Solar PV (Solar Photovoltaic) electricity generation is booming, with good reasons.
Household energy use is a significant contributor to greenhouse gas emissions. Most of this site is about reducing energy use as it is often a cost-effective way of reducing greenhouse gases. However. the other way is to reduce the greenhouse intensity of the energy you use. In other words, replace gas or grid electricity with solar generated electricity.
However, is solar right for you?
Well, it all depends.
Factors it depends on are:
Beware of social media adds leading to sites claiming to get three free quotes for you. Many of them lead to suppliers who give unrealistic expectations on how much you will save. This can lead to some very dissatisfied customers in financial hardship.
Household energy use is a significant contributor to greenhouse gas emissions. Most of this site is about reducing energy use as it is often a cost-effective way of reducing greenhouse gases. However. the other way is to reduce the greenhouse intensity of the energy you use. In other words, replace gas or grid electricity with solar generated electricity.
However, is solar right for you?
Well, it all depends.
Factors it depends on are:
- Do you own your roof where you propose getting solar? (if you are renting or in an apartment this is a problem)
- Is your roof too shaded? (winter shade is usually the most critical and the most likely).
- Do you use enough energy during the day, to justify the cost?
- If not, you will need to store the energy with a battery, (or an electric car with vehicle to load (V2L) or vehicle to home (V2H) capability) which adds to the cost and reduces the viability.
- Do you have the money available?
- If you have cash sitting around, or a redraw account, and you meet the other criteria, solar is probably justified.
- If you must borrow using a personal loan, it is unlikely to be viable.
- Beware of 'Interest Free Loans". These usually include a fee which effectively is the interest. To add to the confusion, some locations have subsidised interest free loans for solar. However, there is a lot of advertising in the states where this doesn't apply, which imply that you can get solar with no upfront cost, however often people find the loan repayments are greater than the value of the saved energy, leaving you worse off until you have repaid the loan.
Beware of social media adds leading to sites claiming to get three free quotes for you. Many of them lead to suppliers who give unrealistic expectations on how much you will save. This can lead to some very dissatisfied customers in financial hardship.
The only source of quotes I recommend for residential solar customers is
SolarQuotes which will refer you to vetted solar installers. The owner of the website, Finn Peacock worked for the CSIRO in renewable energy before starting the site and really knows his stuff. (I used them and am very happy with my system.)