Has anyone got solar panels on their roof?

[steve_t]

http://www.energymatters.com.au/inde...aign=EM120918L

Awesome news

[Akzle]

Looking at getting a grid connected solar system on the roof. Just thought I'd see if anyone has one and if there are any 'good to know' things. Probably getting 3kw

yes, but nowhere near that much.

good to know?
- don't f*ck your batteries
- check for energy rebates and program your controller to only draw off grid at those times when it's advatageous.
- mppt charge controller will keep your batteries healthier than pwm.(see pt 1)
- you will learn anyway, but change how you use energy. get rid of the other five TVs in your house, turn shit off at the wall, get rid of your dryer etc.
- get energy efficient appliances, 3-4 "energy stars" +
- sell your hyydroponic system and grow your plants in 40lt bags the way god intended.
- you will have HIGH CURRENT DC - this shit kills you.
- battery banks of, say 12x 2v cells are better than banks of say, 2x 12 batteries, on account of you can replace dead cells cheaper than whole batteries and (generally) get higher Ah cells.
- AGM batteriees are the f*ing shiz. but expensive.
- smart meters are the devil. for many reasons. if you can avoid it, do (don't let the powerco tell you you "have" to have one to grid tie.)

who is installing your system?
jaycar supply cheapest and have 25 year warranty on most shit. (plus grid tie inverters etc)
volt electronics will also ship but are slightly more expensive (?)

[Akzle]

holy shit. glad our armchair experts are out. (and wrong)

the NZ govt WILL NOT support people into being self sufficient. it's not profitable..

a standard household solar install (batteries and all) can expect to repay itself in ~10 years. (20-30k$)

the 25 year 80% warranty offered by jaycar is fairly well backed

if you want to make your own solar panels you CAN get shit (under achieving factory second) cells and solder them together.
http://www.mdpub.com/SolarPanel/index.html

i have a combination of amorphous, polycrystalline and CIS (expensive, compact and efficient) panels. i get <50% output on a fairly average (cloudy) day,
from about 8am to 4-5pm (today, ie) i'm at 100% output.

grid tie inverters sync the frequency to the mains power when switching in/out so as not to f*ck anything your side or theirs.
240v inverters are COMMON AS FUCK, to the point where if you want a yank (110v) one in NZ you have to go looking especially)

inverters provide "cleaner" power (truer to waveform, sine) than grid power, it pays to route any grid power coming in, through your batteries and inverter for this reason, then you can do away with all those surge protector/spike clipping boards.

get to jaycar, fork out the 4$ for a catalogue and see how many ways/days you can connect your off-gridery. (and start jizzing about the toys you can buy with your next paycheque)

depending where you are build yourself a wind turbine (you might need "resource consent" if you're a boot-lickin citizen.)
http://www.yourgreendream.com/diy_instructions.php
which dump excess load to hotwater heater, rather than panels (which go open circuit under no-load)

[steve_t]

yes, but nowhere near that much.

good to know?
- don't f*ck your batteries
- check for energy rebates and program your controller to only draw off grid at those times when it's advatageous.
- mppt charge controller will keep your batteries healthier than pwm.(see pt 1)
- you will learn anyway, but change how you use energy. get rid of the other five TVs in your house, turn shit off at the wall, get rid of your dryer etc.
- get energy efficient appliances, 3-4 "energy stars" +
- sell your hyydroponic system and grow your plants in 40lt bags the way god intended.
- you will have HIGH CURRENT DC - this shit kills you.
- battery banks of, say 12x 2v cells are better than banks of say, 2x 12 batteries, on account of you can replace dead cells cheaper than whole batteries and (generally) get higher Ah cells.
- AGM batteriees are the f*ing shiz. but expensive.
- smart meters are the devil. for many reasons. if you can avoid it, do (don't let the powerco tell you you "have" to have one to grid tie.)

who is installing your system?
jaycar supply cheapest and have 25 year warranty on most shit. (plus grid tie inverters etc)
volt electronics will also ship but are slightly more expensive (?)

The system is being installed by a medium/large home building company here in Hamiltron. The 3 owners of the company are doing their own houses and offered to do mine at cost. I told them they can do their own ones first and mine last as I hope they'll work out any kinks on their own houses
I'm pretty sure the system won't have batteries but I'm make sure the charge controller is top notch.
I already turn everything off at the wall. The only things constantly on is the fridge and alarm clock radio but I'm thinking of getting rid of that too since I use my phone for checking the time anyway.
I already have a smart meter and apparently another smart box is being added shortly. The month after the smart meter went it, my power bill was HUGE!!
Sounds like you're pretty on to it with these. Thanks for the tips

[Naki Rat]

Solar water heating is subsidised in NZ. Solar generation isn't

Maintenance is a must!

Not since the last budget!

[Naki Rat]

We are still fine tuning a 5+kW PV system we installed last summer. We imported 24 x 215W BP panels from the US and although rated at 5.12kW generation actually peaks at a bit over 6kW. We are grid tied through an SMA 6000A inverter and daily production is around 35+kWh on a good day, like today. Total investment was about $33K and we are getting an 8% ROI based on current electricity prices (through Meridian).

