Thank You For Your Enquiry
Here are the questions our team gets asked the most:
- How does solar work?
- Does a solar system still work during a blackout?
- Do I need a battery?
- What does your workmanship guarantee cover?
- Are your installers employees or subcontractors? How do you control quality?
- Are there any rebates available?
- How does the feed-in tariff work?
- Do you offer finance?
- What is the deposit?
1. How does solar work?
The way solar power works in Sydney these days is all of the solar energy is directed into your home to be used immediately.
By using solar power, you’re not buying electricity from the grid, and that directly reduces your power bill. And importantly with that, you’re not actually going to see the saving on your bill as a line item, it’s just gonna be a smaller bill.
Say for example you have an $800 quarterly bill, and then you go and install a good-sized solar system, it may reduce your bill by $300 a quarter. In that case, your bill will just be $500.
But then there is also a feed-in tariff. So if you don’t use the solar power in the home as it’s being generated (and you don’t have battery storage), then the solar power will go straight out to the grid and you’ll get paid a feed-in tariff by your energy retailer.
This is not a rebate, but a part of the agreement you have with your energy retailer. The FITs bounce around a bit, they’ve been up over 20 cents per kWh before, but these days they’re somewhere between 5 and 10 cents. I think a lot of retailers at the moment are around about 7 cents, a kWh.
And so obviously with the price of power at the moment being a lot more than 7 cents a kWh (and it’s on the way up), in fact in the peak billing period if you’ve got time-of-use billing, it is often well over 50 cents a kWh. So it’s much, much better to save 50 cents in that example, compared to getting a 7-cent credit on your bill.
And so what we say is we want the feed-in tariff on your bill to be as small as possible because that means you’re using most of the solar power in the home as it’s being generated.
In this example, if you’re $800 bill is now $450, we’d only want to see a $20 or $30 credit on your bill from your feed tariff because that means that you’re really making the most of the power that you’re generating.
2. Does a solar system still work during a blackout?
No, in Australia a solar system without integrated battery storage turns off in a blackout. There are two reasons why your solar system turns off when the grid goes down:
- Safety: during a power outage, repair crews will be working to fix the grid to get power restored. To avoid endangering them, it is essential that there is no power flowing from solar systems out into the grid.
- Technical: the appliances in your home need a steady flow of electricity to work properly. In many cases, appliances can also be damaged if the flow of power isn’t steady and constant. Because a solar system doesn’t produce a steady flow of power, the system needs to be turned off when the grid goes down.
For these two reasons, your solar system must automatically shut down in the event of a blackout, unless you have battery storage with backup.
Battery Storage With Blackout Protection
Tesla Powerwall is the battery we recommend for households that want blackout protection.
As a part of our installation service, we will work with you to nominate circuits that can be powered from your battery in the event of a blackout. Typically this will include things like a modem, lights, small pumps, garage doors and other appliances that are of high priority. Anything that uses a lot of power is typically not backed up in a blackout such as air conditioning and pool pumps.
The final step is to nominate how much capacity you want to leave in your battery in case of a blackout. If you choose 30%, for example, your Powerwall will never discharge more than 70% of the battery’s capacity, ensuring that in a worst-case scenario, you still have 30% of the Powerwall’s capacity to get you through the night. In the morning, the solar system will start generating power again and the Powerwall will recharge from the solar power being generated. For more information about how this works, please speak with a member of the Solaray Team.
3. Do I need a battery?
A solar battery allows our system designers to size up a solar system to match your 24-hour energy usage. This means you can generate much more solar power compared to just trying to cover your daytime usage.
Without battery storage, most solar homes will only be about 30-40% self-sufficient. By adding battery storage, we can completely eliminate your power bills. More information on that is available here because it’s not for everyone.
Unlike solar power, battery storage offers a lot more than savings on your power bill. So when you consider if battery storage is worth it for your household, you also need to factor in:
- Blackout protection
- Virtual power plants (VPPs) – sell excess solar power at a rate much higher than standard feed-in tariffs
- The ability to run your home on solar power 24 hours a day
- Protection from future price rises for electricity
- The ability to charge an electric car, which also helps you save money on petrol
- Divesting your home from coal and gas
There are also a number of intangible benefits that our customers enjoy, such as the freedom that comes from being independent of the power grid.
