{"id":10097,"date":"2017-04-13T17:47:53","date_gmt":"2017-04-13T07:17:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/?p=10097"},"modified":"2024-10-03T09:51:24","modified_gmt":"2024-10-03T00:21:24","slug":"dont-buy-second-hand-solar-home","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/dont-buy-second-hand-solar-home\/","title":{"rendered":"Don’t Buy Second Hand Solar For Your Home"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"second

You’ll Pay A High Price For Second Hand Solar Equipment<\/p><\/div>\n

“Psssssst!\u00a0 Wanna buy some slightly used solar panels?\u00a0 They fell off the back of a truck.\u00a0 Or possibly off the back of a roof.\u00a0 Maybe they even fell off the back of a roof of a truck.\u00a0 We just don’t know.\u00a0 But what I do know is they are tier one panels in great condition – they didn’t fall far – and they’re cheap, so if you are looking to install rooftop solar you’d be a fool not to buy them, right?”<\/em><\/p>\n

Wrong.<\/p>\n

The only way it would make sense to use second hand solar panels\u00a0is if you were paid to.\u00a0 Because the “solar rebate1<\/a><\/sup>” which lowers the cost of rooftop solar<\/a> by providing Small-scale Technology Certificates (STCs<\/a>) only applies to new panels using second hand ones will actually add thousands of dollars to the cost of rooftop solar.<\/p>\n

“Well what about this solar inverter<\/a>?\u00a0 It’s only two years old and fell off the back of eBay.\u00a0 It still has 2 years of its 5 year warranty left!\u00a0 It’s half the cost it was new, so trust me, you don’t want to miss this deal!”<\/em><\/p>\n

Brand new inverters are about half the cost they were 3 years ago, so I’m pretty sure I do want to miss that deal.\u00a0 Especially since that inverter almost certainly doesn’t meet the current Australian Standard (AS4777.2) and so will be illegal to install.<\/p>\n

The Moral Of Today’s Story is…<\/h2>\n

In case you haven’t guessed, the theme of today’s post\u00a0is how buying second hand solar hardware is a bad idea.\u00a0 While used solar panels may be great for some potentially lethal hobby projects or making coffee tables2<\/a><\/sup> for normal rooftop solar installations used panels and inverters are generally worse than useless.<\/p>\n

Solar Panels Have To Be Clean Energy Council Approved<\/h2>\n

To be installed in Australia solar panels have to meet standards set by the Clean Energy Council<\/a>3<\/a><\/sup> (CEC).\u00a0 While there is a good chance random second hand panels you buy will meet current standards it is still possible they won’t.\u00a0 Especially if they were ones first installed before July 2013 and don’t meet modern fire standards.<\/p>\n

Do You Want STCs?\u00a0 Because New Panels Is How You Get STCs<\/h2>\n

Do you like money?\u00a0 If you do, then you are going to want to save money by buying new panels and not second hand ones.\u00a0 I know this may sound a little strange as second hand is normally cheaper, but when it comes to rooftop solar second hand will\u00a0increase the cost of an installation by thousands of dollars.\u00a0 This is because the STCs that lower the cost of rooftop solar can only be received by solar panels once and any second hand ones you buy will almost certainly have had all their STCs already wrung out of them.<\/p>\n

In a recent article<\/a> I mentioned how STCs will lower the cost of installing a new 6.5 kilowatt<\/a> rooftop solar system by around $4,590 for a typical Australian household, which is roughly around one-third the typical cost for a system of that size.\u00a0 For a 5 kilowatt system STCs will reduce the cost by around $3,530 and for a small 3 kilowatt system the reduction will be around $2,120.<\/p>\n

This may not seem like much to an American now that Trump is making everyone rich, but for the average Australian this is a lot of money and not to be sneezed at.\u00a0 (Personally, I wouldn’t even cough at it.)\u00a0 So don’t believe Cashmerchant69 when he tells you his slightly used solar panels are still good for STCs even if he does have a 94% Positive Feedback rating on eBay.<\/p>\n

STCs Are Enough To Pay For A Brand New Set Of Panels<\/h2>\n

Because solar panels have fallen so far in price STCs can cover the entire cost of competitively priced tier one panels.\u00a0 There can even be money left over and you get the advantage of brand new panels with a brand new warranty.\u00a0 For second hand panels to beat that someone would have to pay you to install them.<\/p>\n

Second Hand Panels May Be Damaged<\/h2>\n

Another problem with used panels is they may not be in top condition.\u00a0 The more panels are moved around the more likely they are to get banged about and develop micro cracks that can cause their performance to deteriorate.\u00a0 Who knows just how gently the panels were treated when they were uninstalled and transported from their original site?<\/p>\n

