Solar... who's clued in?

dazz

Downhill Dazz
We can definitely get enough sun on the roof, especially in the afternoon. In summer, we're good from late morning until late arvo. There won't be much in winter, but we know that. We get pretty much all day sun on the driveway and were going get a specially designed car port strong enough to hold the panels, but we're holding back now as we can't get anyone willing to do the job. I even called up solar victoria to complain, and they can only say they can't force any installer to do the job.

I just don't understand why no one wants to do it. They all just back out after they say we will come back to you with a quote. I can't believe they don't want our business.
Maybe ask around your neighbours or google for a reputable local sparkie and talk to them about the drama's you're running into rather than going through a 'solar installer'. They are only really interested in the cookie cutter installs where they can be in and out quick and easy, take your cash and onto the next job.

Also, optimisers or micro-inverters 'might' be worth considering if you are going to have panels facing all different directions and partial shading over different parts of the array during the course of the day.

Good explanation here:
(Gary's delivery isn't exactly what you'd call 'electrifying' so don't try to watch it if you are feeling a little sleepy :D )
 
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discofrank

Likes Dirt
having a few quotes
as we have an older system which does 2-3.5kw depending ( 20 older 190w panels )
so far plico looks like a winner with a battery ! as they will keep the old unit ( everyone else will remove the old ) and a new 7ish kw unit both powering the battery
yeah $41 or so a week for 10 yrs with maintenance etc included , BUT we can buy out for 11-12k depending on time served
which if done in the 1st few yrs will save pretty much the cost of the 10 yr repayments and then saving on power at the same time

has anyone else used plico before?
 
If you have an old school meter turn it on now, it will wind backwards and save you money. Just turn it off when they come to inspect
I have my system installed, just waiting on the energy provider to install the solar smart meter.

Why do you recommend turning off the solar when they come to install the smart meter ?
 

fjohn860

Alice in diaperland
Anyone bought a house (in Vic) that had existing solar then been successful in ringing the Vic gov department about the getting the state rebate?

Yes I know the rebate is per address, but according to old mate solar installer, he has had customers successfully ring (sometimes took a few phone calls/different person on the line) and get approval for the state solar rebate also...
 

rextheute

Likes Bikes and Dirt
Try this - but I think the catch is need a quote and can’t have applied for the rebate previously

Another way may be to ‘ upgrade current ‘ as in if a 2 kw , get upgraded to 6.6 kw ?
 

gippyz

Likes Dirt
Well, 1 rejection quote sent through already. Let's hope solar quote does better for the other 2. Sent through a reply to them allaying my utter disbelief and disappointment.

I've specifically asked them to get the installer to come out PHYSICALLY and give me a quote. Yet this one, didn't even bother turning up, and just went with outdated Google Earth view which shows the state of the house before the arborists came in recently to remove heaps of overhanging tall branches over the house and driveway! The previous owner left the place untrimmed for decades and since we bought the place, the arborists have been at work for at least 3 weeks clearing sick trees and pruning branches. Now we have a clear view of the sky and a great amount of sun on a good day in the Dandenongs like today.

I'm not going to be shy in naming and shaming the installer.

Any sparkie here wants to wire one for us? I'm giving up hope honestly.

Screenshot_20230425-004052~2.png
 

rextheute

Likes Bikes and Dirt
Ron is your man .
We have shading in winter for most of winter - his advice , ‘ pop some optimisers on and bob’s ya uncle ‘
 

gippyz

Likes Dirt
Solarquote got in touch recently over the phone to better understand what has happened. I explained what has happened between us and pretty much every installer we previously contacted. They suggested we get in touch directly over the phone with a list of local installers available on their website, and explained to them that we know we won't get much solar, but we want to do it anyway.

We did that for 5 installers. Had 1 got back with a quote for us, and 1 more scheduled to physically come and quote. The rest are waiting for us to measure the roof size.

The quote we got is much more than we expect, but it is a good start. Fingers crossed.
 
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