Going Solar

Our solar power panels were finally installed by NuEnergy last week. The installation only took a couple of hours, and the panels on top of our garage roof aren't even visible from the street. We now have to get the feed-in meters installed by the EnergyAustralia contractor so we can get paid for the power being generated. There was some mucking about regarding one of the authorisation numbers - when DW phoned the meter installation contractor he said we would need to get a "CEC" before he could order the meter, but after a few more phone calls to EnergyAustralia they confirmed we had already made all the necessary arrangements when we placed the order last October. It's just as well, as otherwise we would be paid at the new (much lower) feed-in tariff for the next couple of years.

Hopefully now that the meter has been ordered the contractor will make an appointment to install it in the next couple of weeks, and we can start earning some money from "green energy" to pay for the (subsidised) cost of the PV system.

ps. I phoned our insurance company and increased our building insurance by the full value of the PV system (around $13,000). If we get hit by one of the massive hail storms Sydney sometimes experiences, we would have to pay full price to replace the PV system, not the $3,000 or so it cost this time around.

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