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Thread: Has anyone got solar panels on their roof?

  1. #46
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    Quote Originally Posted by Naki Rat View Post
    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!
    Mmm interesting.

    Crunching numbers again would it be worth investing in a cheap system ie around 1.30per watt plus some cheap inverter from a reputable chinese company? Ie a mass market product for NZ?
    However beautiful the strategy, you should occasionally look at the results.

  2. #47
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    Quote Originally Posted by Slicksta View Post
    Mmm interesting.

    Crunching numbers again would it be worth investing in a cheap system ie around 1.30per watt plus some cheap inverter from a reputable chinese company? Ie a mass market product for NZ?
    There are plenty of suppliers of cheap PV panels and inverters but very much a case of getting what you pay for. In a similar vein I'm not in the market for a Great Wall ute any time soon

    Also due to the substantial government subsidies and subsequent abolition of same in many markets (e.g. Germany, Australia, California, etc) the PV industry grew rapidly and now has an international glut. This has been compounded by recessionary conditions in most markets and will probably see PV components selling very cheaply for some time. There are many wholesalers of such products stuck with unsold stock that they will struggle to sell at their cost price which will present bargain buying for those buyers able to capitalise on the situation.

    Add to that the technological advances in PV manufacture that are predicted to deliver generation efficiencies of 25%+ (our BP panels are rated at 12.9% efficiency) in the future and you have the makings of a very volatile market. Like any technology however, this week's/month's/year's model will be outdated by the next and you can sit on your hands forever if you take that approach. The one sure thing is that electricity supply rates will keep heading up so the potential 'earning' capacity will continue to rise with them unless Meridian's parity export rate is reduced, in which case it is time to investigate going off-grid by adopting some form of storage capacity.

  3. #48
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    Quote Originally Posted by Slicksta View Post
    Mmm interesting.

    Crunching numbers again would it be worth investing in a cheap system ie around 1.30per watt plus some cheap inverter from a reputable chinese company? Ie a mass market product for NZ?
    reputable? chinese? In the same sentence?
    it's not a bad thing till you throw a KLR into the mix.
    those cheap ass bitches can do anything with ductape.
    (PostalDave on ADVrider)

  4. #49
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    Quote Originally Posted by imdying View Post
    ......... and getting the hell of this rock (because eventually that lovely sun is going to start to get bigger and we'll all be BBQ'd).

    i dont think anyone needs to worry about that yet

  5. #50
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    Bit of a thread dredge but in light of this info "New Zealand power prices have surged at twice the rate of nearly every other developed country over the past 30 years" I'm glad I've got a PV system on the way but sad I've been missing out on the huge amount of sunlight hours we've had lately.

    Lid blown on power price rort
    http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/n...ectid=10863135

  6. #51
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    Quote Originally Posted by steve_t View Post
    Bit of a thread dredge but in light of this info "New Zealand power prices have surged at twice the rate of nearly every other developed country over the past 30 years" I'm glad I've got a PV system on the way but sad I've been missing out on the huge amount of sunlight hours we've had lately.

    Lid blown on power price rort
    http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/n...ectid=10863135
    with envy at your setup... hardly surprising Big John wants to sell some of that overpriced shit off.
    I didn't think!!! I experimented!!!

  7. #52
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    Do your sums carefully and check out your whole installation before you embark on such a project.

    I did this when I retired and found that when you take into consideration initial and on going maintenance costs etc, if you have grid supply at your door, it is cheaper to buy off the grid and invest your capital elsewhere!

    Our monthly electricity bill average has never been in excess of $50.00 and reliability factor is extremely high, we have diversification to cover various shortage scenario's and have an adequate standby generator, should it be required.

    As SPman has mentioned, nearly every other country in the world will subsidise such an installation but NZ governments, especially Labour and their Green party sub set, will not have a bar of this, they were in power when I was doing my enquiries, they are full of BS!

    Every grid connection is as capable of exporting as much power as it is importing so all you have to do is establish and install the acceptable safety measures and protections required by the line company that you deal with.

    The pay back period will be long so the sooner you begin the better, if it works out for you .... there is no tangible accounting for the enjoyment you get out of having such a system, only you can calculate that! Good luck!

  8. #53
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    Quote Originally Posted by oldrider View Post
    Do your sums carefully and check out your whole installation before you embark on such a project.

    I did this when I retired and found that when you take into consideration initial and on going maintenance costs etc, if you have grid supply at your door, it is cheaper to buy off the grid and invest your capital elsewhere!

    Our monthly electricity bill average has never been in excess of $50.00 and reliability factor is extremely high, we have diversification to cover various shortage scenario's and have an adequate standby generator, should it be required.

    As SPman has mentioned, nearly every other country in the world will subsidise such an installation but NZ governments, especially Labour and their Green party sub set, will not have a bar of this, they were in power when I was doing my enquiries, they are full of BS!

    Every grid connection is as capable of exporting as much power as it is importing so all you have to do is establish and install the acceptable safety measures and protections required by the line company that you deal with.

    The pay back period will be long so the sooner you begin the better, if it works out for you .... there is no tangible accounting for the enjoyment you get out of having such a system, only you can calculate that! Good luck!

    50$ !! do you have other heating/water heating methods.50 is not much more than the daily charge!

  9. #54
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    Quote Originally Posted by steve_t View Post
    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
    Have a read of this:http://solarenergyhouse.co.nz/

  10. #55
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    Quote Originally Posted by BMWST? View Post
    50$ !! do you have other heating/water heating methods.50 is not much more than the daily charge!
    True! ... Quoted $50 is average and yes we have gas for cooking (water heating in summer months) and multi-fuel fire with wet back for winter heating and heat pumps for regulating temp in winter.

    Have never used electricity for water heating except on test.

    Gas is 9kg bottles on auto change over, use equals about 1 per month in summer, 1 only all through winter months for cooking.

    Electricity bill is one of our smaller ones ... Telecom on the other hand ... sheesh!

    Most people have no idea about how much electricity they are wasting in their homes!

  11. #56
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    Quote Originally Posted by oldrider View Post
    Most people have no idea about how much electricity they are wasting in their homes!

    not just electricity, but energy.

    of course, y' just couldn't do without the 60" plasma and that new fangled hair-dryer, eh...

  12. #57
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    Quote Originally Posted by Akzle View Post

    not just electricity, but energy.

    of course, y' just couldn't do without the 60" plasma and that new fangled hair-dryer, eh...
    And why not? ... Before my generation this technology was not! It is our gift to your generation ... try to enjoy it!

  13. #58
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    Quote Originally Posted by oldrider View Post
    Most people have no idea about how much electricity they are wasting in their homes!
    Especially teenagers...
    Dunno why.
    TOP QUOTE: “The problem with socialism is that sooner or later you run out of other people’s money.”

  14. #59
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    Quote Originally Posted by Swoop View Post
    Especially teenagers...
    Dunno why.
    Lol, according to psychologist Nigel Latta, teenagers are "not right in the head" which may explain it a bit.

  15. #60
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    Our PV set-up had its 1st birthday in late February. The year's generation was 7,650kWh
    The problem is that Meridian have now announced that as of April 8th they will be knee-capping all of their 'Distributed Generation' customers by reducing their buy-back rate for exported excess generation by effectively 2/3. Now looking at power storage systems including Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicles, as the Commodore is due for replacement in any case.

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