The Blatant Con is the words "Electrical Retailers", they should be called "Energy Brokers" !
Electrical Retailers Do NOT actually sell anything, in fact they Don't Supply, Pay or Transmit the power you consumer, they simply skim a very lucrative "Commission" by loading you bill with multiple confusing split charges, there commission in some cases amounts to over 50% profit on your power bill, for simply sending you a bill & handling your account, and no matter what amount your energy bills come to, the actual cost of your residential power is only 20% of your total bill, it's no wonder droves of people are choosing to go Off-grid!
Whilst Coal price have been dropping for several years, the power rates keep on increasing, in 2005 the government setup the "Australian Energy regulator", that is actually controlled by the same state government that own the state electricity company they were tasked with regulating, so, the regulators are regulating themselves!
What the deceptively named "Electricity Retailers" Don't want you to learn: Is that after investing in a Solar array, you ONLY need Energy Storage at least equal to the kWh energy Consumption between Sunset & Sunrise, to become Totally & Instantly Energy Independent! The perfect scenario to have Energy Storage equal or greater than your Daily Consumption!
For Real Off-Grid: Energy Security, a small $850, 3.5kW Inverter Gen-Set with Auto Start function, super Silenced (54dB), is all that is required to charge 90% of Energy Storage bank during prolonged bad weather or the Gen-set can be started Prior to heavy energy loading, limited only by your main Inverter kW rating!
How do I calculate an Independent Power Station ?
Use one of these Investment calculators show you how to self fund this in 2~5 year in electricity savings, if you sign-up with the likes of Bespoke energy retailer, as some offer a great grid-feed-in credits of $1.00kWh.
Many people that invest in Solar, were & still are being sold arrays larger than there consumption, this was largely to reduce there energy bill & make an income, before the feed-in-tariff were reduced to 6~10 cents kWh in 2017.
People with a solar paid-off in power savings are in the best situation! As there further investment in just Battery storage will commonly only take 1~2 years to break-even by eliminating there Sunset to Sunrise consumption!
People with a battery & solar system that choose to remain Grid connected to Black-out proof there premises, also have the option to export excess energy harvested during the day (after batteries are charged) into the state grid, thereby possibly covering the state grid service fees & even get a few dollar credit.
With a large private energy storage system, you can have a private agreement with a neighbour, at a rate you agree upon!
REMEMBER: The minimum you need to invest in Energy Storage with a kWh storage capacity equal to or greater than your overnight energy consumption, with a solar array that also harvest equal or more kWh than your daily consumption, then if you choose to remain grid connection for security, you will only have to pay the grid "supply charge", that should be ok if you produce all or the lion share of your own energy. As an $80 Supply Charge divided by FIT of say $0.10kWh =800kWh of your Energy you gift away FREE exporting to break even on that Cost!
What is the PERFECT FREE ENERGY SYSTEM ? (once paid off in energy savings)
Lets assume you have an approved AMF and ATS switching gear, and Hybrid inverter fitted, you can now incorporate Solar, Aqua, Wind, Batteries &/or a Fuel Generator into your system, then you will have the best system to eliminate your energy bills and go totally Off-Grid or turn-it-around and make money from your system if your energy storage is larger than your usage, you will reduce your break even period even quicker!
Energy Storage:
- Battery Bank: Is a long-standing and over 100yr old traditional reservoir for storing excess energy/power that a systems produces for later harvesting. Commonly in modern times a battery bank is predominately charged by Solar, Aqua, Wind or Diesel Generator. Batteries operate silently & are relatively safe, some require ventilation &/or cooling fans, most are ideal for independent off-grid setup or can be on-grid using load shifting power. Most Battery banks are capable of being rapidly charged by a fuelled generator &/or Hi-Amp low voltage Charger, some can be charged in 20 minutes spurts or up to 4 hours run time or less per day, making energy storage a game changer for the user or community.
Energy Harvesting & Generation:
- Solar panels: Once fitted, other than a clean are virtually free of maintenance and produces free power for many years, excess power produced during the day should first be exported into your battery bank for later harvesting for Free! Exporting Solar power into state grid during the day only provides 8 cents kW feed-in Tariff, better then nothing! However, it's keeps you enslaved to the state grid, it's a lot smarter to export your Solar into your Battery bank for evening usage, instead of paying 300% more to purchase power back from the state grid!
- Aqua Generators: Proven to be one of the best and most successful power productions systems if set-up correctly, there are several sizes kits costing from $1'000 that use a pipe(s) to channel water too a turbines from a stream, river, large dams, and reservoirs. If you have a running water close by, a single 300W Aqua Turbine kit will generate 7.2kW power in 24hr day, using simple 3" PVC piping, or better still build a water Vortex using stone, bricks & cement. A water vortex is built like a large bowl shaped water tank with a sink style hole at the bottom where water drains out, click here to read more, the best Aqua generators are all set up from a source of permanent flowing water, so they will operate 24/7 virtually free of maintenance for many years, the only drawback is needing a large or permanent source of water, mostly available and used in country regions.
- Wind Generators: When purchased and set-up correctly they work free of maintenance for may years, but are totally reliant on the wind and should be installed clear of trees and building to gain clear flowing air, Wind Generators are usually used as an alternative supply of power due to there reliance on wind. The best units have odd number of blades (up to 11), these turn Permanent Magnet Generators (PMG) (not a residential Alternator), this 11 blade PMG will set you back $1400 +Freight, we consider these one of the better ones currently on the market.
- Fuel Generators: If you already have Solar, Aqua, Wind and Energy Storage in your system, your Generator would only need to automatically start after sunset & only if your Energy Storage voltage gets to low.
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