1kW Grid Interactive Solar PV up and running

[David L. Jones]

Looks like the suppliers are now actively targeting the vulnerable.
My mum and all the residents in her retirement village have just
received an offer from "Sancturary Energy" to install a 1kW system on
individual dwellings for $9000 which would supposedly be "at no cost
to them" ($8000 grant + $1000 REC's). It looks like they specialise
in this: http://www.sanctuaryenergy.com.au/Packages-retirement.html
The installer is SolarSave:
http://www.solarsave.com.au/index.html

http://www.alternatezone.com/images/Solar1.jpg
http://www.alternatezone.com/images/Solar2.jpg

You have to sign up to Sanctuary as your energy supplier of course.
And the company supposedly has finance to cover the cost of the
installation between when it's installed and when the grant comes
through. No studies are done on individual dwellings to even see if it's
even
feasible for them, they are just telling everyone they can save money
if they sign up.

Turns out almost everyone at the village is going to sign up. My mum didn't
want to feel left out, so I had no choice but to now reassure her signing up
is not a bad idea, considering they have not been asked to pay anything at
all.

Apparently the company told everyone they would never get another electricy
bill. But based on my mums 8kWh daily average (not unreasonable), I told her
to still expect a (much smaller) bill.

If everything goes smoothly and as claimed, then they all get a 1KW solar
system installed for free.
With nearly 150 units in the village, this will be a big installation.

I'll keep the group updated on progress.

Dave.

 

[terryc]

Apparently the company told everyone they would never get another
electricy bill. But based on my mums 8kWh daily average (not
unreasonable), I told her to still expect a (much smaller) bill.

Are you telling me that none of these old codgers was smart enough to get
that statement in writing?

 

[Ross Vumbaca]

Hi,

Turns out almost everyone at the village is going to sign up. My mum didn't
want to feel left out, so I had no choice but to now reassure her signing up
is not a bad idea, considering they have not been asked to pay anything at
all.

< .. >

One of the previously more expensive vendors seems to have cut their
price, i.e:
http://www.energymatters.com.au/specials/solar-rebate-maximiser.php

Time to sign up with someone, I suppose..

Regards,

Ross..

 

[David L. Jones]

Hi,


< .. >

One of the previously more expensive vendors seems to have cut their
price, i.e:
http://www.energymatters.com.au/specials/solar-rebate-maximiser.php

Time to sign up with someone, I suppose..

Regards,

Ross..

I'd sign up in a second if I could get a 1KW system for $2500.
I hope the new "no means test" rebate after June still allows for prices
like these.
Shows the power of bulk "community" buying though. Individuals pay $2500+,
my mums community gets the same thing for free.

Dave.

 

[Ross Vumbaca]

Hi,

I'd sign up in a second if I could get a 1KW system for $2500.
I hope the new "no means test" rebate after June still allows for prices
like these.

In my understanding, the new scheme will be based on RECs (Renewable
Energy Certificates). A REC currently is worth about $46. In the new
system it will be worth 5x, i.e $230.

A 1kW system currently gets 21 RECs, or around $1000. Under the new
scheme those RECs will be worth $4830, so that is the "rebate". A 1kW
system will therefore be less subsidised.

However, a higher output system such as 2kW will be worth about $9660 in
rebates, so the subsidy is greater than the previous $8000. The greater
amount of RECs, the greater the subsidy.

Interestingly the means testing was introduced by the Labor party in
2008, and did not exist previously, but I suppose the price of PV
systems was a bit higher at the time..

Shows the power of bulk "community" buying though. Individuals pay $2500+,
my mums community gets the same thing for free.

Quite a few vendors have been offering "$0" systems such as Nu Energy,
State Solar Services, Beyond Building Energy. Some ask for a
(refundable) deposit, others do not. A fairly lively whirlpool thread
has formed over this here:
http://forums.whirlpool.net.au/forum-replies-archive.cfm/1187344.html

The difficulty for those that qualify is in deciding between paying a
reasonably "small" $2500 or paying "$0", at the risk that the "$0"
company might be somehow "less reliable" or not deliver. Then amongst
the "$0" companies, there are those that ask for a (refundable) deposit
of around $2000, and those that don't. The question then arises as to
what happens to a deposit, if a company goes under.

