posted on April 23, 2013 by

Solar panel orientation

Which is the best direction to point your solar panels?

It’s an interesting question and you would think the answer is pretty simple – NORTH.

In many cases you’d be right, a north facing solar array will generate more electricity than an array that faces east, west or south. In Geelong, putting panels on an east or west roof will normally result in a loss of around 15%, compared with a north facing array on a 30 degree pitch. Many people are surprised by how small this loss is and it certainly doesn’t rule out these options. It’s  recommended however to steer away from south facing panels where possible, where losses are in the range of 30-40% on a standard home’s roof pitch.

Solar panel oreintation

With the introduction of lower feed in tariff (FIT) rates for your solar electricity that’s exported to the grid, an interesting discussion about solar panel orientation has come about. Should we be facing our panels west?

Sure a north facing array generates more electricity than one that faces west, but it generates the peak of it’s generation for the home in the middle of the day. For the average working family that has a low electricity consumption during the day it could mean that a lot of the electricity generated is being exported to the grid at the current FIT rate of 8c/kWh. The theory is, that if you were to face your panels west, they would generate more electricity later in the day, when you are more likely to be using the power. In this case you would be able to offset the cost of buying electricity from the grid at the going rate (often over 30c/kWh), which is more valuable to you. This is true particularly in summer when solar production is higher and the daylight hours are longer extending into dinner times.

Another related argument for pointing panels west comes from a Renew Economy article where Adam McHugh, a lecturer in energy economics and energy policy at Murdoch University, where he suggests that pointing solar panels west, would correlate the systems output with times of peak demand on summer afternoons. On hot sunny days when everyone turns their air conditioners on, west facing solar panels would be producing electricity. West facing solar has the potential to compete with the distribution network and expensive peak generators by reducing the cost of supplying electricity particularly during peak demand events.

The orientation of your roof and available space may be the deciding factor in the end, but it’s good to know that there are normally a couple of options. A good solar installer will give you a comprehensive analysis of your solar systems production as part of your quote. This should show average daily kWh estimates broken down monthly and for the year based on your roofs orientation and pitch.

For more info on panel orientation or the potential of you roof give Green Energy Options a call on 1300 931 929.

Filed Under: Solar Orientation, Solar Power, Solar tips
posted on April 7, 2013 by

Torquay solar info session

Green Energy Options will be holding an information session at the Surfworld Museum in Torquay on Wednesday 17th April at 6:30pm.

We’ll be discussing what’s behind recent electricity price increases and where they are heading in the future. We’ll also be giving an update on the current state of solar power incentives and discussing the best way to size a system based on current feed in tariff arrangements. Other areas we will be talking about include the dramatic cost reductions in solar PV, recent manufacturing consolidation, new technologies such as micro  inverters, investment opportunities for commercial buildings, choosing quality components. There will be plenty of time put aside for questions, so please feel free to come along for a chat.

Torquay info session

Filed Under: Info session, Solar tips, Surfcoast events
posted on March 26, 2013 by

Six Solar Tips

Six solar tips to consider when buying a solar power system

There’s a lot of information out there in solar la la land and if you are new to solar, it can be tricky to sort through and find the answers you need. I’ve put together a list of six solar tips to help give you a good start on things to consider when buying a solar power system. Here we go…

1. Find out who manufactures the solar panels and inverter.

Do your research. Does the brand have a good name? What have other people’s experiences been like? Some companies are reluctant to give you this information and some are using cheap rebranded or “lucky dragon” panels which have only been on the market a couple of years and substitution of lower grade materials is not unheard of. Choose an installer that is transparent about the components they use and stick with well-known brands that have an Australian office for warranty issues.

2. Make sure you’re happy with the installation company.

Who are they? Are they close to you? What have others said about their service? Are they members of any industry bodies Clean Energy Council (CEC), Australian Solar Council (ASC), Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) or the Alternate Technology Association (ATA)? There are a lot of solar installer reviews online if you want to find feedback. Also watch out for the hard sell sales tactics, steer away from anyone trying to get you to make your mind up on the spot.

