See the Mance Electrical team installing 40 solar panels on our workshop roof.
The process begins with installation of the support rails. These must be leveled and spaced correctly to support the solar panels.
Once the rails are in place, the panels are fixed down with brackets that clamp to the rails. The power and earth cables are installed, along with the required isolation switches.
The inverter is mounted in the appropriate location within the building and the cables from the solar panels are connected to the inverter.
The inverter takes the DC power from the solar panels and converts it AC power which can be used in your home or business.
Click here to check out our previous blog post to see how well our system performed for the first three months.
Solar power works. You can get electricity free from the sun. For more information and free quotation and avice call us at Mance Electrical Launceston on 6331 4711.
I was quite excited when our latest power bill finally arrived in the mail.
It was our first full quarter since we installed solar panels on our workshop. For the first time ever I was actually looking forward to opening it. I tore open the envelope, and was immediately quite disappointed.
Hmmm, we still have to pay over $800. I thought we’d do better than that…
Then I had a closer look and realised it was $858.00 in credit.
Alright! That’s more like it!
The 40 solar panels on the roof had generated around $1,100 worth of excess power from September to December in Launceston spring weather. Aurora fees associated with the installation were around $250.
The next three months should be even better, with a nice hot Tassie summer on the way. We will need the extra credits to get us through the winter as we do use a lot of power for heating.
If our calculations are correct, our 10 kilowatts of solar panels should reduce our annual power bill to zero.
We were lucky enough to install our solar panels in time to take advantage of the generous 28 cent feed-in tariff, which has now ended.
Even so, solar panels are still a good idea for Launceston businesses and homes that use most of their power during the day. Check back here again soon as we’ll explore the financial returns in more detail in an upcoming blog post.
Would you like a free onsite assessment and a fixed price quotation by an experienced and accredited tradesman – the guy who is actually going to install the solar panels – rather than a door to door salesman?
If you’d like to get excited about your next power bill, phone Mance Electrical Launceston on 6331 4711.
We recently carried out a maintenance check on a solar panel system for a new client and heard a very unfortunate story.
Our client was sold a 5 kw system about 12 months before, by one of those mainland companies that advertise heavily on TV.
The door to door salesman was very helpful and made a phone call direct to head office and managed to get the client a $3,000 discount if he signed up on the day. They also offered him a further $1,000 discount if he would agree to put a promotional sign on his fence.
Even after all these wonderful discounts the client still paid about twice what we would have charged him for the same sized system.
The moral of the story is – don’t buy a solar panel system off the first salesman that knocks on your door. Do a bit of research and get some free local advice and a couple of quotes.
The cheapest system may not turn out to be the best value either, but there is absolutely no need to pay double the going rate to enjoy the benefit of solar panels on your roof.
The door to door salesman also overstated the performance of the system and told the client his panels would never need cleaning. After 12 months the panels were quite dirty and if not cleaned would just further increase the already long payback time on this over-priced system.
Every home has unique features that need to be considered when planning a solar panel installation. We believe that a qualified, accredited and experienced installer can design a better solar panel system than a door to door salesman, and possibly at half the price!
For free advice, free quotes and the advantage of dealing with a long established, local business phone Mance Electrical on 6331 4711.
This is what’s left of a defective DC isolation switch on the roof of a solar installation we attended recently.
The picture below shows what it used to look like.
This particular brand of isolation switch was subject to an Australia wide total recall, due to the possibility of it catching fire.
So far, four brands of imported DC isolators have been recalled after causing similar problems.
The experience of solar clients has varied, with some having the faulty parts replaced quickly at no charge, and some finding that no-one wants to take responsibility for rectifying the faults.
Two of the companies that imported the isolators have folded, leaving wholesalers and installers holding the bag.
This unfortunate situation highlights the importance of using a reputable, local installer for your solar job so you have someone you can talk to face to face if something goes wrong.
If you did experience a problem, would you rather be phoning a long established, local business, or a mainland call centre?
Fortunately, Mance Electrical has never used any of the recalled isolators, which were more commonly used by those solar sales companies that advertise heavily on TV.
Our solar panels, inverters and isolators are supplied by Energy Aware and they only use quality products from Trina, Simax, SMA, Canadian Solar, Suntech and other quality manufacturers.
Click here to check out the Energy Aware website or give us a call on 6331 4711 for free advice, free quotes and answers to all your questions about solar panel installations.
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Your solar panels look clean, but dust and dirt affect their performance and cost you money.
Regular cleaning is essential to maintain peak performance. Surprisingly, rain doesn’t clean your panels, in fact rain deposits dust particles that stay on the panel after the water dries. Watch this video to find out the correct way to clean your solar panels and get the maximum return on your investment.
A number of people who signed up with a mainland solar sales company have recently had their deposits returned, and been advised that the company has pulled out of the Tasmanian market and their installations will not be proceeding. The company cited a shortage of installers as the reason for abandoning the jobs.
We are pretty sure there are plenty of solar installers available in Tasmania. It’s possible that the solar sales company has been unable to entice anyone to work at the rates they were prepared to pay for the installations. The sales company probably signed up customers with a very low price on their systems, but then relied on squeezing installers to make their profits.
Without an installer willing to work for less than nothing, their scheme has fallen over. The quality of the installation is a key factor in how well a solar system performs. It’s no good saving $700 on the installation price if it costs you many thousands of dollars over future years due to the under-performance of the system because of a shoddy, short cut installation.
Those clients who paid a deposit have got their money back, but they are no longer eligible for the generous 28 cent feed in tariff that they hoped they were signing up for.
In the the area of solar panel installations, just as in all other areas of life, you get what you pay for.
For a free on-site consultation and a detailed proposal on your solar panel installation, including a fixed price quotation and a performance estimate, phone Mance Electrical Launceston on 6331 4711