Some people suggest to cover this risk with a credit card, but I spoke
to my bank, and the chargeback period for a credit card is 90 days,
although they will consider chargebacks after this period at their
discretion. With 6-8 weeks for pre-approval, none of these companies can
install in less than 90 days.

Regards,

Ross..

 

[David L. Jones]

Hi,


In my understanding, the new scheme will be based on RECs (Renewable
Energy Certificates). A REC currently is worth about $46. In the new
system it will be worth 5x, i.e $230.

A 1kW system currently gets 21 RECs, or around $1000. Under the new
scheme those RECs will be worth $4830, so that is the "rebate". A 1kW
system will therefore be less subsidised.

However, a higher output system such as 2kW will be worth about $9660
in rebates, so the subsidy is greater than the previous $8000. The
greater amount of RECs, the greater the subsidy.

Interestingly the means testing was introduced by the Labor party in
2008, and did not exist previously, but I suppose the price of PV
systems was a bit higher at the time..


Quite a few vendors have been offering "$0" systems such as Nu Energy,
State Solar Services, Beyond Building Energy. Some ask for a
(refundable) deposit, others do not. A fairly lively whirlpool thread
has formed over this here:
http://forums.whirlpool.net.au/forum-replies-archive.cfm/1187344.html

The difficulty for those that qualify is in deciding between paying a
reasonably "small" $2500 or paying "$0", at the risk that the "$0"
company might be somehow "less reliable" or not deliver. Then amongst
the "$0" companies, there are those that ask for a (refundable)
deposit of around $2000, and those that don't. The question then
arises as to what happens to a deposit, if a company goes under.

Some people suggest to cover this risk with a credit card, but I spoke
to my bank, and the chargeback period for a credit card is 90 days,
although they will consider chargebacks after this period at their
discretion. With 6-8 weeks for pre-approval, none of these companies
can install in less than 90 days.

Regards,

Ross..

Systems are getting cheaper very quickly, almost monthly it seems, so
hopefully by the time the new REC scheme comes around the "loss" in the
rebate may have been made up for in what the system installers can offer
price-wise. I'll still happily pay a few thousand for a system, but over
that it's not quite such a no-brainer.
Time will tell...

Dave.

 

[TonyS]

David L. Jones wrote:
[snip]

Looks like the suppliers are now actively targeting the vulnerable.

[snip]

Just came across a letter to the editor in our local paper regarding this
subject. Someone signed up for $8500, after the rebate....

(You can see a copy here: http://scarborofun.com/ripoff.html)

IIRC one can actually get out of such a contract, within a cooling off period.
Hope they know about this.


Tony

 

[David L. Jones]

David L. Jones wrote:
[snip]

Looks like the suppliers are now actively targeting the vulnerable.

[snip]

Just came across a letter to the editor in our local paper regarding
this subject. Someone signed up for $8500, after the rebate....

(You can see a copy here: http://scarborofun.com/ripoff.html)

Geeze, they didn't even name the company!
Only an idiot signs up on the spot for something like that without getting
further quotes, the salesman saw them coming.

IIRC one can actually get out of such a contract, within a cooling
off period. Hope they know about this.

The good thing is they don't have to pay a cent, the ball and risk is
squarely in the installers court, if they don't come through their creditors
will eat them alive.

Dave.

 

[Ross Vumbaca]

Hi,

Just came across a letter to the editor in our local paper regarding
this subject. Someone signed up for $8500, after the rebate....

(You can see a copy here: http://scarborofun.com/ripoff.html)

IIRC one can actually get out of such a contract, within a cooling off
period.
Hope they know about this.

$8500 AFTER the rebate? Someone has no idea what they heck they are
doing, to do that without even gauging the average price for a system
from more than one installer.

Regards,

Ross..