Solar Panels, Batteries, Blackouts and Off-Grid

macca · 9 August 2023

macca said:
Thanks for the suggestions, my neighbour used a well established company so I will get his contact there and have him assess my situation.

I shall ask the Smurf questions when he gets here

I have to run the motors 24/7 (sewerage) I can change the pool to run when the sun is shining if I get solar.

See how we go

Finally got the quote, $27k including all install costs and wiring. Panels have 25 year warranty, inverters 10 years, Tesla Battery 10 year warranty.

2 x 5.0kW single phase inverters
22 Solar panels 415w
1 Tesla PowerWall 2 system AC

One area on the garage roof, 11 panels and the inverter plus battery in garage, sun from sunup to 2.00 ish

The other area on the back verandah roof, 11 panels plus inverter, gets the sun from 11.00 to 3.00 most days

Reckons I should get enough power to charge the battery most days with a surplus on the sunny ones that I could use to heat the pool more often.

I would appreciate any comments

macca · 22 November 2023

macca said:
Finally got the quote, $27k including all install costs and wiring. Panels have 25 year warranty, inverters 10 years, Tesla Battery 10 year warranty.

2 x 5.0kW single phase inverters
22 Solar panels 415w
1 Tesla PowerWall 2 system AC

One area on the garage roof, 11 panels and the inverter plus battery in garage, sun from sunup to 2.00 ish

The other area on the back verandah roof, 11 panels plus inverter, gets the sun from 11.00 to 3.00 most days

Reckons I should get enough power to charge the battery most days with a surplus on the sunny ones that I could use to heat the pool more often.

I would appreciate any comments

Finally got this all up and running

I use about 50% of my battery from after my panels are shaded until we start again the next day so we will be covered for the expensive time in the PM which is also the blackout time.

Should work out OK, I have entered by meter number into AEMO and they said $4100 per year, I think I will get a small bill during winter but not at any other time

As I am in NSW and we have a couple of old coal fired power stations winding down, I suspect our prices will increase each year and there will be more blackouts so I am happy with my pre paid electricity setup.

mullokintyre · 22 November 2023

macca said:
Finally got this all up and running

I use about 50% of my battery from after my panels are shaded until we start again the next day so we will be covered for the expensive time in the PM which is also the blackout time.

Should work out OK, I have entered by meter number into AEMO and they said $4100 per year, I think I will get a small bill during winter but not at any other time

As I am in NSW and we have a couple of old coal fired power stations winding down, I suspect our prices will increase each year and there will be more blackouts so I am happy with my pre paid electricity setup.

I will struggle to get a negative or zero bill.
Origin will offset any solar power against any grid power input on a kwhr basis.
So if we use say 10 KWhrs of grid feed in , it will be offset by 10 hrs of solar feed in, with any remainder of the solar feed in over 10 kwhrs paid at 4.9 cents.
We are charged 29 cents per KWH, and receive 4.9 cents per KWhr for any net feed back into the grid, so to get a negative bill for day would need to have a net solar feed in of 23 kwhrs to cover the fixed network access charge of $1.17 per day, regardless of usage.
So far only about 1 in 7 days have a negative bill calc.
On a standard day, we have no usage as the solar panels and/or batteries provide for our daily needs.
Plugging in the electric car to charge makes a big hole in the output, and often on those days we need to import a lot from the grid.
On a really good sunny day, we can get 60kwhrs generated,.
If the two two 10 kwhr batteries start at 100% once the sun goes down, an average day/night still has them around 55 to 60% by the time we start the cycle over again, and on a good day, are fully charged by noon.
Here is a breakdown of what has happened over the past few week.
Firstly, the important part, the cost.

The actual usage in kwhrs.

Mick

macca · 22 November 2023

Hi Mick,

We have constant usage from pumps mainly so we get good benefit from the solar during the day, it runs the pumps but also charges the battery.

From 50% we can be 100% by 11.30 then we export to grid but we are only making about 40kwh per day in total.

If we run AC at night, then we can chew out 20% of battery in 90mins but if we only get half sun we still charge up OK.

