solar power recommendations

[Brian May]

Hello,

Can anybody give me recommendations on solar power companies? Dandenong Ranges - East of Melbourne. There seem to be so many, I don't have a clue what I should be looking for. I suspect many would fall into the "dodgy" category.

I know a particular company offers free charging at Traralgon for Tesla's (at least I assume they still do). Not sure if this is really a good way of rating a solar company...

In the past, I have had a company evaluate my place and found that shading was too much to make the project worthwhile. Since then, however, a number of trees have come down. There is still shading in the morning hours (this tree may or may not come down in the future), not so much in the afternoon.

Apologies if this is considered off topic here...

Regards

 

[moemoke]

Gippsland Solar are the guys with the destination chargers in Traralgon, the owner also has a Tesla Model S.

I have no affiliation with Gippsland Solar and have never used their products or services but I am envious of
their growth in recent years and they seem to be a very progressive and community orientated company.
Check out their Facebook page.

 

[wpapua]

Brian, On my understanding, shading between 10am & 2pm are a no-no. For what it's worth, we were particularly happy with Cola Solar, a family business in Bendigo.

 

[Brian May]

Brian, On my understanding, shading between 10am & 2pm are a no-no. For what it's worth, we were particularly happy with Cola Solar, a family business in Bendigo.

Yes, true, we may still have too much shading. Still undecided if I should try to get another quote now, or wait another year or so and see what happens that that tree...

 

[meloccom]

My PowerWall1 and 3.6Kw Solar installation was done by Bradford Solar and I am very happy with the result.
Have had zero problems with the installation.

 

[Zoltrix77]

Hello,

Can anybody give me recommendations on solar power companies? Dandenong Ranges - East of Melbourne. There seem to be so many, I don't have a clue what I should be looking for. I suspect many would fall into the "dodgy" category.

I know a particular company offers free charging at Traralgon for Tesla's (at least I assume they still do). Not sure if this is really a good way of rating a solar company...

In the past, I have had a company evaluate my place and found that shading was too much to make the project worthwhile. Since then, however, a number of trees have come down. There is still shading in the morning hours (this tree may or may not come down in the future), not so much in the afternoon.

Apologies if this is considered off topic here...

Regards

I have only just recently arranged a 5kW solar power installation for my Father-in-Law in the Mooroolbark Victoria by a company called Green Valley Solar. They are a small company located in Seville.

The installation is getting done this Thursday, so if you want to PM me, I will let you know how it goes. I haven't dealt with any companies before arranging this for them as I did my 5kW SMA system myself way back in 2009 but are not involved in the electrical industry anymore.

There certainly a lot of cowboys out there who are only interested in making a quick buck. I spoke to several and some were good, other terrible. This guy took the time to come out and spend and hour and a half explaining everything and climbed on the roof with no sales rubbish, he also does the work which helps. Price was also very reasonable for for quality components (Fronius Inverter / Winaico Panels / Fronius Energy Monitor). They can do enPhase micro inverters if you need them, and LG panels if you want to spend that much. They also didn't require a deposit, just pay on completion.

We got a quote from Bradford too, which were also not pushy, but the prices were significantly higher. I preferred to give the business to a local mob who seemed very genuine. He even was willing to admit that when you go solar in the Ausnet distribution area, that they will probably stick you on a TOU tariff and your daytime rate will more than likely go up. He agreed with me to split the array NW and NE to get generation for more of the day rather than chasing peak generation in a poor feed-in tariff environment. They are looking to add a Powerwall in the years to come, but it doesn't make economic sense at the moment.

regards,

Adam.

 

[Dborn]

Whichever company you go with, I strongly recommend that it be installed with panel optimisers. I have solar edge optimisers and inverter. They have an app that allows you monitor each panel individually and allows for the odd panel being overshadowed. You do need the optional line monitor to achieve this level of oversight, but I find it worth it.

 

[Brian May]

Just had somebody come and give us a quote. Mum arranged it. Dad was very pessimistic and asking technical questions the person couldn't answer, and he left in an upset frame of mind. As a result I was unable to ask the questions I wanted to ask that he might have been able to answer (such as warranty, etc).

He said

• Based on satellite photo he determined we might lose 2% from nearby tree. Can you really work this out from satellite photo?
• About 4.5kw would be the maximum limit we are allowed. When I asked for details, he seemed a bit vague.
• Need to get it installed by January next year as that is when the solar rebate ends. I am not convinced this is accurate: https://www.solarquotes.com.au/panels/rebate/.
• A microinvertor solution too expensive, he recommended a solution that would somehow turn of each solar panel if not generating power.
• They use Sun Grow invertors.
• He didn't seem to know much about the installation process, saying he wasn't a technical person.

Dad's concerns:

• If a branch falls onto the panel, will it break?
• Will Ausnet be required to complete the installation?
• What is the minimum voltage that can be provided?

