Solar

Trying to decide whether to go Solar.

What is the Cost Recovery For Solar?
What is the Payback Time For Solar?

The conclusion I come to is that it will take 10 years to pay off.


Current electricity Bill
Flexi saver CTL2    658kWH @ $0.18454/kWh = $121.43         HOT WATER  OFF PEAK
Flexi Saver Peak     1896kWh @ $0.25378/kWh = $481.17
                                           TOTAL (Ex GST)       = $681.01
                                                           GST
                                            TOTAL (Inc GST)          749.11

Why get solar?  Well the obvious answer is "Everyone else has solar it's gotta be good"

Questions that fleet through my mind is
A) What is the feed in tarif?
B) How much money would I get back.
C) For a X kW System, how many kW does it actually generate and how many $ do I get back.

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I had a look at the bill from a person who's solar installation is described as  21 x 82.5W.
By my calculations this is 1732 Watts.  Is this 1.5 or 1.7kW system?
Lets assume its a 1.5kW system.

I have two electricity bills.
Nov-Feb 2014     97 days  422kW
Nov-Feb 2015     90 days  322kW
                      Average       372

The Inverter is logged on a web site some how and reports between 6 and 8 kWh per day is produced.
lets say 7kWh/day as a rough rule of thumb.  For 90 days this is 630kWh.  But we are only being credited for 372.  Now 372/630 = 0.6  so about 40% is going somewhere else.  Perhaps that is the power being used during the day at home?

Now the feed in tarif new seems to be about 6c per kWh but some providers are offering up to 10c/kWh.  Lets use 10c/kWh to make the maths easy.

372 x $0.10 = $37.20 per quarter ==> $148.80 per year.
If this system cost $1500 then it will take [about] 10 years to pay off.

Calculator
There is an online calculator here:
http://www.ecoonline.com.au/solar-payback-calculators/aus-solar-pv-payback-calculator




SOLAR HOT WATER
I suspect hot water may be easier than power to compare.  We are spending $121 a quarter.  This is $480 a year.

Bunnings offer online 315L tank and 2 or 3 panels $3400-$5000
As a first cut lets assume that a specialist company can do a deal that includes installation at this price.  To keep the maths easy $480 x10 is $4800.
So I suspect 10 years to pay off the hot water.

20-JUN-2015
Solar Heart  1300 721 984 Closed - Left Message to call me.
Sun Ray - Filledin  Web form
Rheem
$2570