Solar System Review: John, North Shore City, Auckland

Review Date: 23/08/2019

Size: 3kW, 10 panels, no batteries

Running for: 11 weeks

Expected return on investment: 5% ? Not an investment but better use of my money as a one-off than going into ever increasing power costs.

Expected pay back period: 5-6 years

Comments on the installation: "No hassles, great job and went quickly and well, taking half a day. Water heater iBoost clamp meter fitted to wrong cable so no saving shown on hot water until rectified by Engineer when queried weeks later. The company Solar Engineer has been very helpful and was fixed day after complaint. Estimated compensation provided so no real loss. Some weeks delay from panel installation and fast inspection (on the next Saturday) to activation because power company did not advise that the new import/export meter had been fitted. The supplier was the middle cost of the three quotes and all otherwise extra charges (new meter supply and installation, iBoost hot water controller, web-site monitoring, and best buy-back commercial rate?) were included. It is also one of the large retail power companies so is likely to still be around for any future maintenance or issues."

Comments on the system performance: "Performance okay but less saving than expected, though it presently is autumn/winter so expecting improvements. It is fortunate that we are home during daylight hours to get max benefit. Handy analytic website shows about 200kW savings per month so far. It is hard to estimate dollar saving yet as the new power prices had just kicked in at the same time with a new contract so can't easily compare before and after. This was the main reason for looking into solar to reduce future price hikes. Winter has early afternoon panel shading that drastically reduces output (as expected)."

Advice: "Not much benefit without battery backup in a working household where power is not used much during daylight generating hours except for water heating. Would need to setup a battery charging system to provide night power. Daytime solar would go the water heating and battery charging. Would recommend fitting an 'iBoost' or similar hot water controller that only diverts power to the cylinder when in excess, but can also provide programmed or manual grid supply top-up if needed."