Is there any reviews On Solaray Energy
Hi @gtrantas, welcome to the community.
It looks like you are asking about a solar PV system supplier installer. You have supplied the name of a business with offices in several Capital cities including Sydney.
Iâve not seen any reviews by Choice of individual solar PV installers. There are a number of Choice guides to assist in making the best decisions. You may like to start here if you have not looked already? Some review content is member only.
The Choice Community members sometimes also reference an independent business Solarquotes which provides content on solar products and installers. https://www.solarquotes.com.au/
The site includes an option to use their services to obtain three independent quotes from known CEC certified suppliers in your area. Iâve found it helpful choosing one supplier from their list for one install and a local not on their list for another install. Both in the previous two years.
Personal observations are that many businesses have very slick marketing and comprehensive product options. Reality is they may just be an office on the nn th floor of an inner city office block, and sub-contract out the install. The hardware comes direct from wholesale suppliers and distributors to the installer. This may go well. It may not. Solarquotes maintains extensive reviews of products and installers. It is worth looking at the feedback on any supplier in addition to common public review web sites.
P.S.
Solaray Energy did not come up on my search for installers two years ago when choosing a supplier for an install in Brisbane. The near perfect score on âTrust Pilotâ and pop ups suggesting âAward Australiaâs #1 solar power and battery storage âŠâ is just marketing hype. The business markets some well known products from reputable brands. Their web site requires you to offer up personal details and an email to access any content beyond the general spiel on the main web page. It encourages me to look elsewhere. Their Brisbane site is an office block in the CBD. Your experience may be different. They have a substantial history on the Solar Quotes web site, which is likely more useful than first impressions.
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An article regarding solar system fires and a warning to avoid dodgy suppliers and installers.
We have lived off grid for ten years and would never go back!
There are costs associated with off grid , notably depreciation on the battery component.
The best advice I can give anyone contemplating going off grid is to seek out a well established , reputable installation company specialising in solar installations.
We live in the northern rivers and are lucky to have Rainbow Power Company comparatively close.We have always used them : they are not the cheapest but are thorough,use good quality products and have knowledgeable installers and technical backup when needed.
Several of our neighbours have been seduced with taking installers who offer low pricing with the result that when there is a problem ( and there always is with a cheap job! )the installers are no longer in business or to be found!
Go solar and save the world!
Cheers
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We were told by our electricity provider (when a query was directed to them) that our solar hasnât been producing electricity since August. The inverter has a green light that is âpulsingâ (Iâd call it flashing lol) and no red light on. It seems to say it is producing something in the first lot of information when the scroll button is pressed. After that though its all zeros. The electricity company referred us back to the installer to get information as to what is going on.My issue is the installer has disappeared years ago. My question to the group is who do we go to for appropriate support? Neither of us is technically minded or tech savvy.
Also is it fair(?) to encourage people to take up offers, such as solar, if there is no ongoing support for issues such as ours years later?
Thanks in advance
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I moved your topic into this older post as it is relevant to selecting suppliers.
Sans your installer still being in business, a âport of callâ is the inverter manufacturer (importer). It is unlikely the PV array itself or wiring failed. It is more likely the inverter has. Most inverters have web access and remote diagnosis facilities. Depending on the age you could be out of pocket.
Alternatively you could hire a solar capable sparky to attend and tell you what is broken.
If you post the make and model of your inverter some community members will probably advise you about the blinking lights as well as basic techniques to ârestart themâ if that is all they need, such as ârebooting the PV systemâ. Sometimes the ârebootâ is all it takes.
Inverters have displays of generation/consumption so the consumer does not need to rely on the utility for information (that the utility largely is unable to provide). How those are delivered/accessed vary from the inverter itself being a web host, to the inverter reporting to âthe factoryâ at intervals, and âthe factoryâ being the web host displaying your information.,
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What does the user manual say this represents?
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I looked online and it said if the green light was working the inverter was working. Not sure about the flashing part. I will find the manual to see what that has to say. I guess I need to speak with a âsolar savvy sparkyâ as was suggested earlier. We are at the point of not worrying about solar as we were getting bugger all return as in two figures each quarter. If we have to get another replacement inverter (this one is a replacement probably 4 years ago) we wont be bothering.
