What is residential solar and why have it?

A residential solar power system converts sunlight into clean, free electricity for use in your home.

Now is a great time to install solar panels thanks to the attractive government rebates which can substantially cut your upfront costs. Plus, there’s the good feeling that comes from knowing you’re doing your bit for the environment.

Cut your electricity bills
Make the most of government rebates
Achieve a fast payback – 3-4 years (avg)
Reduce your carbon footprint

Five great reasons to ‘go solar’

Save money on electricity.
With electricity prices continuing to rise, generating free power from the sun makes good financial sense.
Generous rebates.
As Government rebates are being phased out slowly (both at Federal and State levels) installing solar sooner, rather than later, is a smart move.
Lower prices = fast payback.
Falling prices for solar panels, combined with government rebates, means many of our residential customers are achieving a payback of three or four years.
Energy self-sufficiency.
Many people are choosing to install a larger system – typically 5kW or more – with eye to the future when home battery storage and electric vehicles become the ‘new normal’.
‘Doing your bit’ for the environment.
A typical 5kW solar PV system in Melbourne will save around 7 tonnes of CO2 emissions annually, equivalent to 40 fewer cars over the system’s 25-year lifetime.

It’s like having a power station on your roof

There are many factors to consider when looking at purchasing a solar system, the two most common are financial and technical.

Financial

Our solar consultants will ensure you get the right system to meet your power requirements, offering the best return on your investment. Using the information from your electricity bills, they’ll work out how much electricity you use – and at what time of the day or night. They will advise whether solar is going to be a sensible financial investment for you and, if so, recommend the size that’s going to best meet your requirements.

Plus, with all Specialized Solar systems, you’ll have the security of our performance guarantee to give you peace of mind. We guarantee the amount of electricity your system will produce over a given period of time – and if it doesn’t, we’ll fix it at our cost.

Technical

As well as the panels and the inverter, another vital component of a rooftop solar system is the monitoring. This is ‘the smarts’ of your system – and basically helps you understand how much power is being generated by your solar panels. There are lots of different types of monitoring systems; some will even tell you how much power is being generated by each individual panel at any time of day!

The smartest, most advanced monitoring systems will tell you how much power is being used in your home (from the solar) and how much you are having to buy from the grid and, most importantly, what it’s costing you.

Talk to us about your solar monitoring requirements! We can provide you with the monitoring solution that’s going to put you in control of your electricity usage and what it’s costing you.

Incentives and Feed-in tariff

The Government solar incentives are being phased out from January 2017 to 2030.
The graph shows the value of the Federal Government’s incentive based on a 5kW solar system.

State Government solar incentives are also available, for example the Victorian Government’s Solar Homes Program offers a generous solar panels rebate as well as an interest-free loan of up to the same amount – but these rebates are scaling back in value as well.

Don’t wait for the price of solar to increase, speak to one of our solar consultants today about getting the best possible deal whilst the incentives are at their highest.

Graph: Australian STC over time

The feed-in tariff is the amount you will be reimbursed on your bill for exporting excess electricity to the grid.

If your solar system is generating more power than you are consuming at any given time the excess power is exported.
Find out more (energy.vic.gov.au)

Battery Storage

In addition to the feed-in tariff, there is another option for your excess electricity – store it.

Over the last few years, battery storage has become more viable due to improvements in technology and an increase in demand. This makes many of today’s battery storage systems more affordable. It also means that – for some households and businesses – investing in battery storage can make good financial sense. This is particularly the case if you want to avoid disruption or possible financial loss resulting from power outages to your property.

With generous government rebates now available for battery storage, the costs are coming down still further.

We supply and install many types of batteries – from lithium to salt water – as they all have their applications.

Book a solar consultant today to find out what a battery system can do for you.

Find out more about Battery Storage