Thinking about installing photo volitc cells

Dadpad you're an idiot
That would be photvoltaic.

To be conservative, I would suggest you reduce your expected net savings by 50% to cover Murphy's Law and Chum's Law. As such it would take you 20 years to pay back your startup out of pocket costs, and that is not taking into account opportunity cost loss!

That being what you would give up by not investing the funds, also let's not forget the magic of compounding interest.

All this from an Electrician whom would like to endorse alternate electrical energy.

Im looking into pv arrays for my place also. Our energy rebate is a pittance compared to that of Australia.
WHy not go for a complete off the grid power setup? In the US a PV system of about 10KW is considered a "whole house" setup and costs about 30K with about 1/3 in rebates and credits . I have a huge barn with a south facing pitch that would be ideal for such a pv setup. However I dont have any further info re the type inverter and wiring.
We are going gas (90% certain) for het and hot water so we need all appliances and AC from elec.
I have a friend whose gone a bit farther becuase hes contacted some installers (He too is using his barn roof for setting the array.

The feel good using green energy thing has value to me as well chum but I understand where you are coming from. I actually did a sum using a 50% and 20% discount on the rated output, just to see what the numbers looked like. I could buy "green" power from our supplier but that is more expensive.

FM I figured 4/5 units would supply most of my wholehouse needs with the possible exception of peak loads in summer. I have no figures to back that up except the above, but that is a little more than I am prepared to shell out at this time.

The company doing the project claim the prices are cost only. They make their money from the government carbon credit scheme.

I figured 1 unit this time and we monitor results over the next 12 months to see what transpires.

Theres a big debate happening here about the merits (or lack of) net feed in tarriff versus gross feed in tarrif. these are variouse forms of payimg housholds for the electricity they generate.
I believe Germany spain and possibly california use gross feed in tarrifs. I understand this means the houshold gets paid for ALL the power generated including what they use themselves. So this may reflect the difference in subsidy.

Net feed in tarrif means any excess power generated after houshold needs gets sold back into the grid at the same price we pay for it.

I looked at solar hot water, my father has one installed. dads unit is very effective to the point he really needs to cover 1/2 the collector during high summer. (The water boils and overflows)

The dollar saving would be about the same (around $200 per year) and my son will leave home soonish. Cost to me of unit installation would be around $3000 so it makes more sense to me to go with the PV unit on offer.

Dont know anything about inverters apart from what is on the site linked above

Depressing. Government picks up 80% of the tab, and due to credits, the installation is free, and there are still doubts whether it will pay out.

I think the real truth roger is that energy prices are actually too cheap. the currently dont take into account environmental costs.
cost of solar will come down once volumes manufactured increase.

solar cars should come with PV cells on the roof hood trunk and door. all new houses should be built with PV arrays but sadly it wont happen unless governments legislate, and the political reality is that if governments try to force people into saving fossil fuels they will be slammed by voters, electricity retailers/generators AND oil/gas coal companies. Its a no win situation for government.

The major problem you'll run into (at least this will be true in the U.S.) is that no one can sell you sunlight. Energy companies have no vested interest in solar power, wind power, wave power, geothermal energy--unless they can buy the electric power generated from such sources and sell it back to others through the existing grid. But energy companies do have powerful influence with politicians. A good deal of conversion to "green" energy sources could have been accomplished in the last thirty years, but the inertia of tradition and the self-interest of capitalists has stood in the way.

Power companies could lease domestic roof space.

There is a lot of R&D in this area right now. I'd be inclined to wait a few years, when it may well be cheaper to do an install without a subsidy and still come out ahead.

(And given the heat down there, I'm surprised your annual electric tab is so low. Sheesh.)

Make them an offer, i'll bet they'd leap at the chance . . .

As to inverters they are pretty darn good compared to the clunkers of yesterday, I'm buyng a true sine wave inverter rated at 1000 Watts RMS and it only costs $300 bucks Canadian!

That's true sine wave not modified sine wave! I am not a great fan of the modified sine wave inverters, they still slam power supplies too hard for my taste.

The Age newspaper
http://able2know.org/reply/topic-128676

Energy without an end

* Muriel Watt and Iain MacGill
* February 2, 2009
The environment and the economy would benefit if the Government showed leadership on solar power.

AS SOUTH-EASTERN Australia sweltered last week with consecutive days of 40-plus temperatures, electricity was rationed and rail lines buckled. In such a climate, it seems incredible that this country trails so far behind others in its attitude to power supplies.

We have huge solar energy potential, our coal-dominated electricity industry is among the most greenhouse intensive in the world, yet we are half-hearted about adopting the former and spend a great deal of effort bolstering up the latter.

The global PV industry has been growing at 30-50 per cent a year in the past decade. Billions of dollars are being invested in solar technologies internationally with hundreds of manufacturing facilities being established in countries as diverse as Norway, Germany, Spain, Japan, the US, China, Taiwan, Korea, Malaysia and Singapore. These plants are employing hundreds of thousands of people, and helping deliver a more sustainable energy future.

In contrast, a series of Australian governments has squandered the promising early solar energy industry that developed here.
Many of our technology breakthroughs now look as though they will be commercialised and deployed seemingly everywhere but here. Australia's only solar cell manufacturing facility " run by BP in Sydney " will close in April.

more here
http://www.theage.com.au/opinion/energy-without-an-end-20090201-7uvm.html?page=2

Heat is on backward government energy policies
Editorial The age newspaper
February 2, 2009
http://www.theage.com.au/opinion/editorial/heat-is-on-backward-government-energy-policies-20090201-7uvs.html
{snip......}
Meanwhile, back in sunny Australia, which has more consistently usable radiation than most other countries, solar power has almost stood still. While Germany was adding 1300 megawatts of solar power a year by 2007, Australia managed just 10 megawatts. The German industry employs 57,000 people; Australia's only 3500. The only local maker of photovoltaic panels will shut down in April, a victim of government policies, tariffs and institutional structures that effectively protect traditional generators. As The Age reports, several European companies considered investing in Australia but went elsewhere, citing policies and markets that still favour fossil fuel sources

Surprise, surprise . . . why, anyone would think the energy industry and government were in bed together . . .

We've got here in Germany 1.9 million sq. meters of solar panels, with 1.5 Giga Watt added in 2008, a total (for Germany) of 5.3 Giga Watt.

Final quotes are in $9895 includes all fittings connections wiring and labour
gov rebate $8000
additional charges 2 hrs xtra labour $170.00
safety inspection $125.00


main componants
http://www.conergy.com.au/PortalData/5/Resources/products/photovoltaics/pdf/Conergy_P_170-180M_module.pdf

SMA Sunnyboy SB1100 inverter
http://www.vindogsol.dk/SB%201100%20&%201700%20datablad.pdf

Our 1 kw solar panel has reduced our average daily peak consumption fo January (summer ) from 7.2 kw hrs to a little over 1 kw hr.
$1.58/day $47.50 per month
to .22 cents $6.60 per month

of course this only applies to the peak summer months of january and february
peak production seems to be around 5 - 6 KW per day. a cloudy day sees production down around 3.5 kw per day. 3 kw seems to be around the average production for winter period.

In the two full quarters since we installed the cells there has been a substantial drop in total payment for electricity consumed from the grid.