We get a lot of messages from customers after long blackouts who are genuinely grateful and relieved that they could get on with life while their neighbours struggled to make do without power.
In the same way that a nice new kitchen may not have a specific ROI calculation, living in a home where you can generate, store and manage your own electricity can be worth a lot more than the strict return on investment.
Of course, not having to pay a power bill isn’t such a bad thing either!
In terms of cost, the amount you pay for a battery will depend on how much excess solar power you have, how much energy you use, and what you’re trying to achieve. Lots of factors!
But as a starting point, the price of a Tesla Powerwall is $16000 fully installed.
4. What does your workmanship guarantee cover?
The workmanship warranty covers the quality of the installation. Basically, it covers that the solar system was installed correctly, to the manufacturer’s standards, and to the applicable Australian Standards.
The installation also needs to meet the standards of the energy distributor.
Solar systems in Australia can be inspected by the Clean Energy Council, and an incredible 1 in 4 systems in the last few years have been found to have been installed with defects.
This is why it is so important to choose a reputable solar installer for your installation. Doing so will ensure a professional installation by installers who have years of experience installing the system you have chosen, whether it is an Enphase system, SolarEdge, or a standard string inverter.
An important question to ask solar companies when comparing quotes is who is responsible for the workmanship guarantee; the solar company or a subcontracted installer? Some of the larger companies that sell ‘cheap solar’ will often pass on the responsibility of the installation to a subcontracted installer, making it very difficult to claim on the workmanship guarantee if something goes wrong, which leads us to the next question.
5. Are your installers employees or subcontractors? How do you control quality?
A lot of solar installers make a big fuss about their installation teams being in-house, and they’ll tell you to watch out for subcontractors.
So what’s the big deal?
It’s a smart one-liner that they use because it lumps together all of the solar installers that use subcontractors, from the Cowboys all the way up to Australia’s leading solar companies.
The rest of the industry is then trying to play catchup to explain how there are subcontractors, and then there are subcontractors.
Most Large Solar Installers Use Subcontractors
The solar industry uses subcontractors for a number of reasons:
- It’s the individual that is accredited by the Clean Energy Council to install solar, not a company. Therefore, a lot of solar installers work for themselves, and as they grow they bring on more staff. They typically work with one or two solar companies and have firm agreements in place including costs
- On rainy days, the installers can do other work such as electrical work
- The solar industry has big peaks and troughs. Larger installers would have long lead times during the busy periods if they weren’t able to quickly subcontract more installers. During quiet times, the installers can do electrical work. This is much more difficult to manage with in-house installers
- In-house installers require a large upfront cost including a van, tools and training
So What’s The Risk?
The problem is that the Solar Cowboys exclusively use subcontractors, and in our opinion, it can appear to be for nefarious reasons.
Often, the responsibility for the entire installation, including warranty obligations is passed on to the subcontracted installer. This makes it difficult to get any proper service because the company you bought the system from won’t help you if things go wrong.
It appears to be an attempt by the Solar Cowboys to avoid one of the main pitfalls in the solar industry, which is where solar companies install cheap brands that are notorious for high failure rates. By not having to honour service or warranty obligations the solar company is able to stay in business.
This type of company will often sell door to door or use telemarketers. It is also a tactic used by the larger solar companies that sell very cheap solar systems.
But the problems don’t stop there.
We have seen ads on Gumtree looking for backpackers to install solar.
The Solar Cowboys will get one accredited installer to sign off on multiple jobs each day, but it’s unaccredited labourers actually installing the system.
The Clean Energy Council are trying to crack down on this, which is great, however, this type of thing happens with solar companies that use in-house installers as well, which leads us to the main point.
Quality Installations From Reputable Solar Companies
The main point to consider when choosing a solar installer is that it doesn’t matter if the installers are subcontractors or in-house installers.
What’s more important is that the team installing your system is experienced, professional, well-trained, and generally people who care about doing a good job.
