Power customer subsidized solar projects approved...So how are they performing?

[oneoff]

Quite interested in seeing how they are performing. Even average general statistics would be a start.

[malleefarmer]

Quite interested in seeing how they are performing. Even average general statistics would be a start.

Cant compare apples with apples i guess as i dont know prices in canada.

But i got a quote the other day.

5ka solar system $7000 or thereabouts subsidized to the tune of about $2000 roughly.
Then to get full "benifit" a battery to store power another 10k.

The 7k system alone it was suggest i would save $6 to 700 per year.

Still relevant i went to a white goods place over weekend looking at replacing my 34 year old chest freezer 500l size the salesman suggested i would save possibly 300 to 350 per year by ditching that for something more efficient

[farming101]

As long as your hi tech efficient freezer doesn't break down.

[sumdumguy]

Cant compare apples with apples i guess as i dont know prices in canada.

But i got a quote the other day.

5ka solar system $7000 or thereabouts subsidized to the tune of about $2000 roughly.
Then to get full "benifit" a battery to store power another 10k.

The 7k system alone it was suggest i would save $6 to 700 per year.

Still relevant i went to a white goods place over weekend looking at replacing my 34 year old chest freezer 500l size the salesman suggested i would save possibly 300 to 350 per year by ditching that for something more efficient

Will the salesman put that in writing?

[tmyrfield]

Cant compare apples with apples i guess as i dont know prices in canada.

But i got a quote the other day.

5ka solar system $7000 or thereabouts subsidized to the tune of about $2000 roughly.
Then to get full "benifit" a battery to store power another 10k.

The 7k system alone it was suggest i would save $6 to 700 per year.

Still relevant i went to a white goods place over weekend looking at replacing my 34 year old chest freezer 500l size the salesman suggested i would save possibly 300 to 350 per year by ditching that for something more efficient

the wife can carry the new one in while it takes 4 grown men and a boy to carry the old one out...

[oneoff]

And does not anyone care to brag about their solar project performing much higher than their expectations?

Impress me; or even tell what you believe to be the truth?.

[chuckChuck]

Really need at least a full month and a full year of results to measure.

The good news is on cold January days when the sun is bright we are getting 90 percent of rated capacity for a few mid day hours. Panels are more efficient at colder temperatures. And reflected energy from the snow helps.

So far we are producing more than we are using. Production looks in line with what the models predicted.

But the days are short, the angle of the sun is low and and on cloudy snowy days there is no production. January and February are not the best months, but it is still possible to produce more than you use if you don't have a ton of usage. Cloudy weather is a big negative factor and could really swing results negative if you have a long period of cloudy weather.

The light fluffy snow brushes off easily in about 10 minutes. Roof mount panels would make that job much more difficult.

When you talk about the subsidy, remember that rural farm customers have been getting subsidized by lower rates for many years, as the cost of delivering power to rural customers is much higher than what it would be to deliver to towns and cities.

Rates have recently gone up. But last year, farms paid 11.8 cents per kwh and town customers paid over 14 cents per kwh. So when you get worried about the small number of dollars going to solar you might want to be careful about bringing up the issue of subsidies, because you and I as farmers have been getting a pretty good amount of subsidies over the years from the majority of Sask Power customers.

The other factor to consider is the subsidies and hidden costs of other forms of generation. It is not as black and white as many would think.

[oneoff]

Good information. But could you also just include how many Kwh was produced during the each of the months there is information for..

No trade secrets involved that I know of. Maybe a person was away for the winter; maybe they have all natural gas appliances and maybe they have 10 acres of panels. So electrical use could have been minimal too. Any electrical generation does have to pass some economic feasibility test when need it becomes a significant part of the supply needs.

The Kwh's produced per monthly period and the rated PV generation at "full capacity" are obviously what is required to evaluate any generation project.

I just acquired a new 23 KW Solectria PV inverter for the right price (<$2000). But questions such as if it makes sense to attempt to even operate solar panels during the December through February time period have not yet been answered.

[binthere]

Pull the plug clean the panels throw a tarp on remove tarp in May. Repeat in Oct.

[chuckChuck]

To get a reasonable estimate of monthly and annual production there is a solar calculator on the web at https://pvwatts.nrel.gov/

Enter your location, system size, angle of the panels and what you pay for utility electricity and you will get an estimate of what the value of electricity will be under net metering.

