Anyone looked at solar power reciently

**Laggard** · 13-05-2019, 10:41 PM

We will be moving to town from the country into a new house. Our section is perfect for solar and I'm looking on line for a good system. I would like to stay on the grid as a backup (especially in winter) but hopefully saving some $ in the long term. The aim is to get through most of the year on Solar

My thinking is there is not too many natural resources left for power generation, and with all our cars being switched over to electrical power, prices must go up!

I haven't sorted much out at this stage, but was impressed with the new generation lead carbon batteries, 20+ year lifespan and deep cycle capabilities(within limits)

Anyone been there recently?

**gary67** · 14-05-2019, 07:47 AM

Not yet but looking along the same lines for our house, probably not in this years budget though

**piroska** · 14-05-2019, 10:15 AM

That calculator on Energywise got removed. The solar companies complained apparently.

No kidding, if you have to borrow to do it, and in most areas, it comes out (over 25 yrs) as a negative.

We have good power generation here in NZ< solar should be for those hot countries, Africa, Arabia and such, Aussie even.

**dugimodo** · 14-05-2019, 10:37 AM

Prices keep dropping, batteries keep improving. I've been looking at it and considering it for a few years now but I've been waiting for it to be a bit cheaper.
Grid tied is the only affordable option right now, with standalone and hybrid systems still costing a fortune due to battery prices.

The tesla powerwall and other similar products look interesting, but it's very expensive and there's a long wait to get them.

I had planned to check again in another year if I manage to get the mortgage paid off. My thought is to spend money up front that if I time it right will make for cheap living in my retirement years.
A solar system on the roof and an electric car seems like a great combo in most respects but the entry cost is still too high for me.

**paulw** · 14-05-2019, 11:02 AM

There was an item on Fair Go a couple of weeks ago about it. Should be on the TVNZ OnDemand site still. Basically they considered it not worth the price Vs the payback period.

**Laggard** · 14-05-2019, 12:49 PM

Hi Dugi,
Yes an electric car is likely in the future. the Tesla Powerwall would probably need replacing before the other components plus at 5 kw capacity is not really sufficient, so waiting is a good strategy, prices will slowly come down, but I think panel prices are not going to drop much, as they have turned into a mass item.

Paul and piroska,
Fairgo almost always covers the bottom end of the market, meaning a small system to support power usage during the day(no storage) I'm looking at a bigger system to cover 80 to 90 percent of our usage using power storage.

I must admit I haven't done any pricing yet, but its just not a totally financial thing,
probably a bit of the geek appeal comes into it too. As I have said I am pretty sure power prices will escalate as electric cars become the main means of personal transport demand for electricity will increase, the power companies have been known to take advantage in situation like that!

**dugimodo** · 14-05-2019, 12:59 PM

The pricing on sola rpanels has flattened out but it's still dropping.

I can't click this link at work https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&sour...57878152849937

But an image from it shows a predicted downwards trend continuing to 2022. China is on a mission to corner the solar panel market and already have won a few big quotes to install it as an alternative to other power generation because they can do it cheaper than any other option. They even sold solar panels to an Arab oil producing country, imagine that.

**B.M.** · 14-05-2019, 01:56 PM

From my experience with Solar Power dating back to Queensland in 2008 you have to be Brainwashed or Braindead to entertain the idea, and that is without considering banks of batteries.

What you aren’t told is the cost and trouble of maintaining the Solar Panels.

I set up a spreadsheet for a relative and we monitored the daily use and feedback into the grid.

For a start it looked very good because the power companies were paying you 44c per kWh and selling it to you for under 20c per kWh. That was the equivalent of a Service Station buying its petrol for $2 a Litre and selling it to you for $1 a litre.

However, we found that the panels output fell off dramatically over time so we called the experts. It went like this:

Ahhh, yes, have you had the panels serviced?

No, should we have?

Oh yes, the Panels require cleaning just like your windows.

Ok, we’ll climb on the roof with a hose and clean them.

I’m sorry that is not allowed, there is Electricity involved and it needs to be done by an expert which in turn will require Scaffolding to comply with regulations.

How much will that cost?

Well about $2500.

Forget it.

Anyway, before the expert was around the corner we were on the roof with broom and hose and cleaned the dust and bird droppings off the panels.

However, whilst our efforts weren’t totally in vain, we never got anything like the output when the installation was new.

Time to talk to another expert.

I’m sorry sir, but some of these panels drop to 80% quite quickly and the Manufactures will only come to the party if you can prove a cell or cells have dropped under 80% and even then it is on a pro-rata basis based on 10 years.

So you see if anyone thinks they can save money or the planet by installing Solar Panels I wish them luck because they are going to need it.