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Forum Index : Solar : cost of solar vs coal
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Revlac Guru  Joined: 31/12/2016 Location: AustraliaPosts: 1022 |
Thanks Yahoo That is a good post Have done exactly that some time ago, I was involved with group of locals and it can be effective, may not always end up with the result we want, weather it be against a Coal Mine, Mega Quarry or something els but there is some satisfaction for trying, just feels better to know you have tried than to have sat on ya bum done nothing and end up getting all depressed. The most difficult part is getting people together to start with, most say they haven't any time to go to a meeting or simply have their heads in the sand and say Oh i let the Mrs handle that. Also need a good strong respectable spokesperson with some leadership and direction to get the whole thing going. I expect we will see more groups like the LOCK THE GATE ALLIANCE and Others, they have being vary helpful down here in the bremer valley. Cheers Aaron Cheers Aaron Off The Grid |
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| Boppa Guru Joined: 08/11/2016 Location: AustraliaPosts: 814 |
When I started investigating this for a block out west, I was horrified at the cost of getting the mains in- well over 25 grand, plus I had to pay for each powerpole and would have to pay for any replacements down the track ie after a bushfire.... AND still have to pay the huge fees they are asking these days for the power (and the twice weekly blackouts that talking to the locals say are the usual, a short anywhere on the spur drops out the whole area) I looked at what I could get for 25G as an offgrid, and it is well over what I need for my house, and adding up 10 years of ever increasing connection fees and kwhr costs against battery replacements, I'd be mad to go grid connect IMHO |
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Gizmo Admin Group  Joined: 05/06/2004 Location: AustraliaPosts: 5078 |
Yeah thats what happened to me. I was quoted $12,000 to get the power on, and that was just to the first pole inside the property, I still had to trench the rest of the way to the house, about 150 meters. So I looked at what off grid gear I could buy for $12,000. A 6kW inverter, 12 panels ( 2280 watts ) and 8 golf cart batteries. Built a charge controller, and I was off grid! If I were to build a new house in the suburbs, I would include a off grid system as part of the cost, be silly not to if the house location is suitable. Glenn The best time to plant a tree was twenty years ago, the second best time is right now. JAQ |
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| Boppa Guru Joined: 08/11/2016 Location: AustraliaPosts: 814 |
With the abundance of 170 and 190w panels on the secondhand market (one I looked at recently on gumtree had 20x 190w for $75 each, 25x 170w for $60 each, and there has been several like that selling large quantities of panels- one had over a hundred panels for sale!) Massive arrays even up to the 10's of kw aren't unrealistic- maybe not as efficient as newer panels but for a rural block where space isnt an issue, you can set up some mighty powerful setups Batterys are now more the limiting factor for appropriately sized solar arrays- their price is still relatively high, altho I can get gelcells 2v 1000ah for $800 or 2v 2000ahr for $1200 if I stay low voltages, smaller ah are obviously less, or do I splash out and go for Winstons- more expensive but theoretically much longer life and deeper discharge capabilities make a smaller ahr bank seem much larger in comparison to gells or wet l/a rather than expensive and troublesome solar hws- why not just more panels and dc feed a standard hws straight from the panels??? place near me had a gridtie for $400 for a 15Kw inverter- that would run my workshop nicely- even if my idea of feeding it HVDC from a battery bank didnt work out, it would run a workshop nicely on sunny days from enough panels...lol That $25 plus for a mains connection could build one hell of a solar system thats for sure |
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Madness Guru Joined: 08/10/2011 Location: AustraliaPosts: 2498 |
Recently I bought 20 250W panels for $700, I see one seller on Gumtree regularly selling same for $1,000. So $50 a panel, I have some 180 watt panels here that I have on gumtree for $50 each, I sold a few but they have been advertised for a couple months now. There is plenty in the market now, although I heard yesterday that the amount being paid for CEC credits has just dropped drastically. My preference now is to stick with 250W panels of all the same size and voltage rather than having different arrays of different panels. That way if I decide to reconfigure them at any time they all match. I am using second-hand golf cart batteries but they are getting harder to get now though. The place I get them from is keeping any that are usable and putting them in second-hand carts that they sell. I have been considering stripping the batteries scrapping out the lead oxide and melting down the lead and making new plates. There are only 10 types of people in the world: those who understand binary, and those who don't. |
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