Solar Power...

[ThomasGrant]

Sun Gods...

Well not really.
But I though that it might get your attention.

About a month or so ago.
My Mum saw an add in the local rag.
The add was on Solar Power.
And the local community were doing a group purchase.
Anyway....
After a lengthy discussion on the topic.
She told me to give a call and arrange a free quote.
A few days later.
The consultant arrived.
He showed us the panels.
The type of system.
And then after a long chat.
We got to the price.
$9,998 Aud for the entire system.
Wow...
Now funny thing is.
That is the price I expected to pay for it.
Since we were not going for a cheap system.
We wanted a system that will cover our power bills.
The amount of panels on the roof. 36.
36 panels?
Wow that was a lot.

Well that was our first consultant.
We considered the offer.
And I went to work on doing more research.
Google is great.
Looked for info all over the place.
Looked in out Yellow Pages.
Amazing the amount of companies popping up all over the place.
To take advantage of the government grant.
You see we get a subsidy.
But it wont last for long.
Because of the floods, fires, and other tragedies.
The government grant will end in June.
The end of the financial year.

Anyway...
I rang around.
Found a few places that interested me.
We went to one of the display centers.
Zen Solar Energy. Or just Zen.
The sales lady was very impressive.
In-fact we liked the offer they had.
And that was our top option from then on.
Again around the $10,000 mark.
Less panels. Only needed 16 instead of 36.
We were on the verge of getting that complete system.

Still had a few other reps to dazzle us with techno stuff on panels.
SA Solar. Now I personally preferred them.
Better panels.
More out put.
And only 12 panels.
But the price was just a little steep.
$12,000+

It was my personal preference.
But we had 1 more rep from 1 more company to deal with.
As you can see, I did a lot of homework on this subject.
Got facts and figures and a hole lot of questions.

My main objective from the outset was to cover our electric bill.
I asked all applicants that same exact question.
All gave me a green light.

The last person in.
From Love Energy.
I heard an add on the radio.
And thought, what the heck.
Give em a buzz.

Got them to come over.
I grilled them with questions.
Now armed with even more info.
And more questions.

Showed the info I had.
Showed the competition and what they offered.
This is probably the wisest thing to do.
Is to get different quotes, and challenge the next dude to match them.
He wanted our business.
And told me that.
"I want your business" he said.
So here is what I am going to do for you...

The offer was presented.
Hmmmm.....

A good offer...
Then more questions.
On the panels.
On the warranty.
The life span.
The company.
How they will work.
What sort of deal can we get.
And just kept pounding him with questions.

The one thing that sold me on these over the other ones we looked at.
Was the Heat tolerance.
Yep... I bet ya didn't know that in high temperatures the solar panels don't do so good.
Odd that... So make sure you ask about heat tolerance.
Plus I did a search in google and found that they were rated number 3 in the world.

"Who is number 1?" my mum asked.
Don't know. But it would to expensive for us at any rate.

This is what I found out from my investigation.
GET GERMAN...
Make sure the panels and inverter are made in Germany.

Don't go for cheap of not so much value from China or Korea.
Ask question.
Ask question.
Ask question.

And keep on asking questions.

What questions to ask?
Show em your power bill.
And work from there.

Ask how much will it cost?
How long will it last?
Did you know that Solar Panels deteriorate over time...
As in, they start to lose the power output.
Not buy much. Like a small %
But they do lose power.
Also ask how shade will affect the output.
Is your roof aligned with the sun so it can get the maximum input.
What angle is your roof.
Get them to do a roof inspection.
Get them to do a phase inspection.(The current input power supply you are using)

Depending on the position of you home.
And the angle of your roof.
You may find it not a good idea to get them at all.
All depends on how the sun hits your roof.

Find a system that will suit you.
With price.
With output.

Do a survey...
LoL...
We actually went door knocking on houses that had solar panels installed on them.
And I asked them questions.
All the people we spoke to said they were very happy.
All of them. Not one single bad comment.
Form 4 people. Well 6 actually. I asked 2 more independantly.
One was a passenger in the cab.
The other was a lady that lived up the road a bit.
All of them said it was the best thing they ever did.

Don't get diswaded from concerend relatives.
Ohh my gosh...
Your all set.
Your ready to go.
Your positive you made the right decision.
And then, your family throws a completely good spanner in the works.
Ohh its a government scam.
What about the excess?
What about this? and that? and so on.
Then they come over and debate the issue.
And you start to second guess your original decision.
Ohh it looks like from what we read that it will only cover half your bill.
Half? what you mean half?
I set out to cover the bill completely.
Not half...

Ahh but that is what these figures say...

??

So back and forth between the energy company.
The solar company.
The concerned relatives.

What a waste of e-fing time.
Sleepless nights.
And worry, over nothing.
Try not to let people persuade you from doing things,
that you have already made a decision to do anyway.

Well...
Good news is.
I was right all along.
It is a good decision.
And if family and friends don't like it. Stuff em.

So, very soon.
We will have solar panels on our roof.
Then we will be CONNECTED to the grid.
We plan on having a bit of a party on that day.

And 3 months after that...
We intend on having another one.
(Bills come every quarter)
And see how well they performed.
And if we ain't happy...

