Browse Forums Heating, Cooling & Insulation Re: Solar system questions 6Jul 24, 2011 11:45 am The Harder You Try - the Luckier You Get ! Web site http://www.anewhouse.com.au Informative, Amusing, and Opinionated Blog - Over 600 posts on all aspects of building a new house. Re: Solar system questions 8Jul 25, 2011 8:25 am Quote: You may get 6 to 8 hours of sunlight per day, but the strongest hours are around midday. Therefoe the 6 to 8 hours of sunlight reduces to about 5.1 hours of equivalent peak sunlight, if you know what I mean. No, I dont really get that - but will look up table in link and see if our area is covered - we live in Whyalla, 350k west of Adelaide, because it is dryer here, more sunny days (a third of Adelaide rainfall) we should get better returns than Adelaide, even if we are on same latitude. . Will check in the sales brochure which panels we would have and check them out - just google something like solar panel comparisons? Thank you for your assistance, everyone. Re: Solar system questions 9Jul 25, 2011 10:07 pm In simple terms (and please, anyone correct me if I'm wrong) what casa is saying is that solar panels do not produce their max output for every hour the sun is up. My 1.9 kw system ramps up and ramps down in power generation as the sun rises and sets each day. In the early morning when the sun is at a low angle my entire system of panels is only producing 200-300watts at best (0.2-0.3kw). The hour after daybreak is classed as a "daylight hour" but my system has nowhere near produced 1 KwHour of power in that first hour of daylight. Given it's Winter and the Sun's angle in relation to my panels is not at it's absolute optimum, it takes me about 2.5 hours of actual sunlight in the morning to make 1 KwHour of power. The same applies in the afternoon. The best part of the day to produce power is obviously in the middle of the day when the sun is high in the sky and my system produces more power as the sunlight angle is at it's best in relation to my panels which at this time of year my panels are peaking at about 1500-1600 watts (1.5 - 1.6kw) at the best part of the day. For my system, facing due North, no shade, in the middle of winter, in Sydney, it's making about 5.0 - 5.1 KwHours of power a day. This is except for last week when it rained everyday and I made bugger all power but my rainwater tank is full Hope this helps. Re: Solar system questions 11Jul 26, 2011 10:16 pm Helyn ETA: Pattycake, which state are you in - I wonder if the rebates are different from state to state - also I think the feed in tarrifs are - in SA it is 44c for another 16 years if you sign a contract before Sept 30th , plus each elec company adds their own few cents on top of this. My understanding is that in SA the system must be installed and you must have the certificate of compliance by 30th September to get the 44c feed in tariff (signing the contract by 30th September is not enough). You then have an additional 4 months to get the import/export meter to finalise the installation and confirm qualification for the 44c feed in tariff. You need the feed in tariff and to change your habits to eliminate your bills. eg try to use as little power during the day so you can sell it back to the grid at 44c and do the washing, dishwasher etc at night so you are buying at 24c. Then you don't need a system that produces all the daily KWH that you use, only part of it. Slab Down: 2/6/11 Moved in 13/3/2012 Current Status : Waiting for the garden to grow. My build thread : viewtopic.php?f=31&t=47031 Re: Solar system questions 12Jul 27, 2011 8:47 am Crow, we were told you only have to have contract signed by 30th September, not neccesarily have system installed by then. Will double check on this as they have told us 6 - 8 weeks from signing until installation (it may be less than this in metropolitan areas but takes longer in country) so plausible will not be installed by Sept 30th. Have decided to go for 18 panels which according to sales rep will produce on average 13kw/day in our area - if we are using on average 15 kw and dropping (as only 2 people in household where there were 3 for 9 of last 12 months) this should cover us nicely. Yes, I get the advantages of using more electricty at night - as we are mostly out at work during the day this would be the case anyway - but will remember to charge phones, laptops, and do other such things overnight. Re: Solar system questions 13Jul 27, 2011 8:59 am (The deadline for approved application of permission to connect in order to take advantage of the generous 44c/kWh feed in tariff rate is 29 September, 2011.) This is from this site here: http://www.solarchoice.net.au/blog/sa-f ... ry-debate/ and reads to me that one only has to have contract signed and application approved. Hope that is correct. Re: Solar system questions 14Aug 23, 2011 12:05 am Typical annual solar output is about 1600 kWh/kW system. In Adelaide it is about 2/3rds of this in winter and 1/3rd higher in summer. i.e. for a 1 kW system - 4.4 kWh/day (average). 2.7 kWhr/day (winter), 5.7 kWhr/day (summer). Check out typical monthly outputs in Adelaide from this site. pvoutput.org I looked into it a few years ago and my conclusion was to just build a carport that will support panels and get a system installed separately. The company I looked at had… 1 6640 Once you know the basics, the rest is easy. Read my post in the thread linked below. viewtopic.php?p=1919271#p1919271 2 19755 It's all about wireless, self install now. The cost/benefit of wired setups for the house are no longer what they used to be. Lots of wireless options. Eufy, Arlo and… 2 9989 |