Solar Power Melbourne – Melbourne Solar Power Advice , Information and Quotes

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Solar Power Melbourne – Welcome To The Solar Power Melbourne Web Resource. 

Update 4 September 2012 – It was announced that the feed in tariff will be cut to just 8 cents/kwh for new applications after 30 September 2012.We had been expecting this and follows a similar move in Queensland recently. Further details http://www.dpi.vic.gov.au/energy/environment-and-community/feed-in-tariffs/transitional-feed-in-tariff

(Update 24 August 2012 – Victoria continues to have one of the most generous feed in tariff’s available in Australia. With expectations of power prices increasing many Melbourne homeowners are installing solar panels to insulate themselves from electricity price rises – Easily access 3 solar panel quotations for your home from Clean Energy Council (C.E.C.) Melbourne solar power installers – (totally obligation free), via the solar quotes form below  )

Solar Power Melbourne – Are You Considering Solar Power for your Melbourne Home? There are currently many compelling incentives and reasons to consider installing a solar power system in your Melbourne home. These include :

1. The Carbon Tax .Fact – Electricity prices are on the rise .It is estimated that Power prices will increase by between 30 – 50% percent over the next 3 to 5 years. Regardless of the impending carbon tax, global energy prices will continue to trend up. Installing a solar power system in your Melbourne home could mitigate these expected electricity price increases very significantly. Solar electricity is increasingly a ‘must have’ for many home owners in Melbourne.

2. State and Federal Government Rebates and Incentives To Install Solar Power in Melbourne :

    • Solar Power Rebate Victoria. The ‘Transitional Feed-in Tariff’ is available to Victorian households from 1 January 2012. In summary this scheme offers:
      • For solar power systems less than five kilowatts a minimum credit of 25 cents per kilowatt hour is paid for excess electricity fed back into the grid (‘feed in tariff’). This means you get paid slightly more for power that you ‘feed’ back onto the electricity grid than you pay for electricity you use.
      • These feed in tariff credits are guaranteed until the end of 2016 , meaning a good opportunity to help pay off your solar panel system. Note- this rebate is only available for your principal place of residence.
      • A generous feed in tariff compared to N.S.W. ,A.C.T, W.A and the N.T.
    • Federal Government Rebates – As stated above this rebate drops each year and will drop again after 30 June 2013 .The majority of Melbourne Solar Power companies claim the rebate on your behalf and their quoted priced generally has the rebate built into them.
    • Important – Both Federal and Victorian Government rebates for grid connect solar power systems are decreasing . Keep in mind that after 30 June 2012 solar panel system prices in Melbourne will increase as the Federal Government rebate decreases.Benefit from the current rebates by getting 3 quotations from Melbourne Solar Power Installation Companies ,which you can easily access here).

3. Environmental Considerations:Switching to solar power reduces your homes carbon footprint significantly.


Quickly and easily get 3 obligation free Solar Power Quotations For Your Melbourne Home – Click here to arrange for 3 Melbourne Solar Panel Installation Companies to contact you to discuss your requirements

solar power melbourne

Solar Power Melbourne- Key Facts To Consider Before Installing Solar Power:

  • Key Fact One : Solar Panel companies come and go in Melbourne. Our view is that it is worth investing slightly more to get ‘premium’ or ‘brand’ name components -meaning the solar panels and the solar inverters. Warranties on solar panels are up to 25 years for electrical life and typically 5-10 years for ‘mechanical’ life. A warranty may be worthless if the Melbourne solar panels company you buy from goes out of business. At least if you buy ‘quality’ solar panels and solar inverter you may have warranty recourse via the Australian distributor for those components.
  • Key Fact Two: Ensure the Melbourne solar power company is C.E.C. (Clean Energy Council) accredited . The rebates are only applicable if the company installing your solar panels system is accredited.
  • Key Fact Three: Important - Always ask for and get in writing the warranty details including the installation / workmanship .
  • Key Fact Four: You generally require a minimum useable area of at least 20 square metres of North facing (see fact five below) roof space to install the smallest solar power system. The Melbourne solar companies accessible via the form below will help you establish the viability of solar panels installation on your roof.
  • Key Fact Five: The solar panels must be installed on a North facing roof (+- 25 degrees is generally acceptable). Ensure that they will not be shaded by nearby trees, houses or chimneys .
  • Key Fact Six: Ask the Melbourne solar power companies quoting you for an estimate as to what your prospective solar system will produce( in kilowatt-hours of electricity) every year. Get an estimate of payback period of the solar power system and the reduction in your current power bills
  • Key Fact Seven: Does the quoted price include the solar meter (which measures the amount of solar electricity fed back onto the grid). What is the time for installation of the solar panels system AND the time for it to be connected to the electricity grid?
Solar Power Melbourne: Get 3 obligation free Solar Power Quotations For Your Melbourne Home.

