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This bulk buy offer is now closed. Twenty five households (mostly around Maleny & Witta) participated and interest in general was high. If you would like further information on solar PV systems or suppliers you can email us.

Sustainable Maleny are considering a bulk-buy of 1 kW grid-tie solar PV systems for its members. Our aim is for the cost of one of these systems to be below $2000 fully installed (on a typical household roof), after government rebates.

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Cheap PV systems

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We're going to be sourcing the components and organising installations ourselves. PV modules will be whatever is available at the time (e.g. Suntech, BP, Sharp, Schott, Kyocera) and inverters will be from Latronics (a Caloundra company with a very good reputation for their inverters). Panel prices & availability are hard to pin down this far out from installation so we won't know final costs until we're ready to purchase.

A local renewable energy business Greenlight Energy (owned by a Sustainable Maleny committee member) will handle the buying of components and installations for Sustainable Maleny. Panels and inverters will be passed on at cost and all paperwork will be handled by GE for SM. An admin fee will be charged for this (to be split between GE & SM). Local accredited installers will be used alongside a licensed electrical contractor.

We have about 100 people registered as interested in this offer with about 20 ready to start the application process. Because of uncertainty about the number of rebates available from the federal government we've decided to get this process underway and applications for the rebate have been started.

Our initial idea was to get 50 people together as a buying group to create economies of scale. We've since scaled this back to groups of 10 to ease the process of application and raising the funds. It's necessary for participants to provide all funds upfront to enable us to get the best price for components. This amounts to about $10,600 for a standard 1 kW system. The Maleny Credit Union has 'green' personal loans available for those that don't have access to these funds. It might be 3 months between the time the money is paid and you receive your rebate and RECS refund.

The application/installation process is as follows:

1. Email us saying you'd like to get started.
2. A pre-approval form will be emailed out to you with instructions on how to fill it in and return it via post. It will then be checked & posted off to DEWHA.
3. Pay a deposit of $200.
4. A pre-installation inspection will take place at your home at a time suitable to you while you're waiting for your rebate approval.
5. A quote will be provided which will detail all components to be used (extra panels or upgraded inverter will be available as options) as well as any extra work needed for your particular situation (in the case of a non-standard installation). If you decide not to go ahead with the installation or your rebate application is not approved then your deposit will be returned to you (less $66 for the pre-installation inspection).
6. If you accept the quote, a contract will be signed and once we have a group of 10 ready to go you'll need to pay the balance of the cost of the system.
7. Components will be bought and installations take place.
8. Energex and your electricity retailer are notified to ensure appropriate meters are installed for you to take advantage of the Qld. feed-in-tariff.
9. An installation report is sent to DEWHA who then return the rebate to you.
10. RECS are assigned to an agent who deposit payment into your account.

If you have any questions about this process or our bulk buy scheme you can email us.

Frequently asked questions

Do I need to already be on the mains grid?

Yes. This scheme is only for households already connected to the mains electricity
grid.

Can I have a larger system installed?

Yes. Note that the $8000 rebate only applies to the first kilowatt of panels installed.

Where would Sustainable Maleny source the systems?

We have two ideas at the moment. The first is to become part of the Solar Neighbourhood scheme run by Beyond Building Energy, a Byron Bay company (see below for link). They have a number of Solar Neighbourhoods up and running already and have begun installations. The restriction is that we need to have 50 households within a 10 km diameter circle (to enable ease of installation).

The other idea is to do something similar to Local Power in Brisbane (see below for link) where they sourced the components and organised installations themselves. This process allows for more flexibility in numbers of participants and their location but is a lot more work for us. It also results in a more expensive system (maybe twice the price of the BBE option).

If we get enough participants we may be able to do both options.

Update: we're sourcing components ourselves and will use local installers/electricians to do the installations.

How do I register interest?

Send us an email stating where you live.

How much are the government rebates?

The federal government provides an $8 per watt rebate on grid-tie systems up to a limit of 1 kW or $8000. Additionally, Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs) are available (about 20 per kW of panels). RECs are traded on the open market so their price varies somewhat. At June ’08 they are worth about $45 each giving a further $900 rebate on your system.

Am I eligible for the government rebate?

A means test of $100,000 annual gross income per household is now in place for the rebate. If your income is higher then you won’t be eligible. The residence where the system is being installed also needs to be your primary place of residence and owned by you.

More information on the rebates is available on the Solar Homes & Communities website (see below for link).

Will my house be suitable for generating PV electricity?

An unshaded north-facing roof is ideal (NE to NW is OK) with at least 8m2 roof space free for fixing panels. Solar panels can also be installed on a frame on the ground if roof-shading or space is an issue.

The roof pitch should be between 10 - 25 degrees. Flat or very steep roofs will incur extra framing costs. Roof materials need to be zincalume/colourbond etc. or tiled.

How much energy will I produce?

A 1 kW grid-tie PV system situated around Maleny will produce on average about
4 kWh per day.

How much greenhouse gas will I save?

1 kWh of coal-fired electricity produces about 1 kg of CO2 so a regular 1 kW PV system will save about 1.5 tonnes of CO2 a year.

What about energy payback?

A solar PV module takes about 2 years to produce the energy required to manufacture the module. A typical module will keep producing power for at least 25 years.

How does the feed-in-tariff (FIT) work?

