get the largest that you can practically fit on your roof (try and go for at least 15kW) for the most benefit. Price of power will only go up, so the "value" of each kWh you generate will continue to go up (and payback period will reduce)

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  YELNATS on 05/10/2023 - 16:14

  Oh and to add, I am single phase power (Paradise Point)

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  eman resu on 05/10/2023 - 17:28

  It seems you are averaging $300 per month on electricity. Which with a pool is not to bad. But with solar you need to consider the break even point. If a system is going to set you back $6000 on average it will take you 2 decades to make it worthwhile. This assumes that the panels dont degrade over time and the inverter lives beyond the 5 - 10 year warranty period.

  But the assumption of power always going up is hard, as the rates have dropped this year. But as the crocked system in Australia where rates are charged by engerex based on the previous year costs, so we wont see relief until the following year.

  • 

    DiscountForThee on 05/10/2023 - 21:49

    $6000 on average it will take you 2 decades to make it worthwhile

    Not close to true. My payback period will be 4-6 years depending on usage and future energy prices. Might be even shorter than that. This is with a $6k system also in qld

    • 

      eman resu on 06/10/2023 - 15:47

      Each person is different.

      I spend on average 200 - 300 per month on electricity.

      • 

        DiscountForThee on 06/10/2023 - 15:53

        The payback period I listed is based purely on the feed in rates. If you manage to accidentally (or even better, intentionally) use some of the electricity during the sunlight hours - the payback period becomes way, way quicker.

        At 200-300 per month, you have huge potential for savings by getting solar

        • 

          eman resu on 06/10/2023 - 16:08

          @DiscountForThee: That's interesting. Are you getting it paid off just by what you send back to the grid? I heard the payments have gone down significantly.

          • 

            DiscountForThee on 06/10/2023 - 16:19

            +1

            @eman resu: I would be, yeah, but I'm also moving as much load to the daytime as practical which reduces my bill even further. Looking at $2.5 to $5 on pure feed in, and the value becomes even greater if you use the power instead of feeding it back (then the value of that kWh would be like $0.33 instead of $0.08)

            Payments have gone down a ton since their inception, but a few great rates at the moment. https://www.canstarblue.com.au/solar/solar-feed-in-tariffs-q…

            • 

              eman resu on 07/10/2023 - 08:34

              @DiscountForThee: Last time I looked at it was 2 years ago. I need to sit down again and crunch some numbers. Our usage is mostly daytime as we work from home.

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  outlander on 05/10/2023 - 19:22

  What do you use to heat the pool?

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  cafeman on 05/10/2023 - 19:37

  +1

  The vast majority of your usage is in peak - if you want to get the most out of solar you're going to need to think about time-shifting your high-energy activities. You'll need to do things like cooling the house during the day & turning the air off at night, running the dryer and dishwasher during the day rather than after dinner, that sort of stuff. Otherwise your solar isn't actually going to do much for you.

  Batteries aren't worth it, no matter how you cut it they run at a 9-10 year payback which is pretty much their expected life. They're only worth it if you have other reasons for getting one (like being able to operate in island mode for a certain period of time in the event of an outage).

  That and you should also look at energy providers who charge different amounts during peak / off-peak & shoulder, especially if you can minimise your peak usage.

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  sonnyboy on 05/10/2023 - 21:08

  +3

  I was in a similar situation to you, $800 winter bills, $1100 in summer. Pool pump and ducted AC, on the Gold Coast too. Installed solar with a 6.6Kw system, Fronius invertor and Sunpower panels for $6500. Bills went down to around $200-$250/quarter. Took around 3 years to pay itself back. Absolutely recommended.

  Have since had to replace the hot water system and went with a heat pump, now that FIT's are crappy my monthly bill is around $120, before the heat pump it was around $180.