For a while now I have been negotiating special deals on solar panels for participants in Living Smart courses that I have facilitated.
It is amazing the see how the price of these systems have come down in recent times, however I was amazed to hear of an offer to install a 1kW system for free for households that qualify for the $8,000 federal goverment rebate.
The company behind the offer is called Regen Power. Basically their offer is for a 1.02kW grid connect system.
A 1kW system will produce about 5kWh on average per day. Based on the current A1 residential electricity tariff, this will save you $250 every year, however I fully expect electricity prices to double over the next couple of years (we are currently only paying about half of the true cost of electricity production), which will translate into a saving of $500 per year.
If we end up with a feed-in tariff in WA, the savings will be even higher - all for an investment of the massive sum of $0.
For more information on this offer, visit the Regen website at http://www.regenpower.com/other/systems.php?ID=30
The company is making the offer to the first 250 subscribers, so you will need to hurry. The $8,000 rebate is disappearing at the end of June (to be replaced by a more complex, less rewarding (for households earning less than $100,000) system).
Note that this offer represents the price for a basic installation. It does not include any extra costs associated with modifications to existing switchboards, or where the installation is complicated by factors such as double story, difficult access etc.
I'm not making any warranty as to the relative merits of this company or the system they are offering and I always recommend you shop around, however I think that the mathematics in this case are pretty simple. Feel free to forward on to your contacts.
Gary Warden