Solar Power is cheap and it’s going to get even cheaper very soon.

[Guderian]

13 minutes ago, billd766 said:

What yearly maintenance would be required? 

 

Good question! The village where I live in Pattaya has been looking at installing LED solar street lights, and asking for input from HOA members. One guy who'd spent time with the USAF in the Middle East said that the solar panels on the base where he was stationed had needed cleaning every day to keep them as free of dust as possible. The Pattaya area, and probably much of the country, suffers from a lot of black dust (diesel particulates, or fine ash from agricultural and/or forest fires maybe?) settling on the ground for much of the year these days, I have to sweep it off my driveway and paths almost every day, along with the dead leaves. How often do the solar panels need to be cleaned of dust here?

[Guderian]

3 minutes ago, Bandersnatch said:

Most on grid folk will set their inverter priority to be Solar, then Battery, then Grid. You shouldn’t see any drop in power as they switch between sources. 
 

A cheap and easy solar entry system is 5or6kW of PV and a 5kW inverter. The next step would 10 and 10. You have to make a choice of not enough on 5kW or possibly too much on 10kW.

 

As you seem to not want batteries there is nowhere for excess solar power to go.

 

Sounds like the cheapest solution for you is 5 and 5, no battery and a bit more PEA. The thing about PEA as a backup you are only paying for the power you actually use.

 

Although I am completely off-grid I wouldn’t recommend it if you’re only considering financials 

 

 

 

From March through August last year my PEA bill was 6,000-7,500 Baht every single month, and I wasn't doing anything crazy. I'd be happy with a solar system that cut that by a decent amount, even just 2,000 or 3,000 Baht a month. I find a number of things ambiguous, though, when I try to run the economics, like in a 5X5 system with no battery, over a typical year how many kW-hr of power is that likely to deliver? It's probably like asking how long is a piece of string, as I guess there are many factors at play, not least the weather, how your panels are located compared with the sun's trajectory, how clean you keep them, and so on. I've tried making what seem like reasonable assumptions and always seem to find that the investment decision result is far from being a no-brainer. 

[Bandersnatch]

25 minutes ago, billd766 said:

It may be possible to resell the surplus electricity back to the PEA.

 

My wild guess is that a system like that will cost about 400.000 baht all in and the ROI will take about 7 years to pay for itself.

 

Is that a reasonable assumption?

 

What yearly maintenance would be required? 

 

I wouldn’t bank on being able sell power back as part of your financial calculations.

 

when I looked the FIT was ฿1.68 per kWh it was later raised to ฿2.2 If you were on single phase electric the max size was 5kW which rose to 10kW on three phase. Your inverter had to be on the approved list. There are guys on this forum who have waited over a year for approval.

 

My dealings with PEA is that rules gets changed quickly and not every office interprets them the same.

 

ROI and Payback are not the same. Most people use payback as it’s the simplest to understand. Payback will depend on when in the day you use the power. During the day it’s easier to cover with solar than buying batteries for night.

 

maintenance is really just keeping the panels clean outside the rainy season. 
 

Solar has no moving parts and tends to be pretty reliable. What maintenance do you do on your home electrics?

 

 

[Stevemercer]

Regrettably, Thailand does not seem to have an effective or universal  'buy back' scheme (eg excess solar power feeds into the grid rolling your meter back). I guess electricity companies don't like it because they can't make any money. Distribution companies hate it because they get no return. And governments are happy to go along becasue they are always ripping dividends out of these public companies and want a return on investment.

 

Setting aside household use, if you are in the fortunate position to be able to feed your excess solar into an EV (e.g. you don't use the EV much during peak daylight hours) then solar is looking attractive. Even more so given many current EVs can feed their battery back into the house in an emergency.

 

Without an EV, and assuming the electric authority will not buy excess power off you, then you really need a decent battery for solar to start to make sense. Unfortunately, they are still too expensive for most of us.

