First Hiccups!

The Feed-in Tariff
So this morning I ring my electricity retailer (incognito) to get the rate they offer for "feed-in", without hesitation I'm told "..it's 51cents per kiloWatt Hour, sir."

I thanked the consultant and decided to double check that figure, it sounded familiar but I was sure it had been reduced last year.

I googled up the local info and, sure enough, that generous rate had long disappeared and was now less than half that. My second call to my retailer confirmed the lesser amount, after a long wait "o hold" as they scrambled to get the right answer, as this time I chose to identify and verify myself as an existing customer.
More Panels, later.

That same info revealed my second problem - my plans to "upgrade" to an additional 2kW could have ended in disaster! Turns out you have to nominate your "peak capacity", and if this is, as in my case, your initial installation capacity, that's it!, any additional capacity will erase your feed-in completely - to quote from the website:

"If you wish to install beyond the original peak capacity approved by ETSA Utilities this is described as an upgrade.

Any upgrades will make you ineligible for any feed-in tariff."

So I quickly put in a call to my installer to "upgrade" my peak capacity to the eventual maximum.

The key point here is to ensure you apply for your eventual "peak capacity" at the outset, because you can't "upgrade" your application.

The other interesting fact to come out of this is that you can connect up two complete systems, i.e. panels and inverter, rather than partially populating say a 4kW inverter with 2kW of panels initially then following up with more panels later. Moreover, our discussion touched on the performance of larger vs smaller inverters, and, in fact the smaller ones have less heat build up tendencies and therefore are likely more reliable. AND, if one inverter does have a problem which needs shutting down and repair, you've still got the other one producing electricity - you'd have to be very unlucky to lose both simultaneously.
It's interesting to note a little known fact about Solar "Grid Connected" Installations; if the power fails, you will not have you own power supply!

The "Grid Tied" inverter is designed to only operate in the presence of the grid supply, and shut itself down completely in the event of a (Grid) power failure.
This is a safety requirement for all "Grid Tied" Inverters. If you want a system to run independent of the grid a different type is required.

Helpful Links

Some useful web pages about Solar Power and system installation:

1. A series of videos (Australian) which step through the installation considerations and process.
2. A free iPhone app that can help calculate likely performance for your specific location and panel placement.
3. Feed-in tariff specific to South Australia

The Decision, finally.

After several years of watching many offers and researching the many factors that contribute to a successful purchase/install, we've finally put money down to get our Solar Power underway.

The most significant contributor to our decision was, simply, a person. All previous contacts about this investment were faceless 'phone callers heralding our urgent action to commit, lest we "miss out" on the current best offer. Any response of ours suggesting someone visit to, most importantly, check out our house was quickly met with a casual re-assurance that we'd be OK as the installers would sort out any difficulties, and to get one to "pre-inspect" would naturally happen when we committed (to a verbal contract). That always troubled me and left me feeling they weren't interested in my concerns about some of the potential difficulties and challenges my installation could present.
Through our network of work colleagues an offer came up and an enthusiastic installer and business principal "walked the walk" to get up close and personal with our roof and it's challenges. It confirmed that some extra effort and cost would be involved, but at the end of it a firm price written on a sales order was all we needed to sign with confidence.