Solar... who's clued in?

Sky_Collapsed

Not particularly enlightened
Lithium Titanate Oxide cells will do that and and then some! They deliver some pretty amazing results in testing that I've seen ...but... you'd better have deep pockets!
i initially looked at LTO's but the shipping cost were insane, think i was quoted 3k for shipping plus the actual price for the batteries, i think it would have costed around 10-15k for 15kwh or circa i can't recall exactly instead went with 25kwh of LFP's for 6k plus two inverters (To keep the volts down so i didn't require a sparky to install that portion of the build) have batteries connected up to second set of panels (4kw) and have some things running off that but waiting on sparky to connect it to the house.
 

Mr Crudley

Glock in your sock
I have had a small solar panel as a first attempt to give some fan powered ventilation to the shed. It has worked a treat.

Note to self. Do not use acrylic based solar panels as our sun eats them. Explains why the fan has been getting progressively slower.

No prizes for picking the old and new.

See what else decays after a few years in our sun :)

20220619_105214.jpg
20220619_105232.jpg
 

Flow-Rider

Burner
I have had a small solar panel as a first attempt to give some fan powered ventilation to the shed. It has worked a treat.

Note to self. Do not use acrylic based solar panels as our sun eats them. Explains why the fan has been getting progressively slower.

No prizes for picking the old and new.

See what else decays after a few years in our sun :)

View attachment 390452View attachment 390453
What's the rest of your system, I've thought about running something to charge a battery pack?
 

fjohn860

Alice in diaperland
Has anyone upgraded an old solar system to a larger kW output, etc.

Looking to do this, though I think in my case it will be more panels (some/all old ones replaced) and also a new inverter. What is the general consensus on solar panel life?

The house had this system when we bought it and I don't have any documentation of when it was installed (though my neighbour probably knows), but as far as I can tell the system is a standard 3-ish KW system with a "goodwe" inverter that probably doesn't allow for much more kilowatties.

EDIT: GOODWE inverter is a 3600W inverter so yeah will need replacing too.
 
Last edited:

rangersac

Medically diagnosed OMS
Has anyone upgraded an old solar system to a larger kW output, etc.

Looking to do this, though I think in my case it will be more panels (some/all old ones replaced) and also a new inverter. What is the general consensus on solar panel life?

The house had this system when we bought it and I don't have any documentation of when it was installed (though my neighbour probably knows), but as far as I can tell the system is a standard 3-ish KW system with a "goodwe" inverter that probably doesn't allow for much more kilowatties.

EDIT: GOODWE inverter is a 3600W inverter so yeah will need replacing too.
Looked into it about three years ago. Short answer is it depends on the age of the system. In my case the existing system was around 8 years old, but was still merrily chugging away, and the panels were still doing their thing without signs of any obvious degradation. Rather than replace anything, we ended up installing a separate system, as the advice from the solar guy was, it 'aint broke so don't fix it. Also inverters in particular get pricey once you start upping capacity if your system is large. We now have one 5kW system which is three years old, and the older 2.5kW system which is now 11 years old. Generation logs show that the old system consistently produces 50% of the output of the new system. I think the general advice when it comes to panel life is around 25 years, which seems consistent with my experience.
 

fjohn860

Alice in diaperland
Looked into it about three years ago. Short answer is it depends on the age of the system. In my case the existing system was around 8 years old, but was still merrily chugging away, and the panels were still doing their thing without signs of any obvious degradation. Rather than replace anything, we ended up installing a separate system, as the advice from the solar guy was, it 'aint broke so don't fix it. Also inverters in particular get pricey once you start upping capacity if your system is large. We now have one 5kW system which is three years old, and the older 2.5kW system which is now 11 years old. Generation logs show that the old system consistently produces 50% of the output of the new system. I think the general advice when it comes to panel life is around 25 years, which seems consistent with my experience.
Yeah that makes sense.

At a guess I think our system would be around 10 years old...
 

shiny

Go-go-gadget-wrist-thingy
Looked into it about three years ago. Short answer is it depends on the age of the system. In my case the existing system was around 8 years old, but was still merrily chugging away, and the panels were still doing their thing without signs of any obvious degradation. Rather than replace anything, we ended up installing a separate system, as the advice from the solar guy was, it 'aint broke so don't fix it. Also inverters in particular get pricey once you start upping capacity if your system is large. We now have one 5kW system which is three years old, and the older 2.5kW system which is now 11 years old. Generation logs show that the old system consistently produces 50% of the output of the new system. I think the general advice when it comes to panel life is around 25 years, which seems consistent with my experience.
This! Been told by our energy provider solar feed ins will stop in 3-5 years time so looking at options. Was told the same thing. If system running a ok the just add another system of desired size.
 

Oddjob

Merry fucking Xmas to you assholes
This! Been told by our energy provider solar feed ins will stop in 3-5 years time so looking at options. Was told the same thing. If system running a ok the just add another system of desired size.
Feed ins have already stopped in some suburbs. I.e. the local substation is already at feed in capacity.

We're installing a 11kw system with 2 power walls on 2 phases to try and be as self sufficient as possible. The modelling suggests we will have excess energy in Summer and be in defect in winter.



Personally I'm not so sure. I run the a/c pretty hard and happy to use jumpers in winter.

Sent from my M2012K11AG using Tapatalk
 

BKMad

Likes Dirt
Feed ins have already stopped in some suburbs. I.e. the local substation is already at feed in capacity.

