PV Gap

Natalie Said:

Is "Earth4Energy" worth buying? or is it a scam?

We Answered:

Total scam. There are a lot of fake review sites, that are actually put up by their own affiliates.

Here is one of the few honest reviews that I've seen, aside from serious solar energy forums: http://www.nlcpr.com/Deceptions6.php

The same information can be found on bittorrent sites for a free download if you search for "solar panel", it you're that curious.

Eileen Said:

Solar Panel Question!?

We Answered:

Yes a 2 kilowatt system will generate 6-7 kilowatt hours per day averaged out over the year. It does not matter whether your home is efficient, you will still get 6-7 kWh out of it.

Where it does count is when you get paid a bonus feed in tariff for pumping only the excess electricity back into the grid. This is called NETT metering where I am (Melbourne, Australia), as opposed to GROSS metering like they have in Germany.

So here we get 4X the price you pay for electricity for feeding the excess back into the grid. Our smart meters know when you are using and when you are generating and reporting this back to the power company at some interval. So here if you can shift your electricity usage to non-daylight hours, then you will be better off financially.

Eg. assume you generate 6 kWh a day, paying 15c/kWh and getting 60c/kWh FIT..

1) With an efficient home and NETT metering you use 2 kWh (-30c) in the day time, feed in excess 4 kWh ($2.40) and use 3 kWh (-45c) at night. So you are left with a profit of $1.65.

2) With an inefficient home and NETT metering you use 5 kWh (-75c) in the day time, feed in excess 1 kWh (60c) and use 3 kWh (-45c) at night. So you are left with a loss of 60c.

With GROSS metering example 1 becomes 5 kWh (-75c) used plus 6 kWh ($3.60) gross generated to give $2.85 profit.

With GROSS metering example 2 becomes 8 kWh (-$1.20) used plus 6 kWh ($3.60) gross generated to give $2.40 profit.

So it depends on where you are living and the feed in tariff arrangement that is in place. Here if you have an inefficient home, then as per example 2, you will never recoup the cost of the installation of the system if that is your goal. Considering the average cost of $22,000-24,000 for a 2kW system (less $8000 government rebate for the first 1KW) you are going to be waiting a long time to break even at $1.65/day. (over 23 years not adjusting for interest)

What we need is a more efficient and cheaper solar cell technology such as the one Nanosolar is working on bringing to the market.