Reputable solar companies that use subcontractors will typically work with the same teams for many years. The installations will be of the highest quality, and all service enquiries are made directly to the solar company that you bought the system from, not the installer. The responsibility for the installation is not passed off to a subcontracted installer.
In summary, the reputation of the solar installer is what matters the most. If you choose a reputable solar company, you will be looked after.
6. Are there any rebates available?
There are great government rebates/incentives still in place for eligible households. Basically, the larger the panel array, the more STCs your solar system generates as it is based on the expected output of the system over time.
When you buy a solar system, the purchase price is normally reduced by the value of the STCs created by your system. You simply fill out a form on the day of installation to confirm that the system has been installed, and that’s it. There is no additional paperwork that you need to do.
Small-scale Technology Certificates (STCs)
Small-scale Technology Certificates (STC’s) – previously known as Renewable Energy Certificates or RECS – are created when a Renewable Energy System such as a Solar PV system is installed.
The number of STC’s depends on the predicted amount of energy generated and hence the larger the system the greater the rebate. In essence, one STC is created for every megawatt-hour of production capacity of the system.
This is further multiplied by the number of years the system is likely to generate energy (for home solar systems, this is usually 15 years, although the life of the solar panels themselves is considerably more than that).
This incentive program is being phased out until 2030, so each year the number of certificates your system is eligible for reduces.
STC Price
The system for trading and pricing STCs for small systems is managed by the Small-scale Renewable Energy Scheme (SRES).
STCs are bought by Liable Parties (usually electricity retailers) and must be surrendered at the end of each quarter. As the number of STCs that are required to be surrendered is a fixed amount each year, but the number of STCs created is variable, the price paid for STCs also varies and is determined by supply and demand.
The Federal Government legislated in 2010 a fixed price for STCs by implementing a Clearing House system where STCs can be bought and sold for $40. However, there is no requirement for Liable Parties to purchase from the Clearing House, so they are likely to only do so if there is a shortage of STCs or the market price exceeds $40. There is currently a surplus of STCs in the market which means the market price of STC’s below $40.
7. How does the feed-in tariff work?
The Feed In Tariff is only something you need to worry about if you don’t have battery storage.
The price your chosen energy retailer pays for any excess electricity generated from your solar panels is recorded as a credit on your power bill.
In NSW, solar power is fed into your home as it is generated and your household will use it first before you draw power from the grid.
This means that for every kWh of solar power used in the home you are directly saving money you’d spend on your power bill. This reduction in your power bill is the main financial benefit of solar power.
Everything else will be bought up at an agreed rate by your electricity retailer.
At the moment, most feed-in tariffs are between 5 and 10 cents per kWh, with many being about 7 cents. They bounce up and down a lot, for example in previous years they have been up over 20 cents per kWh. Typically, they are always at least 5 cents per kWh.
8. Do you offer finance?
Green Loans can be an affordable way to pay for your solar power system and is only available for approved products. As a Clean Energy Council Accredited installer, all our systems qualify.
Green Loans can be used to finance Solaray systems from $1,000 to $30,000 over a 2-7 year term. Once you have received a referral from Solaray, online approval usually occurs within 1-2 business days. Green Loans have a competitive fixed interest rate that is as low as 7.99% p.a.* | Comparison rate 9.21% p.a.^ Establishment fee of $299 added to the loan amount. $2.70 per week account keeping fee included in repayments.
To be eligible to apply you must:
- Be over 18 years old and an Australian resident or citizen
- Own or be purchasing a home
- Be employed, self-employed, a self-funded retiree; or is receiving the Government Age Pension
- Have an Australian driver’s license or Passport
- Provide two most recent payslips or 90 days of bank statements
There are a number of good, competitive Green Loan providers – ask us about the options available.
9. What is the deposit?
In the solar industry, the normal deposit is either $500 or 10%, and then full payment is due on or before the day of installation.
Lately, we are starting to see some companies ask for full payment upfront when placing an order. We can only take a guess, but costs are increasing across the board and when that happens sometimes combines struggle with their cash flow. Don’t get caught out paying in full only to find your installer go under before the installation is completed.
