Weird insurance business

[scaredyet]

Shannons

 

[VS 5.0]

land remediation costs

lol.....just like the miners who never meet their obligations and are never held to account.

Whether that be Alcoa strip mining forests in WA or the Oil and Gas industry leaving vessels in the ocean that the taxpayer gets lumped with coz they offload it late in life to some dodgy outfit that then goes tits up.

Their insurer is the taxpayer.

 

[chrisp]

And what do your numbers look like if you remove the government subsidy in the equipment you purchase back in the day along with the huge subsidy in feed in tariffs you received over those 10 years?

How has generation capacity worked over the 10 years of ownership, has it dropped off as the cells aged? how much has it dropped off and does the drop off accelerate (I.e. will there be a much bigger drop off in the next 10 years)?

Have you saved enough to install a new system now or will you have saved enough to install a new system in 10 years time (at 20 years of age)?

And you’re still dependant on those supply lines coming down your street so you don’t have true independence (which is intentional)…

I just don’t buy that it’s as great long term as people are saying but I guess time will tell…

And if it was so great, you’d think the idiots in charge would change planning laws to ensure new builds can best utilise PV arrays and battery storage and those panels would be protected but nada, zilch, zero changes. Sadly we still don’t have a legal right to receive sunlight on our roofs as a neighbour can build a monstrosity and block sun from hitting your panels for part of the day… and screw you if a council tree casts a shadow on your house…

Its just another form of control where we are being fed stuff and told it’s for our benefit…

PS: I also wouldn’t be buying shares in fossil fuels power stations either as it’s a forgone conclusion they will shut down and those holding the remains will be up for land remediation costs…

My numbers add up very well. I didn’t get any subsidies for the power sold at all (so no ‘premium FiT at all). Yep, there was a small subsidy for the installation, but like any government subsidy, the money just hikes up the retail cost (so goes to the supplier). My system has a 25 year warranty and is still going strong (I have individual panel monitoring and inverters so I can track the output from each panel).

At the savings level I was making, the system recovered its installation cost after about 4 years. The last 6 or so have been totally free and would more than recoup totally replacing the system if needed (so, yes it has paid off the capital plus much more). I’d buy a new system tomorrow if it was needed, but it still has a decade plus of warranty remaining.

The sad thing is that there are up front costs with solar systems, so the less well off are the ones who probably can’t afford the initial outlay, but are the ones that would benefit the most from the on going savings.

 

[chrisp]

I know my sister had 1.5 kw system, Last year she upgraded her system to 6 kw.
The old 1.5 kw system was only about 10 years old when upgrading.

It might be a case of time flies? 1.5kW systems were common about 20 years ago. 5kW (or so) systems were common about 10 years ago. Nowadays, 10 kW is the usual (roof space permitting).

 

[lmoengnr]

And my council rates have increased by $400 this year...

 

[Forg]

It might be a case of time flies? 1.5kW systems were common about 20 years ago. 5kW (or so) systems were common about 10 years ago. Nowadays, 10 kW is the usual (roof space permitting).

Our 2-storey house roof would only fit 6.2kW 7 years ago, maybe more now, assume cells are more efficient.
Except one string is down & nobody wants to come & look at it or fix it.

 

[J_D 2.0]

And what do your numbers look like if you remove the government subsidy in the equipment you purchase back in the day along with the huge subsidy in feed in tariffs you received over those 10 years?

The current up front subsidy on my 8kw system I just got installed a few months ago was about $2k. My out of pocket cost was about $8k and there are no premium tariffs anymore.

If anything the utility gets a massive advantage as they are “buying” your electricity for about 5 cents per kWh and selling it to someone else for about 30-35 cents per kWh at current prices.

Even assuming the government rebate didn’t exist and I had to pay the extra $2k it would have still been worth it. My power bills were about $800 a quarter and now my bills will be zero. That makes the payoff period a bit over three years even at full freight.

And you’re still dependant on those supply lines coming down your street so you don’t have true independence (which is intentional)…

I just don’t buy that it’s as great long term as people are saying but I guess time will tell…

Independence shouldn’t be the goal. The networks are getting cheap solar electricity and they should pull their finger out and invest in grid storage (pumped hydro, redox flow batteries, liquid air batteries, etc) to store the almost free energy they get from solar households during the day so they can redistribute it at night for a higher price!

The sad thing is that there are up front costs with solar systems, so the less well off are the ones who probably can’t afford the initial outlay, but are the ones that would benefit the most from the on going savings.

The people who are really stuck are renters, who cant install a system onto a house they don’t own.

There’s finance options available if you’re short on cash for the installation and the cost savings make it a no brainer but if your not a home owner your basically screwed.

 

[wetwork65]

And my council rates have increased by $400 this year...

Yup me too. But in my case more than that, due to a projected increase in customer service.

 

[Skylarking]

Independence shouldn’t be the goal.

May be but the government shouldn’t be actively discouraging or prohibiting a property owner from going off grid if one chooses to do so (regardless of them being city or country dwellers)

 

[Forg]

May be but the government shouldn’t be actively discouraging or prohibiting a property owner from going off grid if one chooses to do so (regardless of them being city or country dwellers)

I know that not being connected to the town water isn’t something you’re allowed to do, mostly for health reasons … are you really not allowed to be disconnected from the electrickery grid?