Darwin is one in every of Australia’s northernmost cities, and its location within the sunny tropics makes it among the best locations in Australia to put in a solar PV system.
This article covers the fundamentals of what you have to learn about going solar in Darwin.
How a lot power do solar panels produce in Darwin NT?
Although it in all probability goes with out saying, it’s value mentioning that solar panels solely produce electrical energy throughout daylight; the precise quantity of energy produced on a given day relies on the depth and period of the sunshine.
The common Darwin roof will obtain a mean of about 5.9 hours of ‘peak sun’ per day on common over the course of a 12 months, in accordance with figures from the Bureau of Meteorology making it one of many highest performing solar cities in Australia.
The quantity of energy really produced by your solar system will depend upon the scale of the system that you’ve put in and its orientation. The desk beneath gives an indicative information as to how a lot energy varied, well-liked residential system sizes would produce per day (averaged all year long) in good situations.
Estimated solar panel power manufacturing in Sydney (well-liked system sizes) |
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Solar system measurement (kilowatts) | Avg day by day system output (kilowatt-hours) | Annual output (kilowatt-hours) |
2kW | 9.4 kWh | 3,431 kWh |
3kW | 14.1 kWh | 5,147 kWh |
4kW | 18.8 kWh | 6,862 kWh |
5kW | 23.5 kWh | 8,578 kWh |
7kW | 32.9 kWh | 12,009 kWh |
10kW | 47.0 kWh | 17,155 kWh |
15kW | 70.5 kWh | 25,733 kWh |
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How many solar panels do I would like?
There are 2 methods through which solar panels will prevent cash:
- Self-Consumption – through the use of solar power straight in your home you’ll cut back the quantity of kilowatt-hours (kWhs) you have to purchase off your retailer (Jacana or Rimfire). You at the moment pay ~27c per kWh in Darwin so that is very precious.
- Selling energy to the grid – surplus energy past the properties necessities might be bought again to the grid. The charge that they’re required to pay, referred to as the feed in tariff, has lowered to 9.3c per kWh lately that means its not as precious to promote energy again to the grid.
This means, in an effort to maximise your monetary return, you need to measurement your solar system to satisfy your daytime energy wants moderately than simply placing as many panels on the roof as doable. Your solar set up firm ought to give you the chance that can assist you perceive this, nevertheless watch out as most solar salespersons are incentivised to promote you the most important system they will.
You can use our Solar Choice Payback Calculator to mess around with totally different system sizes and work out their monetary return or check out some examples additional down on this article.
Solar rebate in Darwin
The federal solar rebate program affords an upfront incentive for solar installations beneath 100kW in capability within the type of ‘small-scale technology certificates’ (STCs). In brief, this rebate will decrease the price of a solar system by round 30%-35%. The rebate is claimed by the installer in your behalf they usually solely ask you for the distinction.
The measurement of the rebate is decided by your geographic location and the solar panel capability of the proposed solar system. For instance a typical 6.6kW solar system in Darwin would generate 91 certificates which, at in the present day’s worth of $37.1 per certificates, would supply a rebate of $3,376.10.
Which method do you have to tilt your panels in Darwin?
Because Darwin is within the tropics, the solar is usually to the north (‘winter’ months) and typically to the south (‘summer’ months) of a given constructing. For most general solar yields, which means that a near-flat tilt angle is the perfect (so long as there’s no main shading, that’s).
A particular consideration
Please additionally understand that as a result of Darwin’s location in a cyclone-prone area, sure constructing certifications are required for putting in rooftop solar techniques. Learn extra about them right here.
How a lot do solar panels value in Darwin?
We have been monitoring the common costs of solar panels for over 10 years publishing figures damaged down by system measurement and by capital metropolis within the Solar Choice Price Index. These figures are primarily based on over 200 solar installers in our community who frequently replace their worth, product and guarantee info for our solar quote comparability service.
Based on our figures from April 2022, a 6.6kW solar panel system in Darwin would value $8,970 on common after the STC rebate has been deducted.
The value of solar has decreased dramatically over the past decade as you possibly can see within the beneath graph.
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Is solar power value it in Darwin, NT?
In the Northern Territory you’ve solely obtained two choices for electrical energy firms and the pricing is regulated by the federal government. In the beneath desk, we’ve inputted this years figures for electrical energy costs and feed in tariffs into the Solar Choice Payback Calculator and run some totally different situations on system sizes and energy utilization.
Please notice that the payback calculator relies upon closely on the self-consumption charge which estimates how a lot solar energy will probably be used straight throughout the home (self-consumed) or exported to the grid for a feed in tariff. If use most of your energy throughout the day you might need higher outcomes than beneath, while if you happen to’re normally at work and solely use power early within the morning and within the night then your outcomes is likely to be worse.
Indicative financial savings and payback intervals for solar panel techniques in Darwin– Updated April 2022- |
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Solar Panel Size | Average Cost (after rebates) | Average Daily Energy Usage | Self Consumption Rate | Annual Savings | Payback Period |
5kW | $7,950 | 15 kWh | 40% | $1,180 | 6.6 Years |
6.6kW | $8,970 | 20 kWh | 40% | $1,564 | 5.6 Years |
10kW | $13,670 | 30 kWh | 40% | $2,360 | 5.7 Years |
15kW | $20,305 | 45 kWh | 40% | $3,540 | 5.6 Years |
Assumptions:
- System effectivity 75% (conservative)
- Retail electrical energy charge 27c per kWh and feed in tariff of 9.3c per kWh
- Prices taken from the Solar Choice Price Index
Try the numbers for your self with our calculator: How a lot are you able to save with a solar system in Darwin?
Solar Battery Storage in Darwin
It is honest to say in Australia that the return on funding for solar batteries is decrease than solar panels. The foremost issue inhibiting the return for batteries is their value. They haven’t come down in worth but as many had been forecasting and we nonetheless round $1,000 per kWh for a residential battery.
At Solar Choice we’re following these costs very carefully and we frequently carry out an evaluation of the monetary return of batteries in our ‘Are solar batteries worth it?‘ article. The conclusion we have drawn is that from a purely economic standpoint, batteries don’t fairly make sense simply but.
See the beneath 3 situations now we have assessed to find out the payback interval for an appropriately sized solar and battery system in every case. Note the use circumstances have totally different energy utilization load profiles which impacts their financial savings.
User Case | Solar and Battery Solution | Total Year 1 Savings | Payback Period Solar & Battery | Payback Period Battery Only |
Young Adults / Older Family | 5kW of Solar Panels and a 3.5 kWh battery | $1,379 | 9.6 Years | > 20 years |
Retirees / Young households | 6.6kW of Solar Panels and a 6.5 kWh battery | $2,083 | 8.2 Years | > 20 years |
Big Energy User | 13 kW of Solar Panels and a 13.5 kWh battery | $3,595 | 8.8 Years | > 20 years |
To see all of our assumptions and the methodology of this evaluation see our full article.
There are nonetheless loads of battery tasks going forward in Darwin, primarily pushed by non-financial causes. This is likely to be for an off-grid system or the place the grid has common outages. Additionally if you happen to actually need to decrease your footprint by way of carbon emissions, putting in a battery is among the solely methods to turn into fully energy self-sufficient.
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