Better than a Solar System?!

So in my quest to eradicate my power bill I came up with simple and (extremely) cost effective initiative to save me no less than $900 p.a. on my electricity bill!

I like watching TV and occasionally playing computer games, and my son also gives it a hammering as well. Our (now) old plasma (details see table below)  was a real power hog, 515W!! Last year I'd been sticking my head around the back of new LED/LCD TV's in various retailers and noticed that similar sized sets of this type were labelled around 160-200W.

Imagine my surprise when I resumed those checks a few months ago and discovered the latest models in the 50"+ range are rated less than 80W!

I had to do the numbers because my mental arithmetic was hinting at BIG POWER SAVINGS....

TV power consumption comparison
Assumptions
1	Operate for	6	hours daily
2	Power cost is	$0.36	/kWh
	Existing		Proposed
Model	TH-46PZ800A		TH-L50EM6A	TH-L50ET60A	TH-L55ET60A
Cost	$2000		$1,099.00	$1,547.00	$1898
Year of Manuf	2008		2013	2013	2013
Type	Plasma		LED/LCD	LED/LCD	LED/LCD
Consumption (W)	515		60	70.9	70.9
Annual Cost	$1118.58		$130.32	$153.99	$153.99
Saving			$988.26	$964.59	$964.59

As you can see the outlay makes good sense, not to mention the hidden benefit: at 500+ watts the old set was quite warm, contributing significant "heat loading" to our large loungeroom, our A/C would need to use a similar additional amount of electricity to neutralise this added heat on already warm days, so my power saving would be even greater. Arguably in winter that heat would be handy and save on heating, but additional clothing is a cost effective way of keeping warm on most occasions. 

We've had the new set a few weeks now, but before I installed it I used a $20 power meter (http://m.jaycar.com.au/m_productView.asp?ID=MS6115) to monitor the last few day's consumption of the old set and nearly a fortnight's usage of the new one, the results below confirm the benefit of the upgrade....

Old from 9:00pm 20/9/13

7.8kWh >> 8:00pm 25/9/13

5days -1hr

(119hrs)

New from 8:00pm 25/9/13

2.1kWh >> 8:00am 7/10/13

11.5 days

(276hrs)

Local Product - TINDO SOLAR

This week I had the opportunity to visit Tindo Solar, the only Australian based and wholly locally owned, solar panel production company.

It's a very modern facility with the most up to date robotics used for the panel assembly and testing tasks, and particularly for the critical soldering work necessary to connect the individual solar cells into the panel arrays.
By mechanising this process the reliability of those nearly 400 connections per panel can be guaranteed. Any one of these not conducting properly, let alone failing, would significantly impair the panel's performance and safety.
All the imported Chinese panels have their panel soldering done by........humans!
It's impossible for a human to get the same consistent and reliable standard of solder finish as a machine. 
Tindo clearly has a market advantage with their process and are hence able to offer a product with superior durability, reliability and longevity, hence their impressive warranty. The final robotic station on their production line is a Certified Tester which illuminates the finished panel and tests it's output. Someone cleverly asked what they did with those panels that failed this test, "We haven't had any failures" was the confident reply.

We were then invited to a short presentation and discussion session. It was revealed Tindo Solar are already well advanced on their next exciting solar product development, which will take their solar systems "to the next level". A visit to their factory will reveal some more details which convinced me these people are not merely committed to their business success, but true trailblazers who will change what the industry does. I'm confident about placing my order for my next 3kW (AC) array with this company, and while I don't expect any problems, 'I know where they live'!, that's peace of mind few solar customers can boast.

The tour presentation also filled me in on some very interesting and disturbing news about the majority of panels Australians have purchased, and the changes in the massive Chinese manufacturing companies that made them.... The visit is truly worthwhile. If you live in the Adelaide area, or are planning a visit and have any interest (even if you already have panels, this is worthwhile to see successful local manufacturing enterprise) you can book a tour via their website form.

The first Ten Months

The following graphs provide some insight into the performance of my 2kW solar system. It's operation has been trouble free and the results are in line with our expectations, and the data I've collected so far confirms that with another 3kW my electricity CO$T will be all but eliminated. I already have my two 1.5kW inverters ready to be mounted next to the current unit, all I need to organise is an additional 16-20 panels and their installation.

Graph 1 - My total usage in the fifteen months PRIOR to the system install.

Graph 2 - Inverter Output and Power Export

This graph portrays a significant factor not generally considered by solar system users: how much of my solar generated watts are actually directly powering my home needs? In my case the blue area represents true offset, i.e. I've used a lot of what I've generated. The smaller red area is what I've sold back to the grid. While my objective is to minimise the red area and thus increase the blue area, this is only because my "feed-in" return is less than the current cost of electricity, and sadly, always will be.

Those who (in South Australia) connected their system in 2011 and before would have a different objective, as their "feed-in" return is set way higher than the cost of the purchased electricity, so someone in that situation would want the red area to intrude further upward and reduce the blue area. This high "feed-in" tariff has been a contentious issue with electricity consumers generally, and also with the political interests who've reacted to the claim that the generous "feed-in" provisions have had an impact on the rising price of electricity here.

As I mentioned above, though, my objective is to consume as much of what my system produces, as this represents a greater saving.

Ultimately, I'm hoping to collect some of my solar D.C. power and store it in a battery bank so I can use that stored electricity to continue powering my inverters when the sun goes down...thus saving me even more.

Graph 3 - Post Solar Charged Consumption (this is what I paid for)

Graph 4 - Post Solar Total Consumption

Important note: the "dates" shown above are the dates I took my readings, therefore the reading represents consumption/production during the month before, so clearly the "1-April-2013" reading represents "March 2013" usage, etc.

On the grid!

Right on schedule my "net" meter arrived early this morning and within half an hour was installed
and monitoring my meagre 600W contribution,
due to overcast conditions.

Installed

Right on schedule the install team arrived to a crystal clear, but really cold morning, perfect for the outdoor roofwork.
Cabling went well in the end, after original wall cavity path proved impassable, fortunately my previously installed A/C wiring ducts provided the perfect solution. My additional DC wiring (for proposed batteries) was also easily accomodated, just have to arrange the necessary switch and then scrounge an old refridgerator to serve as a battery cabinet.
Now we have to wait until mid June for the "net" meter which measures and records both (consumed) power from the grid [import] and (generated) power put into the grid [export]. Until then the system is just sitting idle....
The installer was telling us his 3kW system was producing approx. $500 - $800 per quarter of credit (I didn't ask but reasonably suspect he's getting the old 54c/kWh feedin tariff).
Oh well, as long as our electricity bill reduces significantly it will be worthwhile, later, when we've pocketed some savings we'll move to the next "phase" and install another 3kW system and really put a dent in the bill, if not eliminate it altogether.

Installation Date

Notwithstanding inclement weather, my panels and inverter will be installed on May 3rd, unfortunately the "net" meter (which tracks both my consumption and production separately) won't arrive until late May. My system will still be connected to the "grid" and feed any electricity produced into it, I just won't have any (official) record of it.

While I was waiting

Having a break in the Barossa and happened upon this substantial installation at Jacob's Creek Winery.
The panels appear to be ~200W units and each array is 5x14=70 panels, giving a total combined output in the vicinity of 25-30kW!
To ensure maximum output they track the sun, too.