Curiously though, I asked him for his company name, and he refused point blank to answer. He said there was no point giving me that information. This has me somewhat concerned that he works for a dodgy company. I find it strange that I had to ask, and he didn't provide brochures or other information with the company name.

 

[Brian May]

Curiously he didn't seem to recognise my car...

I am guessing the "solar edge optimisers" are the proper name for the function of turning off the solar panel if not providing power?

 

[Dborn]

If you install panels in a string configuration, then if one panel is overshadowed the whole string voltage comes down to its level. With optimisers, only that panel is affected with the remainder of the string producing its maximum. Also every panel is not equal. There are are natural variations between panels from the same batch. I can see this clearly on my current system with the monitor I have installed.

 

[moemoke]

My comments in blue below.

He said

• Based on satellite photo he determined we might lose 2% from nearby tree. Can you really work this out from satellite photo?

Yes they can, although most use Nearmap which are aerial photos

• About 4.5kw would be the maximum limit we are allowed. When I asked for details, he seemed a bit vague.

A lot of retailers are limiting systems to 5kw

• Need to get it installed by January next year as that is when the solar rebate ends. I am not convinced this is accurate: https://www.solarquotes.com.au/panels/rebate/.
• A microinvertor solution too expensive, he recommended a solution that would somehow turn of each solar panel if not generating power.
• They use Sun Grow invertors.
• He didn't seem to know much about the installation process, saying he wasn't a technical person.

Was he from a reputable company? you could try the ATA for recommendations or Energy Matters.

Dad's concerns:

• If a branch falls onto the panel, will it break?

Depends how big and how high it falls from.

• Will Ausnet be required to complete the installation?

Yes, they do the final switch over

• What is the minimum voltage that can be provided?

Not sure but it doesn't really matter, once the system is up and running there is no need to worry about the technicalities, although a lot of systems these days have apps so you can view lots of data on your phone or ipad.

 

[wpapua]

Just had somebody come and give us a quote. Mum arranged it. Dad was very pessimistic and asking technical questions the person couldn't answer, and he left in an upset frame of mind. As a result I was unable to ask the questions I wanted to ask that he might have been able to answer (such as warranty, etc).

He said

• Based on satellite photo he determined we might lose 2% from nearby tree. Can you really work this out from satellite photo?
• About 4.5kw would be the maximum limit we are allowed. When I asked for details, he seemed a bit vague.
• Need to get it installed by January next year as that is when the solar rebate ends. I am not convinced this is accurate: https://www.solarquotes.com.au/panels/rebate/.
• A microinvertor solution too expensive, he recommended a solution that would somehow turn of each solar panel if not generating power.
• They use Sun Grow invertors.
• He didn't seem to know much about the installation process, saying he wasn't a technical person.

Dad's concerns:

• If a branch falls onto the panel, will it break?
• Will Ausnet be required to complete the installation?
• What is the minimum voltage that can be provided?

Curiously though, I asked him for his company name, and he refused point blank to answer. He said there was no point giving me that information. This has me somewhat concerned that he works for a dodgy company. I find it strange that I had to ask, and he didn't provide brochures or other information with the company name.

Brian, One swallow does not a summer make ! Sounds extraordinarily dodgy to me ! There are plenty of reputable suppliers & installers out there - try the ATA (Alternative Technology Association) for some guidance.

 

[Brian May]

Brian, One swallow does not a summer make ! Sounds extraordinarily dodgy to me ! There are plenty of reputable suppliers & installers out there - try the ATA (Alternative Technology Association) for some guidance.

No problem. I haven't given up. In fact I was already suspicious from the start when I heard he phoned us as opposed to us contacting them. Also was wondering when he quoted the maximum size after I mentioned our daily kwh usage. My understanding is this one figure is not enough information to make this decision. Fortunately I also have access to 30 minute interval usage data for the past year, which will be interesting to try and analyse.

Another company ModernGroup have contacted us too now (kind of makes me wonder - we received this phone call the day after - any connection with the first person???). We already have their shutters installed. Looking at the web reviews they have less then ideal feedback however. I am not particularly impressed with this company.

I have tried getting online quotes from several companies listed here. No response yet. I suspect I am going to have to use old fashioned "telephone" type communications to talk to them .

 

[moemoke]

If people are ringing you then they are not the people you want to talk too!
mostly shonky fly by night companies.

check out the ATA
The Alternative Technology Association » Advice Services

or Energy Matters
Solar power systems: Melbourne & Victoria special solar panel / batteries

or have a read through some of the forums

https://forums.energymatters.com.au/
http://forums.whirlpool.net.au/forum/143

And if you know anyone with panels ask them who they used or walk around your neighborhood
and ask anyone with panels on their roof.