BP like most reputable PV manufacturers give a 90% @ 12 years, 80% @ 25 years warranty, or something similar, but as we seem to be getting 118% now....?

Take a look at our ground based set-up. Easier and cheaper installation, easy clean, and no risk in the case of a house fire - there is 330+VDC coming off these arrays!!

[scissorhands]

8% sounds like good farming

http://store.sundancesolar.com/do-it...olar-kits.html

and a diesel generator for a freezer if you fish and hunt
300m of polyethylene hose coiled on the roof and circulated into a super insulated hot water cylinder, the diesel genny can warm water too for extra guests
if you live simple a few led lights, small fridge, stereo and laptop
a power generating exercycle could be a great way to lose weight
10minutes hard out may be way more power than a few solar panels
put the dog on a treadmill
old F&P Washer motors make excellent wind and water drop generators
learn to de sulphate and score cheap/free car and truck batteries with no cranking amps left

then there's the home brew using the local spring water
saving money on the dole
paradise

[Slicksta]

You can get solar panels cheap from aussy.

Might be worth a look

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/New-190W-...ht_3143wt_1037

[Akzle]

...

niiiiiice.
got pics of your inverter/grid tie. it sounds cool.

i was thinking about this thread the day other. OP, if you're paying more than 40k for 3.15KW, your mate aint your mate. jaycar have a kit,(incl four day blackout batterys), for that price...

[steve_t]

We are still fine tuning a 5+kW PV system we installed last summer. We imported 24 x 215W BP panels from the US and although rated at 5.12kW generation actually peaks at a bit over 6kW. We are grid tied through an SMA 6000A inverter and daily production is around 35+kWh on a good day, like today. Total investment was about $33K and we are getting an 8% ROI based on current electricity prices (through Meridian).

BP like most reputable PV manufacturers give a 90% @ 12 years, 80% @ 25 years warranty, or something similar, but as we seem to be getting 118% now....?

Take a look at our ground based set-up. Easier and cheaper installation, easy clean, and no risk in the case of a house fire - there is 330+VDC coming off these arrays!!

Thanks! That's awesome!!

You can get solar panels cheap from aussy.

Might be worth a look

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/New-190W-...ht_3143wt_1037

Australia have awesome subsidies for PV systems! A 3kw system is about $2500. I wonder if these panels do something with the subsidy...

niiiiiice.
got pics of your inverter/grid tie. it sounds cool.

i was thinking about this thread the day other. OP, if you're paying more than 40k for 3.15KW, your mate aint your mate. jaycar have a kit,(incl four day blackout batterys), for that price...

Less than $10k for the 3kw

[Naki Rat]

You can get solar panels cheap from aussy.

Might be worth a look

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/New-190W-...ht_3143wt_1037

Monocrystalline have higher peak efficiency but polycrystalline give better generation in low light conditions which are more common in NZ.

Our panels cost us $3.60/W landed in NZ and are top quality with triple redundancy in the internal circuitry. There are (Chinese) panels available in NZ now for <$2/W but you get what you pay for as they say
Decent quality inverters are at least $1/W

Incidentally we also crunched the numbers on installing a wind turbine but PV won hands down. Pay back rate on a turbine was way too low and maintenance is a huge issue in NZ's gusty wind conditions which wreck turbines!

[Winston001]

Incidentally we also crunched the numbers on installing a wind turbine but PV won hands down. Pay back rate on a turbine was way too low and maintenance is a huge issue in NZ's gusty wind conditions which wreck turbines!

Yes, a mate of mine in Cromwell is totally off the grid and has experimented with various solar and wind generation options. He imported a windmill from the USA about 10 years ago. It certainly worked but the wind wasn't reliable. Recently he sold it. The main problem was low frequency noise day and night which penetrated the house and became a constant annoyance.

He now relies on a bank of solar panels which swing to follow the sun plus a generator backup.

[george formby]

We are still fine tuning a 5+kW PV system we installed last summer. We imported 24 x 215W BP panels from the US and although rated at 5.12kW generation actually peaks at a bit over 6kW. We are grid tied through an SMA 6000A inverter and daily production is around 35+kWh on a good day, like today. Total investment was about $33K and we are getting an 8% ROI based on current electricity prices (through Meridian).

BP like most reputable PV manufacturers give a 90% @ 12 years, 80% @ 25 years warranty, or something similar, but as we seem to be getting 118% now....?

Take a look at our ground based set-up. Easier and cheaper installation, easy clean, and no risk in the case of a house fire - there is 330+VDC coming off these arrays!!

Now that is a set up.


If you have a really big property........ linky

[SPman]

That's one of those parabolic reflectors that melt salt, or summat.......saw one of those about 50 miles south of Las Vegas....
Nice set up mr Rat - where in the 'naki is that?

[Naki Rat]

.........
Nice set up mr Rat - where in the 'naki is that?

In our chook paddock (inland Bell Block)