Albury's Climate
Albury's climate is hot in summer and cold in winter, with an average high of 31.2°Celsius in January and an average low of 2.7° in July.
Solar Energy Potential In Albury
Solar panels on a typical north facing roof in Albury will receive an average amount of sunlight energy equal to about 4.9 hours of full noon sunshine a day, which puts it slightly ahead of Sydney.A new 5 kilowatt solar system on a north facing roof could be expected to produce an average of around 19.6 kilowatt-hours a day or 7,160 kilowatt-hours a year.
Solar Feed-In Tariffs In Albury
Feed-in tariffs are a payment for surplus electricity produced bya rooftop solar power system that isn't used by the household or business but is instead sent into the grid. In NSW, the feed-in tariffs available depend on what is offered by electricity retailers.
Just which is the best plan for Albury solar owners depends upon individual circumstances. You can use ourelectricity plan comparison tool to see what is currently on offer - and be sure to read the fine print of any plan.
The Rooftop Solar Application Process In Albury
I strongly recommend having your installer guide you through the application process for rooftop solar. They will be able to tell you how much solar electricity you will be allowed to export at your location and assist you in determining what size will best suit your needs.
Maximum Solar System Size In Albury
Albury households will require Council permission to install rooftop solar systems of more than 10 kilowatts. Ten kilowatts of solar panels covers a considerable amount of roof space. If they are 20% efficient they will take up 50 square meters. While solar panels don’t necessarily have to all be located together, many people will still have difficulty finding enough room on their roof for 10 or more kilowatts.
Apart fromthe 10kW limit, there is no restriction on the amount of solar capacity a household can install, regardless of if they have single phase or 3 phase power. However, there can be a limit on how much solar electricity can be exported. An installer will need to perform VRC, which stands for Voltage Rise Calculations, to determine if the household will be permitted to export solarpower and how much.
In order to install rooftop solar with an inverter size larger than the amount of sola rpower they are allowed to export, an export limiting device, or an export limiting inverter must be used. This will increase the cost of the installation. In practice, for most people limited to 5 kilowatts of electricity exports, installing an inverter of 5 kilowatts capacity or less will be the most cost effective option.
If an export limited rooftop solar system generates electricity greater than the household’s consumption and greater than what it is permitted to export, then any excess electricity is wasted and no feed-in tariff is received for it.
Albury Electricity Usage
Electricity use is very high in Albury, with a household of 3 people without gas using an average of around 8,630 kilowatt-hours a year. The average Albury home uses 9% more electricity in winter than summer.With Albury's electricity prices above the New South Wales average, it's another compelling reason to install solar panels.
Just to give you an idea of how good an investment solar panels can be, a good quality 6.6kW system installed in Albury has a simple payback time of around 3 years, 6 months; although it will depend on your electricity consumption profile.
Albury Roofs And Solar Panel Tilt
The best angle to install solar panels is usually the angle your roof is already at. While it is possible to use frames that alter the tilt of the panels, unless there are special circumstances such as a flat roof these are not worth the additional cost.
The majority of roofs in Australia have a pitch of either 15 or 22.5 degrees. But Albury also has many homes with steeper roofs of 30 degrees or more. There is very little difference in output over a year between a shallow 15 degree roof and a steep 45 degree roof. Shallow roofs provide a mild advantage to households that have high summer air conditioning demand, while steeper roofs provide a mild advantage to those who use more electricity on winter days. Compared to solar panels on a shallow 15 degree roof, those on a steep 45 degree roof will produce around 8% less electricity in January and 12% more in July. .
How Solar Panel Direction Affects Output In Albury
North facing solar panels will produce the most electricity, but placing panels facing east and/or west can certainly be worthwhile, especially if these orientations increase a household’s self consumption of solar electricity.
Panels facing directly east or west will produce almost 20% less electricity than north facing panels over a year. East facingsolar panels will produce more electricity in the morning, while west facing ones produce more in the afternoon. East facing panels will produce slightly more electricity than west facing ones because mornings are cooler than afternoons and heat reduces the efficiency at which solar panels operate.
Panels facing north-east or north-west will produce about 5% less electricity than north facing panels.
Getting The Most Out Of Your Rooftop Solar
For households with higher electricity demand in the mornings and afternoons than the middle of the day, an east-west split of rooftop solar panels can be an effective way to increase self consumption of solar electricity.
From around the 26th of December to the 18th of January, thanks to daylight savings time and a southerly location, the sun doesn't set until after 8:30 pm in Albury. This is useful for powering air conditioners in the late afternoon with solar electricity, especially when using west or north-west facing panels.
Albury has many trees that may shade roofs for a portion of the day, especially in winter when shadows are longer. The use of microinverters or DC optimisers can help limit the loss of solar panel output caused by shading.
Getting The Most Out The"Solar Rebate"
Many households and business can benefit from solar installations where the solar panels have a total capacity greater than that of their inverter. This will result in some loss of output from the solar panels when the sky is clear and the sun is high in the sky, but will cause greater output when the sun is low or skies are overcast. This results in a smoother production of solar electricity through the day, which can help increase a household’s self consumption - very useful for improving the economic payback of rooftop solar.
A rooftop solar system’s total panel capacity can be up to one third larger than the size of its inverter and still receive the full amount of STCs, which lower the cost of installing solar. This reduction is often referred to as the solar rebate. Technically it’s not a rebate, but many people don’t care and call it that anyway. The solar rebate will be reduced on the first of January each year until it ends in 2030, so the earlier a system is installed, the greater the rebate that will be received.
As many households may be limited to a exporting a maximum of 5 kilowatts of solar power, installing a 5 kilowatt inverter and up to 6.65 kilowatts of solar panels can be a cost effective way of increasing the output of the system without needing to pay extra for an export limiting device or an export limited inverter.
Upgrading Electricity Meters For Solar Power
An import/export electricity meter will need to be installed when rooftop solar is added to a home. Most reputable installers will handle this themselves and include its cost, along with that of any required upgrading of your switchboard in their quote. However, some installers do not change meters, so be sure to check whether or not this is covered.
If you have an older switchboard with fuses rather than circuit breakers, this will need to be upgraded. This could potentially cost $1,400 or more.
Solar Uptake In Albury
More than 4,365 small-scale solar power systems had been been installed in Albury's postcode (2640) at June 30, 2020.
Rooftop Solar And Emissions
Solar electricity generated in Albury will mostly displace black coal generation in NSW, along with a smaller amount of natural gas generation. This makes rooftop solar in Albury very effective at reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
Long Distance Transmission To Albury
The high voltage, long distance transmission lines that deliver grid electricity to Albury are managed by Transgrid.The low voltage distribution of electricity to homes and business is managed by the network operator, Essential Energy.
