Frequently Asked Questions

A typical house will have around 10-24 panels. This works well to reduce using electricity from the grid.
For best results, get in touch with us to conduct a survey on your house to see how many solar panels will work best for you.

Yes, solar can be a really good way to save money, reduce electricity bills and be more environmentally friendly at the same time. See our blog to learn more about how solar panels are worth it.

When photons in the sun’s light hit solar panels, electrons in the solar cells become excited and produce DC electricity.
Your house runs on AC electricity. The inverter is used to convert DC to AC so the power can be used in your home. Check out our blog post on how solar panels work for more information.

Solar panels will only work if the sun is out. If you want to use energy from solar at night, you’ll need a battery to store the power generated during the day. You can find more about batteries here.

Solar will continue to work during cloudy weather, just with less output. The thicker the clouds, the less power your panels will produce. The clearer the sky is, the more they will produce.

Very little! The only regular maintenance needed is to check your panels every six months to ensure they are clear from twigs, leaves and other obstructions. for optimal performance, you should clean them every couple of years.

We do recommend getting an installer to check over the system once every five years, to make sure everything is working well.

Solar panels have been shown to extend the life of a roof, due to protecting it from sun, wind and rain.
Most solar racking systems use the purlin screw holes already in your roof. The only other hole will be for the cabling into the roof space.

Our solar installers are experienced in working on roof’s and will install solar with no damage to your property.

At this point in time, there is no government incentive for solar PV. However, a lot of banks have very low or even no interest loans to put towards energy efficient upgrades including solar and battery storage. Read more about bank loan options. 

Yes, it does! Solar panels work best when the sun’s rays are perpendicular to them.

Lower angle panels work best in summer when the sun is high in the sky. Higher angle panels work best in winter when the sun is lower in the sky.

Generally, if you have a steep roof, this is good for all year round energy production. If you have a lower angle roof, we can add extra panels or tilt the panels up at a steeper angle. A system can be designed to suit almost any angle of the roof.

No, to store energy generated from solar panels you will need a battery system.

Consider a battery as part of your solar install if your priority is maximising self consumption or you would like to protect yourself from power cuts. You can find more about batteries here.

A standard grid-tied solar system will shut down during a power outage. This is to protect workers when fixing the power lines. If you carried on producing power, there is a risk that some electricity would make it out to the grid.

The Fronius Gen24 inverter has a ‘PV Point’ socket supplied with electricity in the event of a power outage. So you can keep the important things powered (as long as the sun is shining).

If you do want your power to remain on during an outage, you should consider a system with batteries and backup.

Solar panels, inverters and batteries come with long warranties.

Solar panels
The warranties are broken down into manufacturers and performance warranties. Manufacturers warranties cover any defects in the panel. They are typically around ten years. Performance warranties cover your panels energy production. Most say that the panel should produce 80% of what they did originally by the end of the warranty, which is typically 25 years.

Inverters
Inverter warranties differ quite a bit. Entry-level inverters typically have a five-year warranty. High-end inverters typically have a 10-year warranty, with the option to buy a longer warranty. It’s important to use a good inverter with good support. This part of the system does a great deal of work over its life converting DC to AC.

Batteries
A good quality battery will typically have a 10-year warranty that guarantees a certain level of capacity at the end of this period. For example the Tesla Powerwall guarantees 70% capacity after 10 years.

An interesting debate. The answer depends on what you want from your solar system.

If backup power is valuable for you, or want power during a power outage, then a battery is a good addition to your system.

If your main driver is getting the highest financial return on investment, at this point in time, it’s probably best not to install a battery. 

We are starting to see a change in how electricity retailers buy and sell electricity. Soon, being able to store your solar power and sell to power companies when they need it will make the investment in batteries really attractive.

Yes, but Off-Grid is an entirely different affair than solar with batteries. An off-grid system has to be carefully designed to meet the energy demand of the house. There is no grid to help if more power is needed than available.

Generally, an Off-Grid system will have several days worth of battery storage built-in. This ensures power will still be available after a few days of bad weather.

A backup generator is usually built into the system. If you already have a grid connection, it’s more economical to stay connected and install solar with a smaller battery, than go off-grid. If you are far away from a grid connection, it probably makes sense to go off-grid, rather than pay to get mains power there.

Talk to us about this. We can help you make the right decision.

The answer depends on how well you manage your system. The more solar power you use directly while the system is producing, the better the return will be. This is called self-consumption.

For example:
Say we pay $0.30 for per kWh imported and $0.08 for the energy we sell back to the grid.

Let’s say our system produced 100kWh
If we had 100% self-consumption, our energy would be worth $30 (100kWh x $0.30)
If we had 40% self-consumption, our energy would be worth $16.80(40 x $0.30 + 60 x $0.08). 60% of the energy would be exported at a lower rate.

This is where it pays to install a well-sized system. A system designed to give you a higher self-consumption rate will give you higher returns.

A typical ROI for a system would be between 7 and 10 years. Once the investment is paid off, the panels will continue to produce energy for at least the next 20-30 years. Everything after the initial 7 to 10 years, you will be making money!

Check out our ROI calculator for more information.