See what happens in winter but I expect bills of $350 rather than $1150

mullokintyre · 24 November 2023

I did some calculation last night on various scenarios of solar power generation versus usage for our home, and based on the past years usage, i would anticpate that about 80 to 90% of our electricty cost will be contributed by the fixed network costs.
I can only see this getting worse as the network costs go higher.
The following draft plan from Ausgrid's has network costs increase at a nominal rate of 5% per annum for households for the next 5 years.
I can see a time when I seriously think of dumping the grid and just have a standby generator.
Mick

sptrawler · 29 December 2023

mullokintyre said:
I will struggle to get a negative or zero bill.
Origin will offset any solar power against any grid power input on a kwhr basis.
So if we use say 10 KWhrs of grid feed in , it will be offset by 10 hrs of solar feed in, with any remainder of the solar feed in over 10 kwhrs paid at 4.9 cents.
We are charged 29 cents per KWH, and receive 4.9 cents per KWhr for any net feed back into the grid, so to get a negative bill for day would need to have a net solar feed in of 23 kwhrs to cover the fixed network access charge of $1.17 per day, regardless of usage.
So far only about 1 in 7 days have a negative bill calc.
On a standard day, we have no usage as the solar panels and/or batteries provide for our daily needs.
Plugging in the electric car to charge makes a big hole in the output, and often on those days we need to import a lot from the grid.
On a really good sunny day, we can get 60kwhrs generated,.
If the two two 10 kwhr batteries start at 100% once the sun goes down, an average day/night still has them around 55 to 60% by the time we start the cycle over again, and on a good day, are fully charged by noon.
Here is a breakdown of what has happened over the past few week.
Firstly, the important part, the cost.
View attachment 166066
The actual usage in kwhrs.
View attachment 166067
Mick

macca said:
Hi Mick,

We have constant usage from pumps mainly so we get good benefit from the solar during the day, it runs the pumps but also charges the battery.

From 50% we can be 100% by 11.30 then we export to grid but we are only making about 40kwh per day in total.

If we run AC at night, then we can chew out 20% of battery in 90mins but if we only get half sun we still charge up OK.

See what happens in winter but I expect bills of $350 rather than $1150

mullokintyre said:
I did some calculation last night on various scenarios of solar power generation versus usage for our home, and based on the past years usage, i would anticpate that about 80 to 90% of our electricty cost will be contributed by the fixed network costs.
I can only see this getting worse as the network costs go higher.
The following draft plan from Ausgrid's has network costs increase at a nominal rate of 5% per annum for households for the next 5 years.
I can see a time when I seriously think of dumping the grid and just have a standby generator.
Mick
View attachment 166135

We talked about this in the "future of energy generation and storage thread" a long time ago.
Eventually when everyone has mitigated their electricity usage, with installing solar panels and batteries, the electricity companies will crank up the service cost and drop the usage cost, simple economics 101.
That's why when the son bought the 100 acres, I suggested he go off grid, rather than pay $50k to run power into the block.
There was a lot of up front cost but the way Australia is going just being connected to the grid will cost a stupid amount, to mitigate the excess solar, wind and storage costs.
Time will tell, as usual.

macca · 30 December 2023

sptrawler said:
We talked about this in the "future of energy generation and storage thread" a long time ago.
Eventually when everyone has mitigated their electricity usage, with installing solar panels and batteries, the electricity companies will crank up the service cost and drop the usage cost, simple economics 101.
That's why when the son bought the 100 acres, I suggested he go off grid, rather than pay $50k to run power into the block.
There was a lot of up front cost but the way Australia is going just being connected to the grid will cost a stupid amount, to mitigate the excess solar, wind and storage costs.
Time will tell, as usual.

I agree SP, must happen for them to maintain the network for use EVERY night plus the days when little or no sun or wind.

Over here QLD has been hit badly with storms and all those lovely shady trees the greenies love have water logged roots and then when the storm wind gusts came the next night down went a Lot of trees.

Blackouts for 3 days have happened a few times in various areas so anyone with panels and a bit of sunshine can survive a lot better than others.

Qld sun is hot so a few hours and their battery would be charged which will carry through to the next morning.

Lights at night, hot water, food still cold/frozen makes a hell of a difference to families stuck in a blackout.

Solar Panels, Batteries, Blackouts and Off-Grid

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