Some factors to consider. Snow and how easily it can be cleaned off. Shading from trees or buildings. String inverters are similar to series christmas lights. If one panel is shaded then production drops to that level on all panels. Some systems have optimizers or micro inverters to fix this problem if you have a roof install where shading is an issue. Ground mount with string inverters works well.

Payback after the .61 cent per watt subsidy looks to be about 10-12 years but that does not include lost opportunity costs or finance costs, any replacement costs if something fails, nor any increase in the utility price per kwh.

[AlbertaFarmer5]

Thank you (genuine) Chuck for providing an honest evaluation and actual numbers.

[malleefarmer]

Guess ive changed my tune on this over the years.

If power prices just keep going up and up with no end in sight solar is seriously being considered with battery storage.

Not saving planet per say but m aybe dollars in the long run.

As you know we have highest or second highest power prices on the planet

[malleefarmer]

looking seriously now.

Chuck you may wish to comment from a friend who has 2 systems installed his information good as is yours but a bit different being in canadda

Remember you have to allow for inverter replacement normally at half life of panel, and solar panel and battery replacement. If you charge your self monthly for this them you may find no cheaper in long run, if you keep losing power its a good option. All these households who have fitted and will be up for new panels in another 15-25 years when they retired in for a shock. It needs careful planning.

you can get commercial grade panels like in a solar farm with 50 year life, but get any frosts on that u can start reducing life. They got a new one at clermont, gets to -5 here. Not sure how hail affects household grade panels.chinese panels are fools gold.

First off an energy audit, how much power you use and when.
The battery systems are the rolls Royce way to go, and save on the maintenance etc of a generator.
I personally use the network as my battery and use a generator backup. I already have the generator and need to maintain it anyway. Therefore battery is an expensive luxury.
I use to pay around $1000 to $1200 per quarterly to run the bore and used j-tariff. Meter change and ETSA took away the j-tariff. Hence decision to put in solar system. Pay back worked out to be four years. Haven’t had a bill since, runs the house as well and account in credit with yearly cheque.
It does depend on when you use power, it’s all a data exercise and numbers.

from another mate
Peter, we have solar panels, but not battery as yet. As I understand it special wiring has to be done to use your own power from your battery in the event of a blackout. I would not get rid of your gen set in a hurry. Panels certainly lower the power bill, by how much depends on how well you use them....eg if sun is shining, use clothes washer / dishwasher etc. When sun does not shine be frugal

Depends on amp draw, u can calculate this, if you monitor your normal use and say 80% of storage amp you will get how long u can run for. Replenishment rate is where alot come unstuck, once power is back on under your normal use how long to build back up to 100% capacity of amps in battery. This is what they dont tell you with renewable systems.

[malleefarmer]

My last post may be confusing .....maybe most of my posts are.......

Anyway one lot of comments guys is all renewable with generator back up.

Other guys isnt has solaR during day grid power at night without battery storage.

And comment about losing power is directed at me because we often have black outs here and have generator back up we plug into house emergency power.

feed in tariff small print

20c feed-in tariff for 24 months
for every kWh of solar energy you export to the grid*


*Only available to residential customers with a solar PV system no larger than 10kW in Victoria, New South Wales, South Australia and Queensland where AGL operates. Offer available to net metered and gross metered customers, and customers who are currently receiving a feed-in tariff under any Government scheme. The 20c AGL Solar Savers™ feed-in tariff is made up of AGL’s Retailer Feed-in Tariff and an AGL bonus feed-in tariff of 8.7c in VIC, 8.9c in NSW, 9.4c in QLD and 3.7c in SA. AGL’s Market Contract General Terms apply and for customers in Victoria the Electricity Generation Feed-in Terms also apply to the VIC AGL Solar Savers™ feed-in tariff.

[AlbertaFarmer5]

Guess ive changed my tune on this over the years.

If power prices just keep going up and up with no end in sight solar is seriously being considered with battery storage.

Not saving planet per say but m aybe dollars in the long run.

As you know we have highest or second highest power prices on the planet

Which from a sceptical point of view is an odd conclusion to come to. As we keep hearing, your power costs have gone up exponentially since converting to renewables, the only logical conclusion is that those renewables are what drove the cost up. So the only solution you the consumer are left with is to add more of the renewables which are what caused the price hike to start with, which will probably only cause even more grid issues( assuming it is grid tied), and cause the cost of what you get from the grid to go up even more, in a vicious circle. Not many other options, can't build your own coal fired power plant, and as i understand, they have been busy demolishing the existing coal plants, so the country with abundant coal, has the most expensive electricity.