Renewable Energy

[acbytesla]

Mine were installed in 2008 and paid themselves off in three years.

My electricity provider organised the project, and the scheme was 'too good to be true'.

i.e. They paid for everything up front, I had fixed repayments ($112 per month IIRC) for a fixed period of time.

The panels were generating and exporting $90.00 per month (on average) from the day that they were installed, so I was actually only paying about $20 per month to pay the things off.

As far as I could tell, it was free money for me, and I've never looked back.

They're still chugging away up there, making free money, and the reduced feed-in tariff.

This is from my most recent electricity bill, note that it only shows the amount of solar generation that was exported.

I'm at home full time now, and charge my car a couple of times per week.

Solar exports

Item	Description	Units	Price	Amount
Solar feed-in credit (incl GST, if any)		261 kWh	$-0.460000	-$120.06
Total exports				-$120.06

They're paying you 46 cents per kWH? Average US resident purchases electricity at a significantly lower rate. How is it possible that the NET METERING credit is that high?

Electricity Rates

Compare today's residential and commercial electricity rates, plans, and offers from energy providers across the United States.

www.electricchoice.com

 

[novaphile]

They're paying you 46 cents per kWH? Average US resident purchases electricity at a significantly lower rate. How is it possible that the NET METERING credit is that high?

Electricity Rates

Compare today's residential and commercial electricity rates, plans, and offers from energy providers across the United States.

www.electricchoice.com

Sorry,

No idea. I just signed up for the scheme that was offered, it looked like free money to me, (and still does).

They've been running since 2008.

Panels generate a lot more for the same area these days, (mine are 188W panels and 250W seem to be the standard these days) so I'll probably upgrade soon and put in a 10kWh battery at the same time.

The best part was before I bought my PHEV, the company called me and said: "You've generated a pretty serious credit, more than your next couple of years of power bills..." Receiving a cheque for $1000 from the power company was pretty satisfying.



My brother ended up putting in a new system (5.5kW vs. the 1.5kW that I have), and routinely gets cheques from the power company.

These days, my system and my usage, particularly the car, are pretty close, so I pay a bill of about $200 per quarter.

(NB. There are also 'senior discounts' involved in that, so probably not a good reflection of what I should be paying.)

 

[novaphile]

They're paying you 46 cents per kWH? Average US resident purchases electricity at a significantly lower rate. How is it possible that the NET METERING credit is that high?

Electricity Rates

Compare today's residential and commercial electricity rates, plans, and offers from energy providers across the United States.

www.electricchoice.com

Oh, and our cost per kWh is much higher than the USA, it's $0.549 for the first 976 kWh, and $0.422 for anything over that.

(NB. AU$1 is about US$0.70)

So the feed-in tariff, while high, is less than what we pay for power.

(I only used 550kWh on my last bill, so don't hit the lower tariff).

 

[Norman Alexander]

Panels generate a lot more for the same area these days, (mine are 188W panels and 250W seem to be the standard these days) so I'll probably upgrade soon and put in a 10kWh battery at the same time.

Just FYI, our year-old ones are 450W each. 250W panels are "old tech" these days, and are being replaced. Battery capacities are improving too, although 10kWh is about standard. Ours is 12kWh, with the option to add a module to make it 16kWh in one stack (BYD battery box system).