Solar... who's clued in?

fjohn860

Alice in diaperland
So after seeing this little article today, been thinking about alternative uses for my solar panels on my roof...



Who has their solar wired in to only heat their water?

Also those with batteries? What brands, etc.



EDIT: Also in light of the reduced (halved) feed-in tarriffs...
 

mark22

Likes Dirt
So after seeing this little article today, been thinking about alternative uses for my solar panels on my roof...



Who has their solar wired in to only heat their water?

Also those with batteries? What brands, etc.



EDIT: Also in light of the reduced (halved) feed-in tarriffs...
Batteries are not a economic viability yet. Using your power during the day when the PV system is outputing will help protect you from the new solar feed in penalties.

The article below might help with your decision on the HWS
PV HWS
 

fjohn860

Alice in diaperland
Batteries are not a economic viability yet. Using your power during the day when the PV system is outputing will help protect you from the new solar feed in penalties.

The article below might help with your decision on the HWS
PV HWS
Yeah, using during the day is a little hard with work 5 days out of 7 unfortunately.

Delay starts on dishwasher etc is about the extent of it.
 

silentbutdeadly

has some good things to say
So after seeing this little article today, been thinking about alternative uses for my solar panels on my roof...



Who has their solar wired in to only heat their water?

Also those with batteries? What brands, etc.



EDIT: Also in light of the reduced (halved) feed-in tarriffs...
Our HWS is not on off peak. So we have it using its inbuilt timer to turn on during the day whilst the solar panels are fired up. Mind you, our HWS is a Sanden heat pump so it's perhaps four times more efficient than the usual element based HWS...only takes 1 kW to heat water each day.

And since I work at home, most everything can be done during the day. We average about 3.5 kW hours grid usage each day usage these days...
 

rowdyflat

chez le médecin
Yeah, using during the day is a little hard with work 5 days out of 7 unfortunately.

Delay starts on dishwasher etc is about the extent of it.
Old fashioned timers with pegs work well.
My ebike is on one now.
Can be washing machine , slow cooker , aircon/heating before you get home, e vehicle if you have one ?
 

Dales Cannon

lightbrain about 4pm
Staff member
Have 3 nuclear power stations when camping. 80W hard mounted on the camper, a 200W folding panel to supplement the 80 and a 160W folding panel on the roof rack feeding the aux battery in the 4wd. Each running a fridge and lights.

That last panel on the 4wd hasn't been putting as much into the aux as I expect. Seemingly a max of 13.3V in full sun. The aux has been slowly running down and really only topped up by trips to town or a bit of 4wding. The camper was sitting at 100% this morning so I shuffled the 200W over to the car and swapped the inputs over. Immediately the charger kicked into absorption mode at 14.4V. Tested the roof panel. 19.1-20.1 V OC but only 2.5-3.5A OC. Less than one panel output. Hmmmm. So either panel has finally given up (probably well over 15 years old and always on the 4wd) or there is a dry joint somewhere (wiring untouched from when I first did the install). I will rip the panels apart when I get home and test each at the Junction box. Might be time for a nice new panel. At least a 180W single panel is cheap now and will pretty much bolt straight on.
 

indica

Serial flasher
And... mine - 3 months in I'm $400 in credit.
Nice, good day is 100kwh (sorry if the case is wrong)
 

shiny

Go-go-gadget-wrist-thingy
And... mine - 3 months in I'm $400 in credit.
Nice, good day is 100kwh (sorry if the case is wrong)
Which electricity company are you using. A few here in SA are capping inputs or only offering a few cents per kW Exported.
 

rowdyflat

chez le médecin
Ergon, no choice up here





16.65, 12kW inverter, three phase meter
Must be running an engineering business with lots of welders?
Seriously even our local community power company is only paying 7c per Kw in so i went and bought an EV to use it . 7c x 40 Kwhr = $2.80 to fill the tank !
 

fjohn860

Alice in diaperland
Anyone gone the solar battery route at home?

Just got a "letter to the household" envelope from solar battery group (SBG) spruiking a $3,980 out of pocket solar battery installation deal (after SBG discount and state government rebate)...
 
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