[Michaelmichelle]

We been warned of many china made brands. The salesman raved alot about Glowatt. Has anyone has it?

We been quoted $2900 out of pockets for 1.5 inverter.(Glowatt)

$38200 out of pockets for 1.5 inverter q cells (Sunnyboy)

Is it a good price?

Correct i mean $3820 for sunnyboy inverter 1.5

[laridae]

Growatt is a cheap chinese brand inverter. If you want good quality - get SMA or Aurora.

Seems expensive though - I've seen 1.5kW systems with an SMA (sunnyboy) inverter for around $2000.

What brand panels are they offering in their package?

Also - 1.5kW is a small system, are you hoping that will cover most of your power bills or only a small portion of them?

Do you know how much power you use a day?

[Michaelmichelle]

Do you have any recommendation?

Our daily consumption is 10units/day.Was told we neednt anything more than 1.5

[KristyMum-]

our daily consumption is between 10-12 units per day (6 people) and our 1.5kw system only touches the top of it. We get $30-$40 credit on our bill (ie, our bill minus that amount, not our bill AS a $30/$40 credit).
However, our system is not at peak capacity even in the height of summer due to being in the 'secondary' location (not the preferred location). That said, even if it was at max capcity it's still only going to be about a third of our use maximum, and that's in summer.

My suggestion would be
(a) if you can maximise your system with mounting frames, do it, rather than settling for 'second position'
(b) get an invertor that you can add extra panels to later (and set up the panels on the roof to allow for this).
© look into minimising your energy use further, to make what you do generate go further.
(d) double check whether it will be cheaper to run your appliances at night, rather than the day. ie from memory ours is 19c per unit to buy your e- and you receive 47c per unit to export it, then it will be cheaper to run as little as possible in the day and glean the maximum $ return on your generation, and use your appliances at night at the cheaper per unit price... if that makes sense. THAT said, we got the 47c rate before they started cutting all the programs, so double check how much you receive for what you generate, vs what it costs you to buy from the grid.

And probably, get a few more quotes and some more (preferably independent/from experience) information about what kinds of systems/invertors/panels etc are out there.

Good luck! ps and come back and let us know how you go - and show off some pics

This post has been edited by KristyMum-: 04/05/2012, 10:23 PM

[laridae]

You don't use much power so you might be ok with that.
Average household uses about 18.

How much north facing roof do you have though? Enough for all the panels? As you lose about 10% if you they face east or west. Do you have any issues with shade (large trees?, tall neighbour houses?) , if you do you might lose some power generation there. Also, if you have a flat (or fairly flat) roof, make sure you get tilt frames as you lose about %10 there as well, plus the panels get dirty a lot quicker due to not having good rain runoff.

Not exactly sure where in WA you are - but you could look on this website
http://www.pvoutput.org
and search on your postcode to find others in your area to see how much they generate with their systems.

In Perth - this person: http://www.pvoutput.org/list.jsp?id=725&sid=563
has a 1.5kW system and they generate an average of 6.5-7.5kWh per day.

You'd need to check with your power company - but I don't think you get much for feeding power back into the grid there - so you probably want something mainly to cover your daytime use, so probably somewhere in the vicinity of 1.5-2kW would be fine for you (you may need bigger if you have any of the issues I mentioned earlier). Then just try and use most of your generated electricity during the day (as it gets used in your house before being exported to the grid), and not use much power at night.

If you were in my state I'd say get as big as you can afford/fit on your roof as we get paid the same amount for what we export to the grid as what we import - so it doesn't matter what time of day we use the power as we get a decent amount for it exported.

Aurora or SMA inverter with either REC or Suntech panels are supposed to be really good. However the cheaper systems will will still produce nearly as much - they just might not last as long.

Get some more quotes - the price difference between the good stuff & the cheap stuff is not supposed to be much (maybe a couple of hundred) and if they last an extra 10 years that might be worth it.

I would not get a bigger inverter and hope to add panels later, unless you are planning to do that within a year or so. First of all, the new panels would need to match the specs of the existing panels, which may be difficult in a few years time. Second would be that you need to wire the panels up a certain way so they produce the optimum amount of voltage for the inverter - adding extra panels may mean rewiring the whole system to get that. You are better of getting something that will generate enough right away (if thats what you want it to do), and you can always add another complete system later (without having any of the matching issues).

This post has been edited by laridae: 04/05/2012, 10:33 PM

[KristyMum-]

I would not get a bigger inverter and hope to add panels later, unless you are planning to do that within a year or so. First of all, the new panels would need to match the specs of the existing panels, which may be difficult in a few years time. Second would be that you need to wire the panels up a certain way so they produce the optimum amount of voltage for the inverter - adding extra panels may mean rewiring the whole system to get that. You are better of getting something that will generate enough right away (if thats what you want it to do), and you can always add another complete system later (without having any of the matching issues).

Agreed. For example we can't add (not just because of the limit of the invertor) but because of roof space etc and we were told that if we wanted to replace the invertor to make it 'add-on', it would be more cost effective all round to just set up a second system.

However, as you've noted laridae, if the OP knows they can do x now, and will have a lump sum of some amount within a year or so, making it an 'add on' possible system, could work.

That and technology does improve all the time so see if 'add on' fits with what your plans are, of cours.

[angel_girl]

Hi there

We are getting a growatt system as well and today i was given double the price for a groatt system as well here in Western Australia so it's not just that they are cheap theres just a price war out there...

Everyone is giving the same warranties at the end of the day.

Hope that helps ease your mind



Oh and we went for 10 panels and a 3kw inverter so we can definetely upgrade later on as well and all up it cost is $2800

[laridae]

Everyone is giving the same warranties at the end of the day.

They aren't actually - they may be the same length - but they might have different conditions. eg if something dies, some might replace the panel or inverter on the spot, some might send it off for repairs back to China and you aren't generating power while they do that.
Some warranties are decreasing in value over time, until the end of the time you get nothing back. Some installer warranties have conditions on them, like you need to pay for an inspection every 2 years or they aren't valid. Read the fine print carefully!

Oh and we went for 10 panels and a 3kw inverter so we can definetely upgrade later on as well and all up it cost is $2800

Assuming you can still buy those exact same panels in a few years when you want to upgrade of course. Or you'll be needing to buy them second hand somewhere or replace all the panels so they match.

This post has been edited by laridae: 05/05/2012, 07:42 AM

[laridae]

OP, as a comparison - this is what a small local company near me are quoting for the good quality equipment

1.5kW System
8 Suntech Power STP 190 watt mono-crystalline panels
SMA Sunny Boy SB1600TL Grid Connect Inverter
Cable, conduit, safety labels, circuit protection and enclosures
Panel mountings
Installation & commissioning

System Size 1520 watts
System Cost $4,250
Less Solar Credits/RECS (estimated)*** $1,375
Your Investment $2,875^

(This is in Tas - I believe we get less solar credits for the same system than WA, and its post 1 July install prices when the number of solar credits goes down).

As you can see - you can get the better quality components for about the same price as the cheap ones.


This post has been edited by laridae: 05/05/2012, 08:27 AM

[KristyMum-]

laridae you're in Tas? I know things always claim to cost a bit more over here due to freight/transport etc esp if you're not metro. Though I guess stuff is still subject to transport costs to Tas, it's still 'over east' to me.

OP there's a few WA sites/people I can think of that might be able to help with price comparison for here. Are you metro? I'll find some links etc and PM you when I do.