Solar Power Melbourne- Please complete the form below to get 3 Solar Power Quotations for your home from 3 Melbourne Solar Power companies.You will receive a call from the companies quickly (usually the same day), to arrange a convenient time to visit you and discuss your Solar Power needs, answer any questions and arrange a quotation, no obligation:

Melbourne Solar Power Quote Form

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Solar Power Melbourne – Discussion of The Solar Industry In Australia

Solar Energy has been in existence in Australia since the late 1990′s and beyond. However the real exponential growth of the Solar Industry in Australia has happened since the year 2005. As per the Clean Energy Australia Report 2010, the total number of solar Installations in Australia during the year 2005 was 553 increasing to 1,05,520 by the year 2010. In a span of just 5 years this remarkable growth has been achieved. The number of Accredited Solar Installers has increased from 237 numbers in 2005 to 2726 numbers in 2010.

Some of the major global brands selling Solar Panels is Australia are LG, K-Solar, Sharp, BP Solar, Solar Enertech, Kyocera, ET Solar, Sunpower, CEEG, Suntech, Simax, Trina, SOLON and Uni-Solar. Each of these Solar PV Panel manufacturers has their own advantages and disadvantages over the other. They also vary in technology. For example Sharp & Uni-Solar offer Thin Film Technology. Sunpower offers crystalline technology, but with an advance cell technology called the Back-Contact cell technology which has the highest efficiency in the crystalline range of modules.

Solar Power Melbourne – Overview of Solar Inverters Used In Australia.

Solar PV Systems for homes consists of the major components like Solar PV Panels, Grid-Tie Inverters, Panel Mounting Structures and Electrical Accessories. Out of all the components, Solar Grid-Tie Inverters are very critical for the efficient functioning of the PV system.

Solar Inverters can be of two types namely On-Grid Inverters and Off-Grid Inverters. On-Grid inverters are those which always interact with the grid for their functioning and off-grid inverters are those which may or may not depend on the grid for functioning.

On-Grid inverters for Solar On-Grid Power Plants are of two types namely Centralized Inverters and String Inverters. Inverters of size 100KW and above are categorized as Central Inverters and inverters of size below 50 KW are categorized as string inverters. Normally Solar PV systems for Homes are in the range of less than 10 KW and hence String Inverters is the best option for homes.

Most of the Solar On-Grid PV systems in Australia for homes are less than 5 KW and very few systems above 5 KW. There are many different brands of Grid Inverters that are available in Australia. Some of these brands are FRONIUS, SMA, OUTBACK, XANTREX, Delta, Effekta, Conergy, OPS and Power-One. Apart from these global brands there are other local brands in Australia like SEA ORION, LATRONICS, VICTRON & SiNERGEX.

Each Inverter manufacturer has a different approach to their inverter design. There are certain very important and critical parameters or Technical specifications of an inverter that a system designer or installer needs to evaluate before choosing an Inverter. Few of the critical parameters are

  1. MPPT, Voltage Range – This is the range of voltage within which when operating, the inverter is designed to do the “Maximum Power Point Tracking” (MPPT). This feature extracts the maximum power from the Solar Panels at a specific available voltage and current. The MPP voltage Range helps in deciding on the number of Solar Panels that needs to be connected in series. Different Inverters have different ranges. For example Effekta Inverters have a MPP range 150V – 450 V, SMA Inverters have MPP Range 139V- 400V and Fronius Inverters have MPP range 150V – 400V. MPP voltage range is a very important factor in optimization of the entire system for optimum efficiency.

  1. MPPT Efficiency Curve – Every Inverter manufacturer has a efficiency curve of Voltage Vs Efficiency. This curve is a very important factor in deciding on the optimum voltage to be maintained within the MPP range for achieving highest efficiency.

 

  1. Number of MPPT’s per Inverter – Number of MPPT’s per inverter is also a very important factor that contributes to the yield in energy from an inverter. For example a 2.2 KW Fronius Inverter has only one MPPT, but for the same rating of 2.2 KW, an Effekta Inverter has 2 MPPT’s built into it. This means that when you use a Effekta Inverter, each of your 1.1 KW Solar Array is subjected to MPP Tracking for maximizing power output, but if you use a Fronius Inverter then your entire 2.2 KW Solar Array is subjected to MPP tracking. During days of low sunlight or over shadowing due to clouds, Solar Panels connected to Effekta inverters will produce more output than Fronius inverters.

 

  1. Inverter Efficiency – The efficiency of the Inverter is also a very important factor in deciding on the brand and size of the inverter. Higher the efficiency of the inverter, higher is the energy yield from the inverter. For example for a power class of 1700W – 2200W inverters, Fronius has a Max. Efficiency of 94.3%, SMA has a Max. Efficiency of 93.5% and Effekta Inverters has a Max. Efficiency of 96%.

 

  1. Ingress Protection – All Inverters can be either classified as Indoor or Outdoor Inverters depending on the IP provided. It is very important to check the IP provided for each series of inverters and accordingly choose the inverter whether you want to install it indoors or Outdoors.

 

  1. Operating Temperature Range – Each inverter is designed for a particular operating ambient temperature range. Once the ambient temperature in which the inverter is operating goes out of the temperature range, either the inverter goes off or starts de-rating on its power. Fronius inverters have a range of -20°C to + 50°C, Effekta Inverters have a range of -25°C to + 50°C and SMA inverters have a range of -20°C to + 60°C. This means that in places where the ambient temperatures can go as high as 55°C to 60°C, SMA inverters will perform better.

 

 

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