Solar Energy Facts & How Your Home Solar Energy System Works
You've probably heard all sorts of stories about solar energy but here are some solar energy facts and some info about how your home solar energy
system actually works.
There are over a million home solar energy systems installed in Australia and that number continues to grow. Around 8% of the total renewable energy
generated in Australia comes from solar and it comprises about 2% of all electricity consumed (ref. http://www.originenergy.com.au/4228/Solar-energy).
Grid connect solar energy systems can only be installed by a licensed electrician who is then further trained with a grid connect licence.
The solar energy industry provides thousands of jobs in this country, it's estimated that the industry directly supports 39 jobs for every megawatt (MW)
of installed solar energy systems (ref. http://www.solarcitizens.org.au/myths).
The operation of a solar energy system is pretty basic in principle. Solar panels are installed on your rooftop or other suitable area. The panels are
made up of many photovoltaic cells which, when exposed to sunlight, generate electricity.
This electricity is generated in Direct Current, your home uses Alternating Current, so the power is fed to an inverter. The inverter converts the DC
electricity to AC which is then used within your home, or if the electricity generated is surplus to what you need it's then fed back to the grid to be
made available for any other power users.
Your smart meter records how much energy you've put back into the grid and you're credited a certain amount according to what solar feed in tariff (FIT) your
energy retailer is paying.
How you're paid depends on the type of tariff, there are two types, a Gross Feed In Tariff and a Net Feed In Tariff. On a gross feed in tariff you are
paid for the entire amount of electricity you generate within a certain period and then are charged for the amount of electricity you consume within the
same period.
Say in a 24 hour period you generate 20kW, assuming a payment rate of 40c per Kw/Hr you will be credited $8. If, in that period, you consume 15 Kw, and
you're charged 30c per Kw/Hr by your energy retailer then your power cost will be $4.50. $8 minus $4.50 and you're ahead by $3.50 for the day. That's a
gross tariff and they are the better of the two but unfortunately they're not very common now.
On a net feed in tariff you're only paid for the surplus or unused electricity you generate. Assuming your usage and generation is the same as the example
above then with a net feed in tariff it becomes very important when you're able to put excess energy back into the grid. If your usage of 15Kw is during the day when the
sun is shining then you will only have put 5Kw back into the grid, at 40 cents per Kw/Hr your credit for the day will be $2. Same usage, same
electricity generated, but because of the type of feed in tariff and the time of day of your usage a very different result.
There are a whole lot of different aspects to consider if you're planning on installing solar energy in your home, give us a call at Watt You Need
Electrical and we can guide you through the design process and answer any questions you have.