Browse Forums Building Standards; Getting It Right! 1 Jun 28, 2015 11:07 am I just spotted a house that has 18 solar panels on its roof facing east (Yes east) and 50 on its roof facing north. Yes 50. That is a total of 68. I have the photo to prove it but I am curious. I didn't have a compass but that appeared to be the directions and I know it is an estate requirement not to have solar panels visible from the front of the house and I feel the house faced west. For those that are in the know I thought there was a limit as to what size solar power system could be installed in certain areas. This house is in the Aurora estate, Wollert (Melbourne). I thought there was a limit of about a 5kW system. If that is so, how may panels would that require? Posted out of curiosity. Re: Solar power in Victoria 3Jun 30, 2015 10:34 am Best to verify with the local distributor if you can go above 5KW. I've heard of this 5KW limit/restriction but I believe you could go above it depending on the area and distributor. Some installers state that you cannot go above 5KW unless you have 3 phase but that is incorrect - maybe there's extra paper work and they can't be bothered! Panel sizes vary, they could be 235, 250, 275 or 300w just name a few, but the most common size seems to be 250w panels. Maybe this house got in before they starting placing restrictions. Re: Solar power in Victoria 5Jun 30, 2015 1:02 pm Don't forget that you can over-provision most inverters by an amount too. They will limit to their max output but as there is more available power they will produce their full output for longer (graphing output, instead of being a bell curve it becomes a flat-topped curve). The 5kW may also be per-phase, so 60 panels could be 3x20 panels = 5kW per phase if they have 3 phase power. Or they might even be off-grid (which is becoming a value proposition over time). Re: Solar power in Victoria 7Jul 27, 2015 3:31 pm I've been waiting for a quote on solar, they've changed the rules and the supplier is trying to find complaint gear, but I was told that 5kw was the limit for the esiy application process and that more was possible, but just required more paperwork from the electricity supplier, which then adds up to more $ for you. For reference, this is the Austlii reference. My take on this is, that they would be breaking the law denying access to a homeowner in Victoria, or their agent from having… 1 9082 Hey everyone Not for me or anyone I know, just generally interested. For a single allotment house, are you allowed to take the fence on both sides of your house and… 0 20888 |