Browse Forums Eco Living 1 May 12, 2008 1:04 pm Blog - http://clageonewhouse.blogspot.com/ Building Thread - viewtopic.php?f=31&t=10886&hilit=milan I am in, with my husband and my beautiful bunny Re: Anyone have installed and used Solar power in Vic? 3Jun 26, 2008 8:28 am I dont, but my mother-in-law is on an acreage has full solar power with batteries and a back up generator - shes not connected to the grid at all.
Excuse the non-tech speak here as I dont know the correct terms, but what she has is a bank of soalr panels on a pole, that is north facing and tracks the sun through the day to make the most of the available sunlight, therefore maximising the power that can be generated. Her house is on an acreage and north facing, but is quite small at 12sq, Her neighbour though has a 30sq house thats on wind and solar power. Re: Anyone have installed and used Solar power in Vic? 4Jun 26, 2008 8:44 am newbie74 We're planning on installing it as for it being worth the money thats debatable. I like the idea of not paying electricity bills, the fact if the power grid goes out during the day the fridge (and everything else) will keep running and that i can run the a/c in the middle of summer wihout problems. As for it paying for itself it will over the ten years but it will even better if the government can work out a proper payment system for the excess. A little explaination here, currently from the last i heard. the excess going back into the grid and making your meter go backwards becomes a credit (Im not sure yet if this credit can jump across to your gas bill) the problem comes is that this credit is the cost of making each watt by the power company. The difference is that these watts are transported to you and loss happens on the way. The watts you create are used by your neighbours with next to no loss hence the watts your're credited for are a lot cheaper than the ones made by the electricity provider. In the US you can get an income from them but not here. Still i like being self sufficient. Now if they'd only relax those stupid laws on wind generators............ You may want to check that your proposed system can power the house if the grid goes down. Most systems don't. Secondly, the reason power companies should pay more for electricity fed into the grid is not because there is less loss to your neighborus, but because they are buying electricity during peak hours. We get charged one rate (two if you have off-peak), but in fact electricity is worth a lot more during peak hours. Power generation capacity is linked to peak demand. If you can get peak demand down then you can save yourself building a power station. Solar power provides power during a lot of the peak demand times. Demolition August 2009, Construction Started September 2009, Completed December 2010 Re: Anyone have installed and used Solar power in Vic? 5Jun 29, 2008 11:18 pm Yes it has a cutoff system. They do pay you the daytime rate. If you knew how much power is lost in transport you would freak. If you've ever been close to the towers when its really misty you can hear it. Building NB Hampton 19e finishing at end july 08 Re: Anyone have installed and used Solar power in Vic? 6Jun 30, 2008 11:26 pm Newbiew said
Quote: and that i can run the a/c in the middle of summer wihout problems What size A/C unit Newbie - I'd be surprised you can run much of an A/C on a small grid feed solar system. I know friends with an 8kw non grid connected system and it can run their washing machine on a really sunny day - as for an aircond or dishwasher - no way. Most suburban home installations are typically only 1 to 3kva, which will cost in the order or $12K to $30K respectively including feed back meters brackets and standard roof type installation. Re the power feedback. As casa says- The way it happens in SA - is the power company ONLY pays you for what you actually put back into the grid during daylight hours - not what you totally generate - so if your house is using - lets say 4kw to run the fridge and pool pumps, TVs stove etc duiring the sunny part of the day - and your solar system is generating 6kw that day - then they will pay you for 2kw difference that you actually put back into the grid. In SA that is paid at 44c per kilowatt. Double the normal inbound rate. But check on that air cond I'd be very surprised you could run and aircond off a lowish cost solar system. Steve Re: Anyone have installed and used Solar power in Vic? 7Jul 20, 2008 9:08 am The house design, insulation and colours are ultra efficient so the a/c will be hardly on if at all. (it will have a timer to ensure that it is on long enough that the air is de-humidified) Its a custom built model that will be sized to the needs of the house. It will also be able to activate the pump every so often to keep it lubricated. So we're not talking about powering a multi zone roof model. We are also at the moment thinking of plumbing off lines to a custom outside bar fridge. The hard thing is we will have to live through a summer in this house to be able to get a better idea of its needs. Will post and update pics of everything when the house is completed.
As for SA its good to hear they pay a decent rate. The Federal Government really needs to do this Australia wide. They actually only pay you for the negative reading on your meter not for what you are putting back into the grid. When you produce more electricity than you use your meter goes backwards usually during a sunny day when your're at work and then at night when you have lights tv etc on your meter goes forwards. The difference at the end of the billing period (Some areas meters will only be read every second period and estimated for the other) is what you either get charged or credited for. So even with a grid tied system it is still nessecary to ensure that your house appliances, lighting etc are still as efficient as possible. Building NB Hampton 19e finishing at end july 08 As title suggests, looking at using the interlocking Pentablock stacked stone products to replace failing timber retaining… 0 18019 The unit normally clips into a metal plate screwed to the wall, either plate is not flush, or unit not hooked in and could be hanging from the pipes partly, either might… 2 15828 Would also like an opinion from anyone that has used xcem over hebel for floors. Thanks 1 14290 |