3.      Don’t buy the cheapest solar system you can find.

Obviously price comes into the equation at some point when you are buying a solar system, but like anything, you get what you pay for. There are many ways to cut costs in a solar business, I could purchase the cheapest panels/inverters that I could find, I could squeeze my installers on the installation cost, buy cheaper isolators, cabling or other balance of system components, or I could skimp on the resources I put towards customer service and post installation backup. Either way, by compromising on the above things you may find you end up with a less than average solar system or less than average solar experience. You don’t have to buy the most expensive option to get a good system, but don’t buy the cheapest!

Ballarat Solar Installation

Ballarat Solar Installation

 4.      Don’t compromise on the inverter.

50% of all system failures have something to do with the inverter. There are heaps of cheap options out there now, often at less than half the cost of the good stuff. Our suggestion is, it’s not worth it, buy a good quality inverter – some examples include SMA, Aurora or Xantrex. If your panels are going to last 25 years+ you don’t want to have to replace an inverter every five years. There are also some fantastic micro-inverter options becoming available, these generally come with stronger warranty periods, better system monitoring and safety and performance benefits.

 5.      Take your warranty with a grain of salt.

Although warranties are an important aspect of buying a system  nearly all panels on the market have a 25 year performance guarantee, stating that the silicon will degrade at a certain rate over time, with the panel still producing a minimum of 80% of its initial output after 25yrs. Note that the panels also have a materials and workmanship warranty normally in the range of 5-10 years. Inverter warranties are normally between 5-10 years with some micro-inverters offering up to 25 years. Then there’s you installation warranty from the installer which usually is 2-5 years. The one thing to be aware of here is that the warranty is only as good as the company behind it, if they go into liquidation or are taken over by another business, you might find yourself left high and dry. Some big panel manufacturers and installation companies have gone bust or dropped out of the solar industry recently, so be careful. Our best advice is to read the fine print, stick with good quality components to minimise the need for warranty claims and go with a company that has a track record and you feel you can trust.

 6.      Size the system to cover your daytime usage.

In Victoria, the Feed in Tariff is now a minimum of 8 cents per kWh. The price you are paying for electricity is probably up around 30 cents kWh. This means you don’t want to oversize your system too much, as you won’t be paid very much for the excess power that you’re not using directly and exporting back to the grid. If you size your system right, you will get a better return on investment and quicker payback period. If you need some help here we can give you some advice. Note that there is currently a great niche for many businesses that use power during the day to capitalise on the benefits of solar power.

I hope the tips help. If you have any further questions, or are after some advice please feel free to give us a call on 1300 931 929.

Cheers Aaron.

Filed Under: Solar Power, Solar tips
posted on January 31, 2012 by

Solar power misconceptions

I thought I’d start off by explaining a couple of simple points about how solar panels work, hopefully clearing up a couple of general misconceptions about solar.

1. Is there enough sunlight in Victoria to make solar panels work?

I guess it depends on what your expectations are but generally, YES there is plenty of sunlight in Victoria to make solar work. If you compare the amount of solar radiation we get here, to say, Germany – the worlds leader in solar power installations, we get around 30-40% more sunlight.

2. Isn’t it too cold here for solar power here?

Photovoltaic solar panels produce electricity from light, not heat. The photovoltaic material in the solar panel (normally silicon) tuns the light energy into electrical energy, the more sunlight the better the performance of your solar system. In fact you will find that as it gets hotter, the output from your solar system will drop off slightly, this depends on your solar panels temperature coefficient, but I will talk in more detail about this in a future post.

3. I don’t have a north facing roof, it’s not worth going solar. 

This isn’t necessarily the case. Yes, a north facing roof is ideal for optimum performance, but you will find that even going around to an east or west orientation will generally only lose you around 15% compared to an optimum pitched north facing roof. There may even be options to split your system across a couple of different orientation rooves, if half your panels are north and half are west, you may end up with only a 7% loss over the whole system, which normally isn’t too bad. The Tindo Karra solar panels tend to be particularly suited to these scenarios, the embedded micro-inverter gives your system more flexibility when positioning panels, allowing you to split them up easily over a number of different rooves.

Green Energy Options aim to give you the information you need to make an informed decision. We can give you advice on panel positioning, estimates on electricity generation and money saved based on the panel positioning and let you decide if it’s going to be worth while going ahead.

Hope you enjoyed our first blog post, keep an eye out and we’ll try an keep you posted with useful tips and updates about solar power.

Cheers

Aaron

Filed Under: Solar tips Tagged With: , , ,