[GammaGlobulin]

Maybe better to wait until the year 2030:

 

[Bandersnatch]

8 minutes ago, Guderian said:

 

From March through August last year my PEA bill was 6,000-7,500 Baht every single month, and I wasn't doing anything crazy. I'd be happy with a solar system that cut that by a decent amount, even just 2,000 or 3,000 Baht a month. I find a number of things ambiguous, though, when I try to run the economics, like in a 5X5 system with no battery, over a typical year how many kW-hr of power is that likely to deliver? It's probably like asking how long is a piece of string, as I guess there are many factors at play, not least the weather, how your panels are located compared with the sun's trajectory, how clean you keep them, and so on. I've tried making what seem like reasonable assumptions and always seem to find that the investment decision result is far from being a no-brainer. 

I have said this many times PEA is expensive electricity compared to solar, but you only pay for exactly what you use. Solar you have to have a reasonable idea of how much you use and when in the day you will use it before you install. 
 

My usual recommendation is live in a house for a year before getting solar, buy an energy monitoring system that will let you know what energy you are using and when. The monthly PEA bill is a very crude tool for planning a solar system.

 

A solar system with a very short payback will hardly ever produce more power than you can use, but it won’t save you much money in total.

 

 

 

 

[Crossy]

10 minutes ago, Bandersnatch said:

... buy an energy monitoring system that will let you know what energy you are using and when.

 

At the very minimum, read your meter twice a day at 9AM and 4PM to get your day/night usage balance.

 

That energy monitoring system will soon become the preferred option!

[Bandersnatch]

23 minutes ago, Crossy said:

 

At the very minimum, read your meter twice a day at 9AM and 4PM to get your day/night usage balance.

 

That energy monitoring system will soon become the preferred option!

 

 

 

 

[newbee2022]

1 hour ago, billd766 said:

A few years ago I looked at getting a solar network to power my house. I worked out the cost then to be around 300,000 baht and replacing the solar panels after 10 years max.

 

I have looked back at my past bills from 2017 forwards  and the most power I used was in April 2023 when I consumed 41.56 units a day for a monthly bill of 7,184 baht.

 

I was running the downstairs a/c for 13 hours a day, my bedroom a/c for 10 hours, my sons bedroom a/c for about 12 hours a day. We also have 2 freezers, 3 fridge/freezers, various lights, fans and water pump etc 24 hours a day and we were using 41.65 units per day on average for April.

 

What I would like to do is have a network that will supply at least 6 or even 7kW constantly per day, as it seems to be getting hotter year on year. A project that size should also be OK on dull. cloudy and rainy days

 

Space is no problem as we live on about 15 rai of land.

 

My problem. apart from paying for it, is that I am 79 and my wife is 58. I will probably be dead before the solar panels and also the batteries need replacing.

 

My PEA bill for 2023 was nearly 59,000 baht, but now my son is at university the bill should come down a bit this year.

 

It may be possible to resell the surplus electricity back to the PEA.

 

My wild guess is that a system like that will cost about 400.000 baht all in and the ROI will take about 7 years to pay for itself.

 

Is that a reasonable assumption?

 

What yearly maintenance would be required? 

 

 

That's the same I am thinking. If I go the way and spend around 400.000 Baht, it's more or less for my wife.

But to be independent from PEA is tempting.

I've to think again.☺️

[MangoKorat]

Can I jump in and ask a related, if not wholly on topic question.

 

I'm in the planning stages for a new house.  For various reasons it is difficult for me to work out my power useage at the moment.  I suspect however, that I will have to remain 'On Grid' with the PEA supply taking over when I run out of solar.

 

Is this automatic?  As in when the solar power drops below a certain level, will the PEA supply kick in automatically?

[BritManToo]

6 minutes ago, MangoKorat said:

this automatic?  As in when the solar power drops below a certain level, will the PEA supply kick in automatically?

Hybrid inverters do everything automatically.

Solar if available, then battery, then grid. They will also top up from the grid or battery if your solar isn't producing enough.

 

I've the cheapest 5kw hybrid I could find at 12kbht, works perfectly. Supplies 80% of my needs 24/7, but I did cheat by keeping my cooker, Aircon and 4kw shower heaters on grid supply.

