Solar Panels for $495

[mrsbrown]

I can't do it because I need a new roof first, but if I had the money I would do this.

A workmate now has one, so it's no scam.

OTOH, if you can't afford the panels, you can save the world just as much AND MORE CHEAPLY by making efficiency improvements in your use of electricity - turning stuff off, only using gas/solar for hot water or installing low flow showerheads if you have electric,

You should probably do the efficiency stuff before contemplating the panels.

*Sigh* If I could just work out how to get my our electricity consumption below 22kWh per day. I'd prefer if it were 6kWh per day.

Comments

[tcpip.livejournal.com]

Yes, but...

[mrsbrown.livejournal.com]

OTOH, it's possible that would be resolved sometime in the next few years and in the meantime, based on calculations here a $495 set of panels will be paid back in only 2 years, and after that, some of your electricity would be free.

[omnot.livejournal.com]

Would that it were available in Ballarat. The best I can find here is breaze, and it is somewhat more expensive.

22kWh per day? Is that averaged over the year? I'm mystified, because since moving in here, my household electricity consumption has averaged 6.48kWh a day. I'll be interested to see what we use in midwinter.

[mrsbrown.livejournal.com]

There's also these guys - http://www.rezeko.com/ for $1895

Also, some councils are doing a bulk purchase which makes it cheaper.

22kWh per day is the average use as stated on my bills. I have the work power meter at home so I can work out what's costing me so much energy. I suspect it's our computers, modem and router. But I'll see.

[tikiwanderer.livejournal.com]

22kWh is a lot. Do you have sixteen computers? Or unusually high-powered ones? I'm not sure how many people live in your home - that can push it up a bit and just make a lot of little things add up to more.

[sacred-chao.livejournal.com]

So even with a tiled roof installation it pays for itself in about 4-5 years? That's not shabby at all. I suppose that's assuming current energy prices as well. I do wonder what will happen to those of the next 5-10 years. Mind you, I also wonder that about dollar/watt figures on PV installations.

[sootysmudge.livejournal.com]

I just checked my last electricity bill, it was 5.16 kwh, but there is only one of me.

[teffania.livejournal.com]

Definately the computers. Although also the heating/cooling.

You may find the last graph on this page interesting:
http://member.melbpc.org.au/~dgbrown/eletric.htm

We are able to locate certain events on our electricity consumption, and they all relate to those.

Please note that our solar hot water has an electric post heat, our oven is electric, whereas most of you have gas (our gas bill is ridiculously low). The DDC controller is a programable climate control system, like they have in big buildings - but with more tinkering on the program.

I'm pretty sure we have reduced our useage since the end of the graph, but since a number of efficiency improvements coincide with the installation of solar panels and the power distributers inability to reliably read 3 phase interval meters we haven't had reliable billing data in years.

Also nearly all our whitegoods are 30 ears old and refuse to die in an unfixable way (no matter how many knobs fall off, the motors refuse to burn out) so we can happily buy ones with this decades version of power efficiency and not contribute too much to landfill and manufacturing pollution. (that and we hate shopping because it's always a major research project)