There will be hell to pay...

But, I got a feeling that they will exceed expectations.

Go GREEN.
Save the world.

Well...
I hope you have enjoyed this tale of the Sun Gods...

Yours... in glowing terms...

Thomas

[Twisteruk]

Ah Thomas 10/10 for effort mate !

Well done 

Not in our lifetime but wait for when Planet Earth puts them on the Moon, Yes, the Moon !

In the end thats how we will get our Power, from the Moon. Even though its drifting out of Orbit by around 5cm a year

Never the less the Moon and Solar Power IS the Future.


Still say I was born 1000 Years too soon. Ya never know I may come back and get to see it and play Roulette all over again. Then again......

[ThomasGrant]

Well....
I would suggest doing a Youtube search on Tesla.
I found some amazing videos the other day.
On Tesla generator.
Made with CD's.

YouTube - Broadcast Yourself.

link:://:.instructables.com/id/Build-an-Amazing-Tesla-CD-Turbine/

YouTube - Broadcast Yourself.

YouTube - Broadcast Yourself.

[Twisteruk]

Cool  

You may find these links interesting  


link:://:.sciencenetlinks.com/sci_update.php?DocID=144



link:://:.solarpanelinfo.com/solarprojects/space-based-solar-power.php


link:://green.autoblog.com/2010/06/09/solar-panels-wrapped-round-the-moon-could-power-the-world-evs-a/

[7]

GO GREEN save the world

Maybe and maybe not. Many scientists believe it may be too late to make a difference now. Some even suggest in 50 years time with rising sea levels and extreme weather systems, that results in loss of land, crop failure, food shortage, mass migration, war and disease. Will reduce the 6.5 billion population to 1 billion.

But I think we should all try and prevent this even if it turns out it is irreversible. There no harm in trying is there. Wish we in the UK had more sunny days for this technology.

[Jointu]

Yes mate.


See "HOME" movie- English subtitle.

It puts you on thoughts, gives you the true image of our world, which is not a positive one.
But in the end, there's hope.

[ThomasGrant]

Well...

We got the Solar Panels on the roof.

Amazing...

The technician put them in.
Told me to turn a few things on.
So I did.
Then he said that all was well.
And the meter dial was going backwards.
Backwards? What you mean it is going backwards? I said.
So he showed me.
The actual meter wheel was going backwards.
Instead of the meter wheel going in this direction.
------->
It is now going in the other direction.
<------

Amazing.
Do you know what that means?
It is producing enough power to supply the house with Electricity.
During the day that is.
In fact...
It is producing more than enough.
Since the meter wheel is going backwards.

Amazing....

[chrisbis]

Very "Cool" Tom.

Nice outcome for U.

Meter going backwards should= Ur selling electricity, back to Ur National Grid.

Bravo!!

Good work Tom.

And How many years is the Payback period?

Because after that time- Ur on free Electric (Apart from Night-times, and Peak load capacity),
and also after that 'Payback' period, U should be getting a Cheque from Ur Electrical Supplier!!

Neat eh!

[ThomasGrant]

Very "Cool" Tom.

Nice outcome for U.

Meter going backwards should= your selling electricity, back to your National Grid.

Bravo!!

Good work Tom.

And How many years is the Payback period?

Because after that time- your on free Electric (Apart from Night-times, and Peak load capacity),
and also after that 'Payback' period, U should be getting a Cheque from your Electrical Supplier!!

Neat eh!

Thanks Chris.

And How many years is the Payback period?

They reckon about 3 to 5 years for it to pay for itself.
We are not connected to the GRID yet.
That may take a week or two.
A bit of confusion on where we live is delaying the process.
However, during the day.
The meeter goes backward.
So in effect. We can use as much as we want during the day.
However, that is not our plan.

Meter going backwards should= your selling electricity, back to your National Grid.

We are out to make as much as we can.
In the shortest time as we can.
Get the electricity company to start to pay us.
Instead of us paying them.

[ThomasGrant]

Well... some good news... at long last.

WE ARE CONNECTED TO THE POWER GRID.

Yep.

Now we are sending power to the grid.
And getting paid to do so.
Slow and steady.
But we are getting there.

[Twisteruk]

Well... some good news... at long last.

WE ARE CONNECTED TO THE POWER GRID.

Yep.

Now we are sending power to the grid.
And getting paid to do so.
Slow and steady.
But we are getting there.

Nice one Thomas ! 

[ThomasGrant]

Only problem now...

Is that it is winter here.

So not a lot of Sun to turn into $$$$

[Fripper]

Hi thomas.

We have 4 of these:
[attachthumb=#]

We use this from april - october to get heat(not so much because it's summer, but we do get some cold nights and so on..) and hot water, on that time we have no other energy source, it's all free!

Cheers

[dennisbelle]

Thomas,
    How did your solar array work out for you this summer?

[ThomasGrant]

Thomas,
    How did your solar array work out for you this summer?

Seems to be doing fine so far.
We got our first bill in.
It was half. Original bill was $400+ we paid some $200 for it.
Though that could be due to a few reasons.
We were not connected to the grid for a bit.
We should do better on the next bill.
Keep you posted.