{"id":33162,"date":"2019-09-09T11:15:18","date_gmt":"2019-09-09T00:45:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/?p=33162"},"modified":"2019-09-09T11:17:18","modified_gmt":"2019-09-09T00:47:18","slug":"solar-bigger-better","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/solar-bigger-better\/","title":{"rendered":"Bigger Is Better — Installing Over 6 Kilowatts Of Solar Almost Always Pays"},"content":{"rendered":"

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If you asked me how much solar you should put on your roof I would say, “As much as you can without doing something stupid like borrowing from the mafia or doubling up on solar panels by stacking them on top of each other.”\u00a0 In other words, install as much as you can without making problems for yourself. Because rooftop solar power is often the best investment households can make, I generally recommend installing as much as will easily fit on your roof or your budget allows.<\/p>\n

The reason I can give this advice is because good quality solar power has fallen so far in cost households with unshaded roofs can usually save money with a large system regardless of how little solar electricity they may consume themselves.<\/p>\n

In the past when solar energy was more expensive it could make sense to “right size” a system based on household electricity consumption rather than going with what easily fits on the roof, but those days are gone except for those with the tightest of budgets.<\/p>\n

Despite the current low cost of solar<\/a> there are still people — including some installers — who think it makes economic sense for people with low electricity consumption to always install small systems.\u00a0 I can understand home owners thinking this, as they usually have better things to do than keep up with the economics of solar power, but by now all installers should realize the majority of people are going to be better off with more than 3 or 4 kilowatts.\u00a0 Some may just be slow to update their thinking, but there may be some using it as a dodgy selling point — “Trust me!\u00a0 You don’t need a big system with your low electricity consumption.\u00a0 Those other installers are trying to oversell you!\u00a0 We’ll give you a smaller one at a lower cost…”<\/p>\n

To show, beyond a shadowy doubt, that — in most situations — everyone who doesn’t owe money to the mafia will be better off with larger solar system, I will compare how much money a typical household will save over 10 years with a 6.5 kilowatt<\/a> solar power system compared to a small 3 kilowatt<\/a> one.<\/p>\n

For my main example I will use a household in Sydney — Australia’s largest city.\u00a0 But I’ll also consider what is best in Western Australia, where the solar feed-in tariff is tragically low.<\/p>\n

A Few Provisos, Caveats, Exceptions, Etc…<\/h2>\n

Just to make things clear, I am not suggesting people with a small roof should install more solar panels than will fit.\u00a0 This does not spark joy.\u00a0 (But an installer who breaks the rules like that could spark a fire.)<\/p>\n

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Nor should people spend more on solar than they feel comfortable with.\u00a0 I’m just a guy on the internet, so don’t let me convince you to do anything you think is iffy.\u00a0 After all, you have no way of knowing if I’m wearing my pants on my head as I type this.\u00a0 I could be a complete nutter, rather than only 97.5% nuts as I portray myself.<\/p>\n

If you don’t care about savings and just want a small system for whatever reason, that’s also fine.\u00a0 I don’t think that makes sense, but I’m not going to try to stop someone from doing what they want to do.\u00a0 Not given the amount of time I spend perusing goatsinbikinis.com.1<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n

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Why 3 Kilowatts Vs. 6.5 Kilowatts?<\/h2>\n

These days a 3 kilowatt solar system is puny.\u00a0 Less than 3%<\/a> of people using SolarQuotes want a system that size or smaller.\u00a0 Clearly the word has gotten out that bigger is better.\u00a0 Maybe this article will be the final word on the subject.<\/p>\n

Around 6.5 kilowatts is actually around the most commonly installed size today.\u00a0 I am using it as the example of a larger system because the majority of homes have single phase power and in most of Australia they are only allowed to install a maximum of 6.66 kilowatts without complications.2<\/a><\/sup>\u00a0 It is also a size that fits on most roofs as these days 6.5 kilowatts can be 20 panels or less.3<\/a><\/sup>\u00a0 But if you can install more, I say go for it.\u00a0 It’s still likely to pay for itself outside of Western Australia.\u00a0 Although Tasmania is also a bit iffy due to low solar output.\u00a0 But for now I’ll just demonstrate that 6.5 kilowatts of solar is normally better than 3.<\/p>\n

A Variety Of Factors<\/h2>\n

To compare the two different sized systems we’ll need to know the following:<\/p>\n