[Crossy]

8 minutes ago, MangoKorat said:

Can I jump in and ask a related, if not wholly on topic question.

 

I'm in the planning stages for a new house.  For various reasons it is difficult for me to work out my power useage at the moment.  I suspect however, that I will have to remain 'On Grid' with the PEA supply taking over when I run out of solar.

 

Is this automatic?  As in when the solar power drops below a certain level, will the PEA supply kick in automatically?

 

If you have a modern hybrid system it should be seamless, when the solar runs out or is too small the grid supplements what you are generating. Look at on/off grid hybrids.

 

Don't plan on putting your panels on the house, if you have space use a barn/car port/ground mount much less hassle and no risk of leaks.

 

[Photoguy21]

3 hours ago, UWEB said:

Lifetime is at least 20 years, so why take this into consideration?

that isn't always the case. In theory yes in practice not always

[MangoKorat]

10 minutes ago, Crossy said:

Don't plan on putting your panels on the house, if you have space use a barn/car port/ground mount much less hassle and no risk of leaks.

Yes, we discussed that in another thread - you convinced me.  I've changed the plans now and incoroprated a bigger garage which means I can also have more bikes 😁.

[Lacessit]

1 hour ago, Stevemercer said:

 

Without an EV, and assuming the electric authority will not buy excess power off you, then you really need a decent battery for solar to start to make sense. Unfortunately, they are still too expensive for most of us.

Solar power IMO will become almost the only decision when batteries catch up to solar panels, in terms of affordability.

 

When I installed solar panels on my house in Australia ( one of the first to do so ), my feed-in tariff was 66.5 cents/kWh, and my quarterly power bill was about $2. Those days are long gone, as grid suppliers realize their market is shrinking.

[MangoKorat]

18 minutes ago, Photoguy21 said:

that isn't always the case. In theory yes in practice not always

Total novice here but as with so many things, there seems to be a lot of variables with solar and a lot of difference between what the glossy brochures state and what happens in real life.  That's why forums like this are so useful.

 

There was a discussion on the radio yesterday (UK) about the pro's and con's of owning an Electric Vehicle. A guy phoned in to say that he'd been fined £60 twice for staying too long at a charging point.

 

This guy has a home charger for his car but regularly drove relatively long distances - meaning he has to recharge during his journey. Apparently some (if not all, I have no idea) charging points state their power rating and allow a maximum time for the charge according to what is paid.  He parked at a point that said it was rated at 50kw and he calculated that his car would be fully charged within the time he paid for.

 

Apparently the power of the charger is not guaranteed because of variations in supply and the charge time is also affected by the rating of the car's batteries.

 

The guy had not simply parked up, put his car on charge and gone off shopping - thereby blocking the charging point. He calculated according to what he thought was correct.

 

The world of solar seems to be changing all the time and happily, the cost appears to be going down.  However, I suspect the variables will always be there and its far better to seek advice from people who already have it installed than believe the glossy brochures that don't seem to be keen on pointing out the variables.

[Bandersnatch]

1 hour ago, Photoguy21 said:

that isn't always the case. In theory yes in practice not always

 

Have you had problems with solar panels in Thailand? Which brand? What were the problems?

 

[cowellandrew]

Not much use here!😂

[still kicking]

So if you live in a condo how do you install a solar system?

[Bandersnatch]

12 minutes ago, still kicking said:

So if you live in a condo how do you install a solar system?

 

 

 

 

[Bandersnatch]

1 hour ago, cowellandrew said:

Not much use here!😂

You should move to Thailand, we hardly ever get snow here and as we are located so close to the equator that there is hardly any difference in summer and winter solar production 

[NoshowJones]

19 hours ago, bluejets said:

As with many would be magical figures, many quoted are simply not feasible.

 

What is often forgotten ( or never really known) is the charge figures are never linear, nor are they reliable day to day, and Thailand does get a lot of cloudy /rainy days, together with the "forgotten RAC's and bath heaters."

