UPDATE 2020-06-17T00:00:00Z
Solar installed: March 2020
What Panels and Inverters did you get? Canadian Solar mono, Enphase IQ7
What is the size of your system? 5.85KW
What Solar Company did you go with? Would you recommend them? Solar Partners. I thought they were excellent.
What is your estimated payback period of the system (if you know)? About 5 years
Are you happy with your solar system? Would you do anything different next time? So far so good but I’m not living with it yet as I have tenants in the property until September. I’ll be Airbnbing again after that and can do a better comparison with the electricity bills from last year.
What’s the average price you pay for your electricity from the grid (per kWh)? I think it’s 26c
What is your feed in tariff (for the solar you export per kWh)? I think it’s 16c for first 6kw then 9? Not sure as my tenants have this information.
Who is your electricity retail? Are you happy with them? Enova. I like their values and their customer service is quite good. Much less hassle than powershop - their gamification of power did my head in.
Hi there, I have two quotes and one particular installer I prefer as they’ve been way more responsive than the other company. When I asked the other company why their quote was so much dearer they replied that it was the difference between getting an Audi and a Holden and that was it. After that they have simply not answered any of my questions. I’ve now done my own research and can see that they have recommended most of the top of the range components however the Solar Partners quote seems like the better solution for us. Our roof layout is a bit weird and we do have some big trees on ours and the neighbouring property so there may be some shading at certain times of day. Would love an expert opinion though.
I’ve read the solar guide (this site is a terrific resource) and my question is white the Enphase / Canadian system is the better option is it the best option or is there anything else I should consider? Also I understand from the guide (and my solar guy confirmed it) that if the grid is down we will not have power even with solar - and even if we did have a battery. My understanding is that we would have to be off grid to have power security - is that correct? Another group doing great work in fast tracking solar in their community said that wasn’t the case but I’ve not yet been able to get a clear explanation around this. After living between the Blue Mountains and the South Coast of NSW for the last few months we are keen to build in as much resilience on our property as possible (and as quickly as we can).