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ryanm
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Joined: 25/09/2015
Location: Australia
Posts: 202

Posted: 04:14pm 06 Jun 2017

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Hi Everyone.

I'm looking at making an off-grid Ozinverter setup in central QLD. I'm doing up a budget to see how much it's all going to cost. I was hoping that some people here might be able to tell me what the market price on second hand grid-tie solar systems in QLD is at the moment and where one might go to get a reliable system. I'm a little hesitant about spending a few thousand dollars on eBay from a company I've never dealt with before.

Also I was looking at using these DiaMec AGM batteries from Jaycar. I have a trade account so I can make a 48V 450Ah pack for $3.2k. Thoughts?

Thanks in advance for any help.

Madness

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Joined: 08/10/2011
Location: Australia
Posts: 2498

Posted: 06:06pm 06 Jun 2017

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To build a Ozinverter you will spend $500 to $1K. From my experience, you can buy most things for a lot less at places other than Jaycar, but I don't know about the batteries.

If a seller on Ebay has good feedback across a lot of transactions you are pretty safe. If they are reputable they would not want bad feedback as it would affect their business a lot.

Keep in mind though if you are spending a lot of dollars you can get government money (CEC) for a big chunk of it if you do it through a proper solar installer.

There are only 10 types of people in the world: those who understand binary, and those who don't.

ryanm
Senior Member

Joined: 25/09/2015
Location: Australia
Posts: 202

Posted: 06:11pm 06 Jun 2017

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Thanks for the advice, although I really doubt that a licensed electrician would hook anything to a home made inverter.

Boppa
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Joined: 08/11/2016
Location: Australia
Posts: 814

Posted: 01:19pm 07 Jun 2017

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Sadly from experience, it can be hard finding a sparky to do ANY wiring on an offgrid house, most simply wont do it if its not grid connected

:-(

Madness

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Joined: 08/10/2011
Location: Australia
Posts: 2498

Posted: 01:40pm 07 Jun 2017

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I spoke to company here on the Sunshine Coast QLD recently about this. You are correct that they would not connect to a DIY Inverter however they suggested fitting a smaller inverter to get the CEC money and then replace it with my own inverter and sell the bought one. They were happy to connect to my inverter but said it would wipe out the CEC credits, their concern was if they did connect to it and by chance the installation was audited they would be in deep doo doo. Depending on your situation and what you are doing it might stack up. The installer must have the required certification for off grid work.

What they told me is that the CEC would pay around the price of the panels less GST. Their installation cost would be roughly $1,000 per KW of panels including mounting hardware, wiring etc. I have worked out I am better off buying second-hand panels and DIY the lot.

There are only 10 types of people in the world: those who understand binary, and those who don't.

Gizmo

Admin Group

Joined: 05/06/2004
Location: Australia
Posts: 5078

Posted: 01:47pm 07 Jun 2017

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450Ah for $3200 is pretty good.

I've been using T104 equivalents, a 230Ah bank cost about $1600. I got 5 years out of my last set. I like flooded batteries because I can see what going on, listen to them bubbling. I usually needed to top them up once a month or so, only takes 10 minutes.

I picked up 8 190w 72cell panels off ebay a couple of years ago for about $500. They were only a couple of years old, so there are some good bargains out there.

Glenn

The best time to plant a tree was twenty years ago, the second best time is right now.
JAQ

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