{"id":2968,"date":"2013-10-23T11:05:47","date_gmt":"2013-10-23T01:35:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/?p=2968"},"modified":"2014-01-05T18:05:00","modified_gmt":"2014-01-05T08:35:00","slug":"secret-getting-20-returns-solar-system-even-crappy-rebates","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/secret-getting-20-returns-solar-system-even-crappy-rebates\/","title":{"rendered":"How to unlock a great solar payback (even with crappy rebates)."},"content":{"rendered":"
\"solar<\/a>

The key to good solar payback is system sizing.<\/p><\/div>\n

Occasionally I venture out of my straw-bale, solar passive eco-cave and meet real people, in person instead of over the interwebs. When they inevitably ask me the standard icebreaker “what do you do?” and hear that I’m in “solar power”, the usual response is: “Oh – that must be a tough industry, now that the rebates \/ buy back rates have all ended?”.<\/p>\n

The reality seems to be that most people who don’t work in the solar industry seem to use the words “rebate” and “feed in tariff” interchangeably. And who can blame them? Both are essentially government cash handouts.<\/p>\n

Of course the truth is that the “Solar Rebate<\/a>“,\u00a0<\/em>is actually still available through the Federal government. The government frowns upon anyone who calls it a rebate, preferring the term “Financial Incentive”. But all that really matters is that you can get about $700 off the upfront cost of every kW of solar you buy. For a typical 3kW, that’s a $2100 subsidy.<\/p>\n

The subsidy that really has ended (for everyone except Northern Territorians) is the “Feed In Tariff<\/a>“. This is the rate that you get paid for any solar energy you put back into the grid. i.e. all the solar energy that is not consumed by your home’s lights and appliances.<\/p>\n

(If you are lucky enough to live in the NT you get paid 27.8c for every kWh you generate. \u00a0To cut a long story short, that means a grid connected solar system can currently pay back in around 5 years. That’s a return of 20%.)<\/em><\/p>\n

But I’m guessing most of you don’t live in the NT! If so, then you will only get about 8c per kWh for every unit exported back to the grid.<\/p>\n

And to rub salt into the wound, that electricity that you are exporting is being instantaneously sold to a neighbour for approximately 30c per kWh by your local electricity retailer! \u00a0But, hey, this post is not going to be a futile whinge about that little rort. Rather, I’m going deal with the real world, as it is right now, \u00a0and show how, despite the shockingly crappy buy back rate for most Australians, it is possible for many households outside the NT to still get 20% returns on a solar system.<\/p>\n

The secret is in the sizing<\/strong><\/p>\n

There is a mob doing the rounds on TV at the moment who promise to get you 3 quotes for solar (hmmm… wonder where they got that idea from?). \u00a0If you call their number you get put through to an overseas call centre operator who will ask you what your last electricity bill was. Based on this, and only this answer<\/em>, the call centre operator will “recommend” what solar system size you should buy. The higher your bill, the bigger a solar system they will recommend you buy. Oh and get this: the bigger the solar system, they recommend, the more they get paid by the companies they are referring you to!<\/p>\n

\"caution-tape\"<\/a><\/p>\n

This is just wrong, wrong, wrong on so many levels. I think it also is against the draft CEC code of ethics if I recall the draft I read correctly. The problem is that, with the current low Feed In Tariff levels, you cannot size a solar system for optimum payback based on only a customer’s power bill.<\/strong><\/p>\n

This is because the payback of a solar system will vary dramatically depending on how much solar energy you export at the 8c feed in rate compared to how much is saving 30c per kWh being used by the appliances inside your home. There is no way an overseas call centre operator (or anyone else for that matter) can accurately determine this by simply knowing the size of your last power bill.<\/p>\n

In fact, the only way you can accurately determine how much someone will export is to do an energy audit of<\/p>\n