It is possible to test panels to see how well they perform, but it might do just dandy while its cracked pieces of solar cell are nicely pressed together, but after a couple of years on the roof experiencing a daily thermal expansion and contraction cycle, problems may arise.<\/p>\n

Just to be clear, I’m not saying that moving panels will automatically cause them to contract solar cell rot and deteriorate and fail, but I am saying it’s not good for them and on average new panels will be more reliable.<\/p>\n

Few Second Hand Inverters Can Be Legally Installed<\/h2>\n

The Clean Energy Council also has a list of approved solar inverters<\/a> that must be used in order to receive STCs4<\/a><\/sup>.\u00a0 In addition, your local Distributed Network Service Provider (DNSP)5<\/a><\/sup> reserves the right to screw you over, I mean, limit the equipment that can be connected to the grid, but generally if an inverter is on the CEC list it is good to go.<\/p>\n

The trouble is, because of changes made to the standards, unless it is very new, a second hand inverter is unlikely to be on the approved list and will be illegal to install.\u00a0 So getting a second hand inverter is likely to be an expensive mistake.<\/p>\n

Even if you do your homework and make sure the second hand inverter is one that can be used, installers may not be thrilled by the idea of using a random second hand inverter they may never have used before.\u00a0 So you may have trouble finding someone willing to install it and if you do find someone they may charge extra for the hassle of figuring out how the darn thing works.<\/p>\n

When Is It A Good Idea To Use Second Hand Solar Gear?<\/h2>\n

So just when is it a good idea to buy second hand solar hardware?\u00a0 Well, almost never.\u00a0 There are exceptions.\u00a0 For some applications requiring low voltage DC power a used solar panel may be just the thing.\u00a0 But for most people it would be no use to them at all.<\/p>\n

There are enthusiasts who like to get their hands on second hand solar gear and fool around off-grid where Network Operators can’t fine them potentially hundreds of thousands of dollars for connecting illegal equipment to the grid.\u00a0 But unless those people have the qualifications and experience required to safely work with that kind of equipment, I can’t condone that sort of activity.<\/p>\n

Sure, I can’t stop anyone from doing it, but I’m not allowed to say it’s okay.<\/p>\n

My ex-wives have beaten it into to me that I can ‘t even give the impression that doing something potentially dangerous is acceptable.<\/p>\n

In fact, the judge said I’m no longer even allowed to hypothetically<\/em> discuss how a lawn mower engine could be used to make a small aircraft with my children anymore.\u00a0 I don’t know what the big fuss was.\u00a0 They healed.<\/p>\n

But still, I did make a promise.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

“Psssssst!\u00a0 Wanna buy some slightly used solar panels?\u00a0 They fell off the back of a truck.\u00a0 Or possibly off the back of a roof.\u00a0 Maybe they even fell off the back of a roof of a truck.\u00a0 We just don’t know.\u00a0 But what I do know is they are tier one panels in great condition […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[46],"tags":[112,129],"class_list":["post-10097","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-solar-panels-2","tag-buyers-guide","tag-cheap-solar","entry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nDon't Buy Second Hand Solar For Your Home - SolarQuotes Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"You\u2019ll pay a high price for second hand solar equipment. 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The only way it would make sense to use second hand solar panels is if you were paid to.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/dont-buy-second-hand-solar-home\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"SolarQuotes Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/SolarQuotes\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2017-04-13T07:17:53+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2024-10-03T00:21:24+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/Secondhand_Solar.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Ronald Brakels\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@BrakelsRonald\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@solar_quotes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/dont-buy-second-hand-solar-home\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/dont-buy-second-hand-solar-home\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Ronald Brakels\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/d0ce1779b3f5cb67cb4f146732af2fc7\"},\"headline\":\"Don’t Buy Second Hand Solar For Your Home\",\"datePublished\":\"2017-04-13T07:17:53+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-10-03T00:21:24+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/dont-buy-second-hand-solar-home\/\"},\"wordCount\":1419,\"commentCount\":41,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/dont-buy-second-hand-solar-home\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"http:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/Secondhand_Solar.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"buyers guide\",\"cheap solar\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Solar Panels\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/dont-buy-second-hand-solar-home\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/dont-buy-second-hand-solar-home\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/dont-buy-second-hand-solar-home\/\",\"name\":\"Don't Buy Second Hand Solar For Your Home - SolarQuotes Blog\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/dont-buy-second-hand-solar-home\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/dont-buy-second-hand-solar-home\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"http:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/Secondhand_Solar.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2017-04-13T07:17:53+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-10-03T00:21:24+00:00\",\"description\":\"You\u2019ll pay a high price for second hand solar equipment. 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