Alternative Technology Assn Forums

1. 

   bundy
   Member

   Guys I have seen a few posts re bulk buys etc and I wanted to gleen from your experiences and if the savings were worth it.

   I am shipping in a Container of goods from the UK of various household items for a renovation project we are undertaking. At the moment the Container is only 2/3rds full so I have room to add more items that I will use down the track. So far on this I am saving approx 50% of what the same items would cost to buy in Australia so the importing project is well worth while for me.

   However my questions are on Solar PV and I would like some feedback on -

   1 - By doing this I presume I miss out on the RECS credits avaialable?

   2 - The Panels will probably not be installed for 12 - 18 months. Do you think it worth waiting for better technology to evolve in that time and buy locally in Oz when avaialble?

   3 - What sort of cost (very Roughly) is involved in installing say a 3KW system? I want to take this into account in my calculations.

   4 - Anythin else to look out for (Good or bad) on importing your own PV system?

   Posted Saturday 19 Feb 2011 @ 11:14:25 pm from IP #
2. 

   Inspector
   Member

   Looks like your post fell into the "Too hard basket".

   So long as the panels you source are on the CEC-approved list, (and the system is installed/supervised by a CEC-accredited installer) there's no problem creating RECs. You should be able to get favourable prices overseas, especially with the AU$ as strong as it is now. The problem you face will be the same as many others "bulk buying" panels - you can't be sure of what you are getting (although as yours is coming from UK, I'd suspect you'd be arranging the purchase through an established solar company in UK and thus minimising that "unknown factor" risk).

   In 12-18 months, there's a good chance you wont be able to get those panels again if you wanted to increase the system size using the same panels, or in the chance you needed to replace any panels. Either way, it's no different to anyone else's situation actually.

   Sourcing the inverter overseas might be a better option, but you would need to make sure it's programmed for Oz spec's.

   I'd even suggest you go into a group-buy with some friends/family (depending on how much space you have left in the container).

   Costs for installing a 3kw system? Anyone's guess really. It might take 3 guys 4-5 hours, say $80ea/hr?

   Customs duty might be a killer, too.

   Posted Monday 28 Feb 2011 @ 10:22:37 am from IP #

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