{"id":83713,"date":"2024-06-26T11:35:28","date_gmt":"2024-06-26T02:05:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/?p=83713"},"modified":"2024-06-26T11:35:28","modified_gmt":"2024-06-26T02:05:28","slug":"winter-solar-upgrade","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/winter-solar-upgrade\/","title":{"rendered":"Cold Months, High Bills? The Case for Expanding Your Solar"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-84463 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/GE-3-header.jpg\" alt=\"three GE solar inverters\" width=\"1200\" height=\"630\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/GE-3-header.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/GE-3-header-300x158.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/GE-3-header-1024x538.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/GE-3-header-768x403.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\" \/><br \/>\nSo you&#8217;ve just enjoyed your first solar summer with a basic 6.6kW system, but you&#8217;re finding the bills in winter still give you the chills, don&#8217;t worry; you&#8217;re not alone. It&#8217;s not uncommon for new solar installations to undergo expansion after the first winter. Read on as I explain how.<\/p>\n<p><!--more--><\/p>\n<p>This article looks at buyer&#8217;s remorse for new systems that should have been bigger from the outset. If you have an older system, please check previous posts in my &#8216;How to upgrade&#8217; series:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/expanding-your-solar-pt1\/\">Intro to upgrading your solar<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/upgrading-vintage-solar\/\">Upgrading vintage solar<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/get-a-bigger-switchboard\/\">Solar switchboard upgrades<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><em><strong>&#8220;I&#8217;ve never had a customer complain they installed too much solar&#8221;<\/strong><\/em><br \/>\n&#8211; Anthony Bennett<\/p>\n<p>For years, I&#8217;ve used this as a succinct little catchphrase to encourage people to buy more <a href=\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/panels\/\">solar panels<\/a>. Some say it&#8217;ll be carved on my headstone, but recently I&#8217;ve had to defend this position. The internet experts are pushing back&#8230;<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Well, you would say that wouldn&#8217;t you, you&#8217;re trying to <strong>sell<\/strong> something<\/li>\n<li>It must be a con by big climate&#8230; see I told you there&#8217;s a SUN TAX coming now!<\/li>\n<li>People are just try to justify overspending to themselves, it&#8217;s <em>ak!chully<\/em> a waste of resources.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>So I&#8217;m going to have to simplify it for both the slow crowd and the clever clogs. Remember that &#8220;excess&#8221; solar is a feature, not a bug.<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>For over 15 years, I&#8217;ve heard one consistent complaint from solar owners: <\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>&#8220;I wish I&#8217;d installed more panels.&#8221; <\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>This isn&#8217;t a sales spiel\u2014it&#8217;s a common lament I&#8217;ve heard time and time again.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_84458\" style=\"width: 910px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-84458\" class=\"wp-image-84458 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/record-days-yield-sml.jpg\" alt=\"Solar yield graphs\" width=\"900\" height=\"328\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/record-days-yield-sml.jpg 900w, https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/record-days-yield-sml-300x109.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/record-days-yield-sml-768x280.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 900px) 100vw, 900px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-84458\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Summer on the left shows a mountain of solar, while winter on the right is disappointing when you realise the scale of the graph<\/p><\/div>\n<h2>An Example: Geez-I-Should&#8217;ve-Bought-More<\/h2>\n<blockquote><p><em>Can my Fronius 5KW Gen24 3-phase &#8211; 6.6KWp system can have additional panels fitted?<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>My system suffers drastically with seasonal shading from council trees. Summer is fabulous, but with an additional bank of five north facing panels, I&#8217;d still get 2-3KW more output in winter<\/em>. <em>I had read the 133% rule can be skirted with a battery, but just to clarify, even then would I still be limited to just two extra panels? <\/em><em>Perhaps I should price a small separate system, purely west facing.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<h3>Bin The 133% Limit With A Battery<\/h3>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/beat-solar-oversize-rule\/\">As we&#8217;ve explained before<\/a>, an archaic Australian rule limits solar installations, but installing a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/battery-storage\/comparison-table\/\">solar battery<\/a> allows you to claim STC credits on the full rated capacity of an inverter. Some inverters can handle 200% or more.<\/p>\n<p>Fronius are conservative so the 5kW Gen24 will handle 150% overdrive, or 7.5kW. At only 6 or 12 months old, finding two matching panels for your existing array is usually feasible.<\/p>\n<p>However, you&#8217;ll still need to get the string configuration correct. Happily, Fronius have excellent current ratings, which allow flexible designs of parallel panels to get voltage down &amp; group orientation correct.<\/p>\n<p>Ring up your installer and get them back so that <a href=\"https:\/\/support.solarquotes.com.au\/hc\/en-us\/articles\/360000204135-If-someone-else-other-than-the-original-installer-touches-my-solar-system-who-is-responsible-for-the-warranty-of-the-whole-system\">your warranty is kept intact.<\/a><\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_84466\" style=\"width: 910px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-84466\" class=\"wp-image-84466 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/demand-yield-graph.jpg\" alt=\"electricity consumption &amp; generation graph\" width=\"900\" height=\"531\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/demand-yield-graph.jpg 900w, https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/demand-yield-graph-300x177.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/demand-yield-graph-768x453.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 900px) 100vw, 900px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-84466\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">In October, this system doubled in size so blue yield went up &amp; grid consumption fell. Black circles still show winter demand is high though.<\/p><\/div>\n<h3>Can&#8217;t Add A Battery? Get A Whole Second System<\/h3>\n<p>If your existing solar is working well, there&#8217;s space on the roof and you can<a href=\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/grid-connection\/\"> get a connection approval<\/a>, then adding solar via a second inverter and solar panel array is often possible. Consider a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/battery-storage\/hybrid-inverter-comparison\/\">hybrid inverter<\/a> for your second system, so your next upgrade can be a battery.<\/p>\n<h3>Got 3 Phase? Get A Second &amp; Third System<\/h3>\n<p>Network rules dictate how much of any load you can connect to the grid, and often they involve balancing things equally across phases. If you already have a 5kW single phase inverter, adding a 10kW single phase might not be acceptable, but two more 5kW units will.<\/p>\n<p>Our cover image shows a 3 x 5kW system where the owner added a hybrid inverter and kept one of his GE units for a spare.<\/p>\n<p>Whatever you choose, try to stick to the same brand so that you have one consumption meter, one management system, one app to watch, and, importantly, one warranty.<\/p>\n<h2>The Takeaway: Go Big AND Go Home<\/h2>\n<p>If you&#8217;re considering solar, think big. Starting small might seem safer, but the long-term benefits of a larger system are undeniable and upgrading is always harder &amp; more expensive than going big from the outset.<\/p>\n<p>More panels mean more savings, better future-proofing, and a greater positive impact on the environment. So, when it comes to solar, don&#8217;t hold back\u2014you&#8217;ll thank yourself later.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>So you&#8217;ve just enjoyed your first solar summer with a basic 6.6kW system, but you&#8217;re finding the bills in winter still give you the chills, don&#8217;t worry; you&#8217;re not alone. It&#8217;s not uncommon for new solar installations to undergo expansion after the first winter. Read on as I explain how.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":28,"featured_media":84463,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","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":[57],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-83713","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-solar-installation","entry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v27.4 (Yoast SEO v27.4) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Cold Months, High Bills? The Case for Expanding Your Solar Setup<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Don&#039;t let winter bills chill you. Discover how to upgrade your solar system for optimal performance and savings during the colder months.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/winter-solar-upgrade\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Cold Months, High Bills? The Case for Expanding Your Solar\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Don&#039;t let winter bills chill you. 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