The Sowerby’s Property in Tauranga
Kristin Gillies, August 29, 2019
Solar panels: 12 x 260W panels. Inverter: 12 x micro-inverters. Total cost: $12,310.44. Electricity price: $0.31. Solar export price: $0.07. Installation date: July 2016.
Back in June 2016, the Sowerby household had their solar power system installed and have zero regrets. The benefits were obvious, and having friends that were enjoying solar power systems made the choice easy for the Sowerby’s to go ahead with an installation of their own.
Not only have they noticed a reduction in power bills since having their system installed - the environmental benefits have been appreciated too, “I like the concept of using power from the sun, there is a feel good factor in that, I believe we are doing good for the environment.”
With 45% of their solar power being exported to the grid on an annual basis (with very low purchase rates from grid companies), saving more on electricity each year will be a goal and investigating ways to increase their solar power self-consumption is a great place to start. The household have discussed the possibility of installing batteries, once they become an economically viable option for the family.