 

Factor in about 50% derating might get one nearer the requirements.

 

Don't get me wrong, greatest thing I ever did was install solar but definitely not batteries.

 

I feel the same as you, I have had my solar for 12 years now, do you know if it will have to be upgraded in the future?

[NoshowJones]

19 hours ago, newbee2022 said:

Supplying your house will cost around 500.000 Baht.

Incl Battery for 20 KW. With that you can run more than 2 or 3 aircon, fridge, TV aso. 

So not a bargain at all.

My house has 5 rooms not including the living room. My wife's son who is a solar panel engineer  fitted 6 solar panels as well as everything else, not batteries, done the lot for 70.000Bt about 12 years ago. 

[Pink7]

16 hours ago, MangoKorat said:

Can I jump in and ask a related, if not wholly on topic question.

 

I'm in the planning stages for a new house.  For various reasons it is difficult for me to work out my power useage at the moment.  I suspect however, that I will have to remain 'On Grid' with the PEA supply taking over when I run out of solar.

 

Is this automatic?  As in when the solar power drops below a certain level, will the PEA supply kick in automatically?

Build smart so you get a well insulated home who is easy and need low energy to keep cold. Also use inverter electronics for Ac ref etc.

 

Pink

[Bandersnatch]

On 2/13/2024 at 6:50 AM, Bandersnatch said:

So just using the prices quoted above 

5kW of Solar = ฿32,000

5kW Inverter = ฿20,000

10kWh Battery = ฿50,000

 

 

The list of components in my opening post were just some examples for price information.

 

Thanks to @007 RED for pointing out to me that some people may think I was suggesting these examples would work well together for a perfect system.

 

I simply googled components to get current prices. They were never checked to see if they were compatible. 

 

[Photoguy21]

On 2/13/2024 at 7:18 PM, Bandersnatch said:

 

Have you had problems with solar panels in Thailand? Which brand? What were the problems?

 

No I am well aware of the technology and have used it in jobs to want to buy them.

[MangoKorat]

On 2/14/2024 at 3:28 AM, Pink7 said:

Build smart so you get a well insulated home who is easy and need low energy to keep cold. Also use inverter electronics for Ac ref etc.

 

Pink

Already done that on my current home but thanks.

[ThaiFig]

The fuel tariff which is added to each power bill by PEA will be adjusted again in May.  The current proposals are to keep it at the present level of .39 baht per unit, raise it to .55 baht per unit, or raise it to 1.65 baht per unit.  Strangely enough, there are no proposals to remove it entirely.... The Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) vis the agency responsible.  

 

[Bandersnatch]

4 minutes ago, ThaiFig said:

The fuel tariff which is added to each power bill by PEA will be adjusted again in May.  The current proposals are to keep it at the present level of .39 baht per unit, raise it to .55 baht per unit, or raise it to 1.65 baht per unit.  Strangely enough, there are no proposals to remove it entirely.... The Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) vis the agency responsible.  

 

 

Won't effect me 

 

 

 

[Ludzilla]

On 2/13/2024 at 2:22 PM, newbee2022 said:

I had already 2 different companies inspecting my house. We run 3 aircon by totally 52 Btu and cooking electric. 3 TVs and 3 fridges and a chest deep freezer. And in addition all necessary appliances as hot shower. The system I was offered included a 20-25 KW battery and 40 solar panels. 

Here in Phuket i've been quoted 850k for 22kw of 1st tier panels(40x550w) + 1 growatt inverter 5kw + 1 alphaess smile-T10-HV with one LFP module of 8.2kwh. Installation is 3 phase on a flat concrete roof. I can add up to 6 modules of 8.2kwh at the price of 150k for each module.

After reading this thread i have the feeling that i can get something similar (other brands or technology) for much less. I'd like to have around 40kwh of batteries, it would bring the total to 1.450.000 thb(850k+4x150k)

Can you share with me in DM the name of the companies?
Another question to others, what would be the price range according to you for my requirements? DIY is not an option.
Thanks.