Do you want free electricity?

The Australian Federal Government is providing rebates of up to $8000.00, available now, so you can install solar panels on your roof and get free electricity. There is a bit of a catch though; as always with Government funding you will have to add a bit of your own money to get the ball rolling and become a solar citizen. It is vital, and also a requirement of the rebate that you understand how your new solar system will work, what it will save you and any limitations etc. it may have.

The reason for the funding

Currently there is ample evidence that the production of electricity is causing massive environmental problems that we are only just starting to see. Even in states like Tasmania where most electricity is generated from hydro-electric dams there are big problems including chronically low water levels, power being imported via a Bass Straight cable (Bass Link) and a gas fired power station (Bell Bay) being used continuously just to meet demand. To substantially reduce the environmental impact of generating electricity massive amounts of money are needed. To “clean up” coal power alone will require billions. The net result of all of this is that electricity costs are projected to rise substantially over the next five years. Increased domestic use and a growing housing industry are further burdening our current electrical distribution networks. Recently it has been announced in Tasmania that power restrictions may come into force as early as 2009 if the drought continues.

The aim of the funding

If every 100th house in Australia fitted a simple solar system to the roof the effects would be profound! Greenhouse gasses would be substantially reduced, the Tasmanian Dams could refill, power could flow out of Tasmania (instead of in via Bass Link) and the projected increase in power costs could be substantially offset by individual households providing some or all of their electrical needs using nothing more than some available roof space. All it takes to make a big difference is to fit a power system as described at the end of this page.

What you get with a grid feed power system

What you get by fitting a grid feed power system is a solar setup that will offset the amount of electricity you consume by means of co-generation. That is, a grid feed solar power system will generate electricity alongside the generators used by your power supplier. This power will flow into your house and or the electricity grid depending on your current consumption, the metering method and the power being generated by the solar electricity system at the time.

The purpose of the power is to offset your power bill.

A grid feed power system will not give you a cash return!

A grid feed system will reduce your electricity bill.

A grid feed power system will add value to your property.

Currently the Australian Government will help you to fit a grid feed power system to your house with an exceedingly generous grant that has "no strings attached"!

At the time of writing the grant is available only for the following: Australian households that are the principal place of residence of the owner. Sorry folks, this grant is not available for houses that are under construction (until you move in), rental properties, businesses or vacant blocks of land that you may intend building on at a later date.

There are also other Government grants in place for solar power systems. These currently are: Solar Schools and Communities grants, Remote Power Generation grants and Solar Water pumping grants.

What you should know before you fit a grid feed power system

Before you consider fitting a grid feed power system you should know exactly how much power you are currently consuming and exactly how much power you can expect over the long term from your intended grid feed power system. You should also clue up a bit on energy efficiency.

How much power are you using?

You will find this out from your past and current power bills. From my experience there is a huge difference between households. A couple, for instance living in a small house in a mild climate may use around 12 kW per day. A large family in a big house for example may use 80 kW per day. A single person who actually looks carefully at what they use and how may use as little as 4 kW per day. The average daily power consumption should be on your power bill somewhere. if it is not, you can arrive at this figure by dividing the total electricity consumption of the power bill (in kW) by the number of days in the billing period.

What is a kW?

A kW is an abbreviation for a kilowatt or 1000 watts. Using a kW or a 1000 watts of power for one hour will consume 1 kHh of electricity. An example of this is using a 1000 watt heater for one hour or a 2000 watt heater for half an hour. 5 x 100 watt light bulbs will use a kWh if you leave them turned on for 2 hours and so on.

What a grid feed power system will generate

The most basic grid feed power system you can fit that will give you the maximum rebate for the smallest expense is a 1 kW grid feed system. Let's say here that you are considering this system.

The amount of power this system will generate will depend on where you live. There can be a big difference in generation over a long term between systems fitted just 50 kilometres apart. Most Australians picture Hobart as a not so sunny location! Wrong ... Hobart has on of the highest amounts of sunshine per annum of any capital city in Australia. Just 200 odd kilometres from Hobart is Strahan. Strahan receives far less sunshine than Hobart per annum. I live at a place called Deloraine. Deloraine receives less sunlight than does Carrick, just 40 odd kilometres away!

A rough guess here will do to simplify things. You could expect around 4 kw per day for about 300 days of the year on average. Over one year you could expect around 1200 kWh of electricity from a 1 kW grid feed power system. Obviously you would get more in summer than in winter in most locations but remember this is a year round average.

From a 1 kW solar system you could expect around 3.3 kW per day on average.

If you are using around 12 kW per day you will generate around 25% of your electricity needs with a 1 kW system. if on the other hand you are using around 80 kW per day, a reduction of 3.3 kW will not be that noticeable.

Let's get real here: If you are using more than 50 kW of power per day it is not that hard to cut this back by 4 kW or more just by being a bit more careful! This costs you nothing!

It is not the purpose of this page to tell you how to reduce your power bill. i could ramble on for ages on this as I only use around 4 kW per day myself. The final statement I make is this: Get your power consumption under control before you fit a grid feed power system or else the money is better spent elsewhere! If you have a large mortgage for example, it is my opinion that you will save more money by putting your 4 odd grand into debt reduction.

The approximate cost of a 1 kW grid feed power system

Solar Array: $9000.00

Grid feed Inverter: $2000.00

Panel Mount, wire, labour to fit: $1000.00

Electrician and connection to grid costs: $1000.00

Total: $13000.00

Less rebate: $8000.00

Your expense = $5000.00

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