You have spent the money and purchased a solar system for your home, so now more than ever is the time to adopt as many energy efficient products and practices as possible.
By following our guidelines below, you can be assured to receive the maximum financial return on your investment.
1. Make the switch to LED Lighting.
This technology is now super affordable and can truly save you a fortune (refer to our online calculator to see for yourself). An easy way to start making the change is by changing all the globes in your lamps around your home.
2. Connect to a cheaper rate of electricity.
Energy-hungry appliances such as electric hot water systems and pool pumps can be connected to an Off-Peak Tariff. This results in their usage occurring at night time when there are discounted power prices available.
3. Be mindful of your general energy use.
High cost appliances such as clothes dryers and air conditioners can be really expensive to operate. Only use them when you absolutely need to.
4. Install sensor lighting
Placing this at the entry points to your home holds the dual purpose of providing extra security whilst maintaining energy efficiency with the lights only operating for the minimum time required (and not all night waiting for the young adults of the house to come home!)
5. Purchase extra panels.
This will give your system its optimum operating performance. For example, a 5kW system can comfortably add an additional kilowatts’ worth of panels providing you have the roof space. This addition can provide you with a further annual production yield of 1400kW (and that’s a conservative estimate). And don’t worry, adding extra panels does not change the Feed In Tariff that you currently receive, as your inverter size stays the same.
6. Remove any items providing shade over your system.
Your system only performs as strong as its weakest link, so if you have a small amount of shade even covering only 1 panel, the efficiency of your whole system drops to that low level. Consider having any vegetation blocking the sunlight on your system chopped down.
7. Conduct Yearly System Maintenance
We highly recommend an annual clean and inspection of your system. Dirty solar panels can reduce performance by up to 30% resulting in reduced power bill savings. We offer this service from $195 which includes inspection of the entire system and its components, cleaning of all panels and a full service report.
With an increasing demand for energy efficiency in the housing market, taking care of your solar panels is very worthwhile if you are thinking of selling or renting to tenants (who you could even charge normal electricity rates if you wanted to make some extra money). Implementing the above steps will also ensure you are getting the best possible return on your solar system and are decreasing (or adding to your credit on) your power bill.
At Dan the Sparky Man, we employ only fully licensed, Master Electricians, who are also accredited for solar panel installations in Gold Coast by the Clean Energy Council of Australia, to install and maintain your system. Talk to us today if you want to know more about how you can get the most from your solar system, or are thinking of having a system installed. With more than a decade of experience in the industry, you can count on us.
Dan Carpenter
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Dan Carpenter has built his business to be one of the most successful and trusted electrical businesses on the Gold Coast. He completed his apprenticeship in Adelaide at a young age. With a passion for self-driven success, he established his own enterprise on the Gold Coast at 22, quickly becoming a leader in the local building and solar industries. His dedication led him to win the Gold Coast Small Business Award and earn the title of Accredited Master Electrician.