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A âsolar savvy sparkyâ will actually have a CEC accreditation.
Be sure to ask or check!
P.S
There should be a brand and model details with your inverter manual, and on the inverter ID/name plate. It will assist @gordon or others to better comment if you can advise from one of these sources.
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Thanks mark_m the soalr installer is no longer, in fact they became no longer about a month after the installation. I believe they rebranded a number of times but I could be wrong so I cant contact them. I dont have the manual with me at work so I cant include that info sadly. Probably end up not worrying about doing anything as its too time consuming (spent lots of time getting the original inverter replaced which was under warranty then additional cost to have it installed so we are over the process and poor returns)
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What do you mean by âbugger all returnâ, credit to your account? Are you including all the energy generated by your system that wont show on the bill from your energy provider as it was âbehind the meterâ?
Are the isolation switches to your array(s) both turned on? Are the panels obstructed/shaded at all?
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bugger all return is $35. No panels are fine unshaded and clean. I am talking about how much we are getting back from AGL which has been consistent over the years. Yes switches both on as I checked these. If they were off the inverter would also be off, no green light would be aparent
The other thing to check is the circuit breaker for the solar array as well. This will be on the switch board and should be marked as PV or Solar. Check that this is in the on position. If your inverter is on, most are installed such that when power is lost they shut downâŠbut your inverter could be different when it flashed green with inputs and not output. Some inverters flash green on initialisationâŠand wonât output until it syncs with the local power supply. If this is the case, the issue could be between the inverter and the main connection point on the house/switchboard.
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I believe the real question is how much of your PV generated electricity did you use? Just looking at how much you export is only half of what a PV system delivers.
If you turn off your PV (which it is apparently âoffâ for some reason) you are not only forgoing a payment for export, but you are also drawing more from the grid since you are not generating any.
If this is helpful to understand, from my system a few days ago.
The light orange is electricity my system generated that I did not have to buy from the grid. The darker blue is what got exported. The light blue is the total generated, and the dark orange came from the grid.
While locally we get $0.102 per kwh exported, I pay about $0.30 per kwh from the grid so I am saving a considerable amount. That day was unusual for my consumption pattern and included the A/C as well as oven and lights and power for our cleanerâs fortnightly visit. I trust it makes the point on what needs to be considered to determine the âpaybackâ.
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Perhaps Iâve missed something here.
The installer is like any other business doing electrical installation. The equipment they supply is manufactured and imported as brands they purchase from a wholesale distributor in Australia, or the manufacturerâs Australian agency.
It does not matter that your installer is no longer. You may have recourse to the branded inverter supplier, if indeed the inverter has a fault. Some are sold with a five year warranty and others up to ten. The brand on the inverter will be a different name to your installer. The inverters by brand and model also need to be CEC approved. If the installer disappears the brand importer/distributor for your state is the next one to go to.
Notes:
In reality all of the components that were installed with your PV system will have been sourced from a number of wholesale distributors and brand suppliers. The installer has provided the design, purchased the components required, installed same (often sub-contracted) and completed the paperwork to obtain the STC credits plus electricity authority permission to connect.
Similar to @PhilT comment, our solar system has
also made very little cash over the previous 2+ years of operation. On a more positive note, we have only once paid a small amount for electricity in one quarter. Weâve saved nearly $3,000 in bills and have a small credit at present.
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wow, you are lucky we have never had a credit always looking at $250 plus for our electricity! Partner changed the plan yesterday so maybe we will see a lesser bill
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Our house is 240sqm with an evaporative cooler and 2 split systems for the hot sultry days. We use the oven many times per week and a tumble dryer in winter. Our electric annual bills post-5kw solar system was roughly 1/4 as much as pre-solar. Not bad considering we are in the cloud covered NE Melbourne foothill area and have an inordinate number of minimally productive solar days.
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Another thoughtâŠproducing or exporting. A PV system can produce electricity and not exported if the amount of electricity generated is less than the baseline use within the house. This is particularly the case if one is running a lot of things all the time (aircon/heating, pool pumps, multiple refrigerator, ovens etc) and the system is a smaller one.
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Itâs a jungle out there:
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I am researching Solar Sytem installationâŠhas anyone used Sunboost as it does not come up in the current Choice reviews?
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