The Queensland FIT works on net-metering i.e. if you generate more power at any time during the day than you use at that time, the excess is exported to the mains grid and you will be paid 44c per kWh for all the electricity you export. At any other time you will be paying normal rates for the power you use (currently around 16.5c per kWh).

Will the FIT benefit me?

Only if you have a lifestyle where you use minimal power during the day, for example you go out to work and have an energy-efficient fridge and no other appliances on while you’re out. If you stay home during the day it will be relatively difficult to generate more power than you use and thus be paid a premium for the excess you export to the grid. You could also use the FIT to your advantage by increasing the size of your PV system.

How does solar PV power differ from solar hot water?

Solar hot water uses the heat of the sun to heat water, a thermal process. Solar PV uses the light of the sun to create a flow of electrons in a solar cell and thus an electrical current. This is called a photovoltaic (PV) process.

There are also solar thermal plants that generate electricity – these use the heat of the sun, usually on concentrating mirrors, to create steam which powers conventional electrical turbines (similar to a coal-fired power station using the sun instead of coal).

What’s the difference between energy and power?

Power is instantaneous and is measured in watts (W). Energy is over time and is measured in joules (J) or kilowatt-hours (kWh).

Energy is power multiplied by time. For example if you have a 100 W bulb on for 10 hours, the energy you use (and the electricity you will be charged for) is 100 x 10 or 1000 Wh (i.e. 1 kWh).

Talking about using a number of kWh per day makes sense but kW per day does not.

Cheap solar PV systems

Thought I should let you know about a couple of companies offering low cost 1kW solar PV grid-tie systems.

The first is eco-Kinetics (http://www.eco-kinetics.com/) who are supplying the systems for the Qld. 1000 solar homes scheme - they're also offering this deal (a few hundred dollars after rebates) to those who didn't make the cut but you may have to wait a little while. The other company is Free Solar (http://www.freesolar.com.au/home.html) who say they will supply you a system for free. You put money up as a deposit which is refunded to you when the rebate comes back.

While I encourage anybody interested in a solar PV system to contact these companies and register themselves for whatever they're offering, Sustainable Maleny is not endorsing either of these businesses (your mileage may vary, caveat emptor etc. etc.). If you are successful in getting a system with one of these businesses, or anybody else offering supa-cheap deals, please let me know how it goes.

We're still finalising costing on our own bulk-buy scheme (I know, it's taking a while - and may be redundant anyway if the above model is a sign of the times).

Cheap solar PV systems revisited

A follow-up note to the email sent last week re the cheap/free PV systems being offered by eco-Kinetics & Free Solar. The Free Solar offer wants you to put $1499 upfront when you register/order. This is returned when the system is installed and gov. rebate refunded. How long this takes could be between 3 & 6 months (maybe) from registration.

The problem I see with their offer is how much roof space is required for the panels they use. 20 square metres is about 3 times what you'd normally need and I don't see a lot of houses having this much space available facing approx. north. This is a result of using 40W panels rather than the normal 175W panels where you only need 6 for a 1kW installation.

The only problem I see with the eco-Kinetics offer is that you have to wait for your system to be installed. Because they have the job of installing the 1000 solar home systems for the Qld. gov. they have a commitment to install these first. They have 12 months to install the 1000, how soon you get yours depends on how many they have to install in this area. Other than the waiting, I like that they're including an energy audit plus a device to control stand-by power on some of your appliances. The business is a branch of a German company and seems to have close links with a German panel manufacturer. Anyway, I got this from their website which you've probably found out for yourself.

Another couple of points of interest: We've decided not to follow the BBE path. I talked to them recently and they advised me their prices had gone up and they weren't the great deal they originally were. Their prices were approaching what we could do ourselves so I thought it would be better to do our own sourcing and installing if there's still any interest from our members.

The last thing to mention is that from the start of next year the Qld gov is offering Climate Smart home programmes - similar to the Waterwise programme where you paid $30 & a plumber came to your house & checked your taps for leaks & changed your shower head over. Anyway, the idea is you pay $50 (I think) & an electrician comes & does an energy audit on your house, changes up to 15 incandescent bulbs over to CFLs & (best of all) installs a wireless energy monitor somewhere in your house so you get real-time updates on how much power you're using plus it keeps track of how much energy you use over time. These monitors are great for instant feedback on appliance use and can complement a grid-tie PV system to ensure you maximise how much excess energy you send to the grid and therefore how much you get paid via the feed-in tariff. All this normally is supposed to be worth about $275.

Finally (whew..), our goal is to get as many solar PV systems out on rooftops as we can at the best price we/you can get them for. If somebody is genuinely offering an essentially free (or close to free) system then we'll be encouraging you to go for it. Our idea in running a bulk buy was not to make money for SM or local installers or anybody else, it just seemed at the time that there weren't too many other options out there. If the situation has changed then great. Whether the SM bulk buy goes ahead will depend on continuing interest from our members but I hope you look at all the options available. It also depends on how many gov rebates are available.

Links

Federal government grid-tie solar PV rebate

http://www.environment.gov.au/settlements/renewable/pv/index.html

Queensland government feed-in-tariff

http://www.cleanenergy.qld.gov.au/solar_bonus_scheme.cfm

Further information on solar PV

http://www.bcse.org.au/default.asp?id=310

Beyond Building Energy

http://www.beyondbuildingenergy.com

Local Power

http://www.localpower.net.au