cheap PV systems revisited
Sustainable Maleny PV
systems being offered by eco-Kinetics & Free Solar.
The Free Solar offer wants you to put $1499 upfront when you register/
order. This is returned when the system is installed and gov. rebate
refunded. How long this takes could be between 3 & 6 months (maybe)
from registration.
The problem I see with their offer is how much roof space is required
for the panels they use. 20 square metres is about 3 times what you'd
normally need and I don't see a lot of houses having this much space
available facing approx. north. This is a result of using 40W panels
rather than the normal 175W panels where you only need 6 for a 1kW
installation.
The only problem I see with the eco-Kinetics offer is that you have to
wait for your system to be installed. Because they have the job of
installing the 1000 solar home systems for the Qld. gov. they have a
commitment to install these first. They have 12 months to install the
1000, how soon you get yours depends on how many they have to install
in this area.
Other than the waiting, I like that they're including an energy audit
plus a device to control stand-by power on some of your appliances.
The business is a branch of a German company and seems to have close
links with a German panel manufacturer. Anyway, I got this from their
website which you've probably found out for yourself.
Another couple of points of interest:
We've decided not to follow the BBE path. I talked to them recently
and they advised me their prices had gone up and they weren't the
great deal they originally were. Their prices were approaching what we
could do ourselves so I thought it would be better to do our own
sourcing and installing if there's still any interest from our members.
The last thing to mention is that from the start of next year the Qld
gov is offering Climate Smart home programmes - similar to the
Waterwise programme where you paid $30 & a plumber came to your house
& checked your taps for leaks & changed your shower head over. Anyway,
the idea is you pay $50 (I think) & an electrician comes & does an
energy audit on your house, changes up to 15 incandescent bulbs over
to CFLs & (best of all) installs a wireless energy monitor somewhere
in your house so you get real-time updates on how much power you're
using plus it keeps track of how much energy you use over time. These
monitors are great for instant feedback on appliance use and can
complement a grid-tie PV system to ensure you maximise how much excess
energy you send to the grid and therefore how much you get paid via
the feed-in tariff. All this normally is supposed to be worth about
$275.
Finally (whew..), our goal is to get as many solar PV systems out on
rooftops as we can at the best price we/you can get them for. If
somebody is genuinely offering an essentially free (or close to free)
system then we'll be encouraging you to go for it. Our idea in running
a bulk buy was not to make money for SM or local installers or anybody
else, it just seemed at the time that there weren't too many other
options out there. If the situation has changed then great. Whether
the SM bulk buy goes ahead will depend on continuing interest from our
members but I hope you look at all the options available. It also
depends on how many gov rebates are available.
Cheers Mark
--------------------------------------
Mark Gerrard
Sustainable Maleny
www.sustainablemaleny.org
Sustainable Enterprises Australia
Good morning sm-energy,
The value of Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs) has peaked and is now in decline, potentially making solar hot water and power more expensive until this trend changes again.
Regards
Ian Howie
Sustainable Enterprises Australia
Tony Ullman
As I told you before I contacted both eco-Kinetics & Free Solar and asked
then for more info on the equipment they intended to install but neither of
them have replied.
Do you if the issue with roof space and Free Solar is only the wattage or
are they using Amorphous panels as well?
Regards,
Tony Ullman
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