We're installing a 11kw system with 2 power walls on 2 phases to try and be as self sufficient as possible. The modelling suggests we will have excess energy in Summer and be in defect in winter.



Personally I'm not so sure. I run the a/c pretty hard and happy to use jumpers in winter.

Sent from my M2012K11AG using Tapatalk
Is that chart really predicting that you'd be using over 40kWh per day in winter or am I reading it wrong? I would have thought that 2 powerwalls should be plenty to keep you going year round. Plenty of people get by on one.
 

Mr Crudley

Glock in your sock
I feel majorly undergunned in electric usage. Like taking a fully rigid path bike with handlebar mounted basket to a 'Duro 'Bro finals race.

The solar sales people have visited a few times but the cost to install doesn't work with our tiny consumption. We have a park across the road with large gumtrees that keep away much of the afternoon heat. It gets hot but rarely *that* hot.

The 2 x A/C split systems we have only needed to be turned on for a little while later at night if the house is still too hot. The ceiling fans, 4 x whirlybirds, roof insulation plus double glazed glass in the extension really help even on hot days. It doen't seem to get too hot or too cold. I am not big on super chilled air either and usually end up getting a cold from running in and out of it. I also WFH but that doesn't seem to dent it either. We don't tightarse ourselves and live under candles but just don't seem to have that demand.

I bet we could run the whole house a car battery with inverter and a few AA's cells or copper wires plugged into a lemon as backup :confused:

No wonder they came and installed the gee whiz IoT power box that phones home the electricity usage to keep tabs on us :D

eUsage.jpg
 

fjohn860

Alice in diaperland
I feel majorly undergunned in electric usage. Like taking a fully rigid path bike with handlebar mounted basket to a 'Duro 'Bro finals race.

The solar sales people have visited a few times but the cost to install doesn't work with our tiny consumption. We have a park across the road with large gumtrees that keep away much of the afternoon heat. It gets hot but rarely *that* hot.

The 2 x A/C split systems we have only needed to be turned on for a little while later at night if the house is still too hot. The ceiling fans, 4 x whirlybirds, roof insulation plus double glazed glass in the extension really help even on hot days. It doen't seem to get too hot or too cold. I am not big on super chilled air either and usually end up getting a cold from running in and out of it. I also WFH but that doesn't seem to dent it either. We don't tightarse ourselves and live under candles but just don't seem to have that demand.

I bet we could run the whole house a car battery with inverter and a few AA's cells or copper wires plugged into a lemon as backup :confused:

No wonder they came and installed the gee whiz IoT power box that phones home the electricity usage to keep tabs on us :D

View attachment 398073
We are pretty similar at $2.28 average daily usage.

Not sure on the misso's enthusiasm for spending more money on solar (she often says are we even going to live here that long). But I'm leaning towards another smallish system (pending health and age of current system) to hopefully bump us up to free electricity...
 

shiny

Go-go-gadget-wrist-thingy
I feel majorly undergunned in electric usage. Like taking a fully rigid path bike with handlebar mounted basket to a 'Duro 'Bro finals race.

The solar sales people have visited a few times but the cost to install doesn't work with our tiny consumption. We have a park across the road with large gumtrees that keep away much of the afternoon heat. It gets hot but rarely *that* hot.

The 2 x A/C split systems we have only needed to be turned on for a little while later at night if the house is still too hot. The ceiling fans, 4 x whirlybirds, roof insulation plus double glazed glass in the extension really help even on hot days. It doen't seem to get too hot or too cold. I am not big on super chilled air either and usually end up getting a cold from running in and out of it. I also WFH but that doesn't seem to dent it either. We don't tightarse ourselves and live under candles but just don't seem to have that demand.

I bet we could run the whole house a car battery with inverter and a few AA's cells or copper wires plugged into a lemon as backup :confused:

No wonder they came and installed the gee whiz IoT power box that phones home the electricity usage to keep tabs on us :D

View attachment 398073
Holy lemon powered power Batman! That’s nuts. We are a family of 5. Last bill we averaged $3.12 a day at 11.35 kWh a day with a 5kWh solar system. When we had the Gov feed in we had no bills for 3 years. Will need to crunch numbers but some more panels and battery should see us back to being pretty self sufficient but need to weigh up ROI as well.
 

Mr Crudley

Glock in your sock
We are pretty similar at $2.28 average daily usage.

Not sure on the misso's enthusiasm for spending more money on solar (she often says are we even going to live here that long). But I'm leaning towards another smallish system (pending health and age of current system) to hopefully bump us up to free electricity...
I would like to get one in the longer term. It is a great idea but needs a powerbank for night IMHO and I'm betting the systems that pop up in a few years are far above what we have now. I can wait a bit longer.
 

Mr Crudley

Glock in your sock
Holy lemon powered power Batman! That’s nuts. We are a family of 5. Last bill we averaged $3.12 a day at 11.35 kWh a day with a 5kWh solar system. When we had the Gov feed in we had no bills for 3 years. Will need to crunch numbers but some more panels and battery should see us back to being pretty self sufficient but need to up ROI as well.
$3.12 per day is bargain for a family of 5. That won't get you coffee here for that, even from a McD's barista that has just finished year 9 at school for the day.

Still having a zero electricity cost is a very tempting thought.
 
Top