Sunshine
Member
Have just signed up with Origin Energy's net metered 50c/kWh feed-in tariff.
This offer is also available in S.A.
http://www.originenergy.com.au/2716/Feed-in-tariffs
This equates to an extra 6c/kWh being paid over the scheme offered by the Qld Government Solar Bonus Scheme.
http://www.cleanenergy.qld.gov.au/solar_bonus_scheme.cfm
norbert
Member
How is the net metering done in QLD?
Here in VIC we were told it meters 48 times a day so every 30 minutes.According to governments claim this way you would get paid something even if your small system produces less then what you use per day if for instance you're out of the house for a couple of hours.So far I haven't heard of anyone with panels to say that the VIC feed in tariff is actually up and running.
Sunshine
Member
In Qld, Energex comes out and replaces the original meter, and installs a two way power digital meter.
If the inverter output is greater than what the household is using, then any surplus power is fed via the two way power meter into the grid. On the two way power meter, there are two displays, one for power in (imported power), and one for power out (exported power). This happens all in real time, so as long as the consumption in the house is lower than what the inverter is producing, then the surplus gets metered and recorded on the export meter.
The Qls net metering started July 2008, the government rate is 44c/kWh which is exported. Great to see a retailer enhancing the offer with an extra 6c/kWh bonus.
As I have a 3kW system, it will mean I should average close to $5 per day as an income, from the surplus produced.
norbert
Member
Have you changed your daily activities such as the use of your washing machine,dish washer and now do it after sunset so you would use less power during the day and hence feed more back into the grid? At current we're using an average of 6.5kw/h per day and in winter it went up to about 9 kw/h probably due to the fan for the ducted heating.Vic average is 16kw/h per day so as a family of eight, 2 adults 3 kids and 3 dogs w're doing quite well.We are currently renting as we build our new house and I still try to work out why we now use less power then in our previous house where we used around 10kw per day on average.The only two things I believe we do different is we don't use the dishwasher as it is a piece of crap and the rangehood as the oven is close to an window.
Would you think that this might make the difference?
I'm trying to work out a way to maximise what we feed into the grid.Our to be system is 1,9kw as unfortunately the size limit in VIC is capped at 2kw.I wanted to buy a 2.5 kw system as to my calculations this would have made us self sufficent but i didn't want to do our state government a favor by going any bigger so we wouldn't get paid anything at all.
Sunshine
Member
Norbert,
Dishwashers generally use 1.5kWh-2kWh to run depending upon model and cycle chosen, so that would explain a fair bit of the difference.
I would recommend to buy an inverter which can handle more than 1.9kW, e.g. 2.5kW or more, as government policy can change overnight and you don't want to be caught short if it does, so you can do an upgrade further down the track.
Also, I know from my system, a 3kW system using Schott panels which should have a maximum output of 3060w (170w x18), however I have observed 3400-3600w being input at the inverter in the middle of day in summer, when the panels are supposed to suffer from heat loss, plus I have a long cable run of 28 metres as well. So between the loss caused by heat and the long cable run, I should be getting a peak of less than 3kW in summer, but I'm not, I'm getting considerably more. For me to observe 3600w as an input at the inverter it means each panel is outputting an average of 200w, with no allowance for heat loss and cable loss. So they would have to be exceeding 200w each, by how much I don't know.
Additionally, my panels are tilted at a fairly steep angle for Brisbane around 37 degrees, when optimal for Brisbane is 27 degrees. So my panels are really optimised more for the cooler months of the year, when the sun is lower than in the middle of summer.
It will be interesting for me to see if my peak power increases further above the 3400-3600w range in the cooler months of the year, which theoretically it should.
Obviously the Schott panels must be rated rather conservatively to achieve these figures.
So, one way to get around the 2kW limit of panels in Victoria to be eligible for the feed-in tariff, would be to choose panels which are known to have a conservative rating, so even though they may have rating of 2kW, you may in fact be getting a peak yield of 2.4kW.
Question is there a website or independent testing authority out there which has tested the output of panels, to see if there are panels which produce more than their output rating?
Are there any other forum members which are getting peak power outputs greater than the panel rating, which would like to contribute with make/model of their panels?
norbert
Member
sunshine,
in regards to panels and rating unfortunately I've already purchased 9x 215 watts sunpower panels.If i had known what you suggested earlier i would have done more research but now it's too late.I'm going with a bigger (2,5-3.0kw)inverter in case our state government is changing it's mindd increasing the 2kw cap.
thanks very much for all your great advice!
Sunshine
Member
Norbert,
Looks like I spoke too soon..an incentive to be upgrading your system size.
A Bill was introduced into Parliament yesterday designed to encourage Victorian households to invest in residential grid connect solar power systems through a feed in tariff. Under the Bill, Victorian households with grid connect systems will be eligible to receive a credit of 60 cents per kilowatt for electricity they feed back into the grid. The feed-in tariff scheme is capped at 3.2kW system size and will run for 15 years, be available to new and existing small scale systems and will allow up to 100,000 households to participate.
The Victorian feed in tariff will be based on a net model, which means that only surplus electricity generated and exported to the grid will attract the payment.
http://www.energymatters.com.au/index.php?main_page=news_article&article_id=353
norbert
Member
Sunshine,
I've already heard the good news.I have spoken to Mark Wakenham of evironment Vic as I was interested why this strange sized cap of 3.2 kw.
The governments philosophie is that a 3.2 kw system generates the same amount of electricity per year currently used by the average household.God knows the logic behind it besides the fact that it isn't correct anyway.The average Vic household uses some 16 kw/h per day (data goes back to 1996 so presumably it would be more now) or 5840 kw/h per year.A 3.2 kw system in Vic genenerates some 4800 kw/h per year so not anywhere near what the government is claiming.Anyway it's better then it was before so I'm now trying to find the extra money to buy another 6 panels and a slightly bigger inverter.
Norbert,
The 3.2kW system probably refers to its instantaneous peak power. Averaged over a full cloud free summers day it may produce 4-5 times that figure hence the 16kWh/day may be theoretically correct under ideal conditions.
As you say the 4800kWh figure is less than the average household use. Reality suggests the year round average will be more like 8-10kWh/day due to cloudy weather and shorter winter days.
Which really goes to show that the best thing you can spend money on is energy efficient appliances. Rule of thumb is that for every dollar you spend on efficiency you save about $10 on energy generation from renewable sources. Solar hot water gives the biggest bang for your buck and with current rebates even heatpump systems are now pretty cheap.
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