This is the story about one of our customers John. John and his family live in Alexandra Hills about 10 minutes from our office here in Cleveland. John is a retired electrical engineer and is a true believer in solar and solar profits. He purchased his original solar system from us approximately 10 years ago whilst he was still able to access the High Feed-In Tariff.
He also has a solar hot water system which helps add to his return on investment.
We wrote about the benefits of this feed-in tariff recently here.
And John’s story is a great example of just how profitable it can be to upgrade your old solar system, even if your old system is still working.
Why Upgrade a perfectly good Solar System?
Below is a photo of John’s existing system. It was a 5kw system and apart from the fact that John had never paid for electricity, he had also earned $11,513 in Solar Income over 10 years. Back 10 years ago, solar installations were a bit more expensive so it took a bit longer for the ROI to pay off the solar system but with a long-term view, John knew it would pay back in spades with 50c per kWh as his Feed-In Tariff.
Over the last couple of years though John noticed that his month-on-month production was dropping incrementally. Not a huge drop but a consistent downward trend was starting to show up and so he knew that this was the right time to upgrade.
Believe it or not, John still had most of the credit sitting in his Origin Account. We saw the bills. It was like having a separate savings account. Using some of these savings John decided to upgrade.
The reasoning was simple. There are still 7 years to go with the high feed-in tariff till 2028. In addition, there are still good rebates available for new solar systems. So by acting sooner rather than later John can make a better return for longer.
You can see by the new photo below that the roof area is hardly changed. But the power of the new panels and a slightly more productive package has meant an amazing result.
The Solar Profits Numbers
We did the installation for John around December 2020 and since then he has received two quarterly bills. We have seen these bills from Origin firsthand.
His quarterly feed-in credit for the 90 days to March 2021 was $1127. For the 90 days of June 2021, it was $776.
Compared to the same time last year this is $612 more. So, the new system should add an EXTRA $1200 in credit earnings each year, pay for itself in under 4 years and then add an additional almost $4000 in credit (ON TOP OF HIS EXISTING CREDIT) before the 2028 deadline.
If you have money in the bank there is simply no way you can even get close to this type of investment return. Allowing for the fact that the first system (even though it was more expensive) paid for itself and then some, this second system will pay even more dividends.
If you are someone who is on the original high Feed-In Tariff earning 44c, 50c or 55c then the time to act is now. As each year passes and you wait until your old system starts to deteriorate then you will miss out on some of the best Return On Investment you are ever likely to come across.
John is a very happy and excited customer. Why wouldn’t he be? We have seen his accounts (we don’t call them bills because he never has one!) and they are the proof that it’s worth the change.
As a great side story, John wanted to gift his old panels to his son. We tested them and although they had started to deteriorate slightly there was nothing wrong with them. Along with a new inverter, we installed them on his son’s house around the corner and John tell us he has halved his electricity bill. A nice gift and it’s better than perfectly good panels ending up in the landfill.
This is what we do at Goodhew Electrical and Solar. We help people save money and make money from solar. If the opportunity is there for you then upgrade now. You won’t regret it. Just like John.