Sustain Myself

Bec and I have been throwing around the idea of getting solar panels on our house for quite some time but have not had $5k just lying around to do it. With current initiatives from the NSW Government, we are looking at getting solar now in the next few months and I think you’d be mad not to.. Heres why;

I will use our house as an example. We have a much higher than average power bill due to my fish tank. It has always been unsettling with me because while we do so much to limit our consumption elsewhere, it was only offsetting how much energy we use powering my tank. The idea behind the solar is that we want to generate enough power to cover at least the tank. Our current quartely bill is around $900 and Modern Solar advised (back in June) that their entry level system would cover about a quater of our bill (I cannot remember the details of this system though, unfortunately.) It was about $8k after the government rebate. Now this was a little too much for use considering the outlay and only 25% cover of our bill. Well, the NSW Government has just given us reason to rethink our decision.

Starting on the 1st of January, the NSW Government will be paying Wind and Solar power generating households, 60c per kW/h of power they generate, even if they consume it themselves! That means that not only will you save money off your electricity bill, but you will be paid for the energy you save, at least for the next 7 years! Couple that will a NSW funded interest free loan over a 4 year period and you can have your 2kw solar system for nothing!

Why ‘nothing’? Let me explain;
If I purchase a system from AussieSolar for $5k using a 4 year interest free loan, I will be paying back approximately $300 per quater.
The system will cover more than 1/4 of my bill, but to be safe I can deduct my bill by 1/4 which saves us $225 per quater.
The NSW Government will pay us 60c per kW/h for the next 7 years which equates to $150 per quater if your household power usage is 4000 kW/h per quater and your solar covers 1/4 of it.
That means that you could be up $375 and down $300 per quater equating to a gain of $75.

Now, odds are that my calculations may be off a little bit, they are quite rough and I dont have my power bill here to see exactly how much we use, but you can see how you can make these Solar Initiatives work for you.

Further Reading:
To get an Interest Free Green loan, you need to have a free home sustainability assessment done, see the Green Loans site for more info.
Aussie Solar have some fantastic Solar package prices.
Details of the NSW Solar Bonus Scheme.

Just do it, you have nothing to lose and Solar Systems regularly last more than 30 years.

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