Solar Industry Myths
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"Beware The Oversized Inverter!"
A very common system on offer is 1.5kW system with 4.2kW inverter, with the assumption that the 4.2kW is a better choice. This is wrong for several reasons.
1. A larger inverter works less efficiently with too few panels, by up to 4%
2. The larger inverter costs more money and it does nothing for you.
3. The offer is promoted as 'upgradable', but as you will see, this is a throw-away phrase. To add 14 panels to 8 panels requires a good amount of re-wiring and install cost. From our experience the original service providers of this style of offer will not do the upgrade work for you, due to its cost and complexity.
4. In the above case, any new panels should be matched to the existing panels. In as little as a few months the original panels may well become unavailable, meaning that any future upgrade will be a compromise.
Summary. Do not install an oversized inverter unless you are going to upgrade to that capacity almost immediately, in which case you are best advised to simply install 4.2kW in the first place.
"Solar Never Pays For Itself."
Wrong. An average solar system these days will generate several hundreds of dollars per year of savings. These savings come in two parts; actual 'saving' being a reduction of energy used and; 'earning' being some excess energy sold to the grid which will appear on your bill as a credit. Combined, these two aspects represent your total saving. As the years go by, you should see that you have saved roughly the amount you spent in a little over 4 to 6 years.* Then saving continue until your investment has returned double or even triple what you spent. * Several factors influence this figure. Call Solar Essence for your personal savings analysis.
"Is Solar Too Expensive?"
It is in the eye of the beholder, of course. How much is too much to pay? You should ask this question of everything you buy. What we know is this; end prices to the customer after rebates etc are lower now on average systems than they have ever been. And why are you considering solar? Because electricity bills are now higher than they have ever been. Compared to other required spends in your home, almost nothing will end up cost neutral or positive, except a solar power system.
"But There's No Feed In Tariff?"
Back when solar prices were so high (four years ago) governments sanctioned some subsidies that brought the 'payback time' for solar under ten years. Nowadays, with peak (sunlight) electricity costs up to 36c, payback times are as low as 4 years.
"Trouble Free Warranty Period?"
Even the cheapest solar products have a long warranty of five years. Warranties usually state that the product will be replaced or fixed during the warranty period if necessary, and that may well be the case. However, inverters and panels are permanently affixed to your dwelling. What if you need to disable and detach the device and send it back to the suppiler? What if this needs to happen multiple times during the warranty period? What if the free servicing takes a long time? Weeks or months? What if the supplier, who may be new in the solar industry with scant experience in service issues, is difficult to contact, locate, or is troublesome? All these issues are possible and, frankly, likely with the new and bargain basement sector of the solar market. Warranty, yes. Trouble-free, no.
"Beware the Cheap ´German´ Solar Panel?"
There seems to be a flood of solar companies peddling so-called German panels that don't seem to be German at all. All with suspiciously German names: Hanover Solar, German Solar, Munsterland Solar etc. Simply look at their website to verify.
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