Solar Power Direct

Nobody has ever come back to us and said they wish they hadn't gone solar.

But after fifteen years of doing this around Adelaide, the same regrets come up again and again. Here are the ten we hear most.

1. Going too small. The system got sized to the bill they had, not the life they were heading into. Add a pool, a baby, a heat pump or an EV and a setup that fitted perfectly two years ago is suddenly working overtime.

2. Leaving no room for a battery. The inverter was matched to the panels and nothing else, so adding storage later meant changing more than they expected.

3. Thinking about how much power they use, never about when. Most of what solar is worth sits in what you use during daylight. If the house is empty until six, that changes what the right setup looks like.

4. Assuming blackout backup came standard. It doesn't. Backup needs an optional gateway, and the time to sort that out is before the install, not during the next outage.

5. Buying on the number at the bottom of the quote. Two quotes can look the same on paper and be built from completely different gear.

6. Never asking where the panels were actually going. Roof direction, pitch and shade decide what a system produces. A cheaper array pointed the wrong way isn't cheaper.

7. Skipping the switchboard conversation. Older boards sometimes need work before anything can be connected, and install day is a rough time to find that out.

8. Waiting for a better rebate. Whatever is coming, the bills keep turning up in the meantime.

9. Not knowing what their feed-in tariff was actually worth. Exporting power and storing it are two very different outcomes, and it pays to know which one you're set up for.

10. Not doing it sooner. This is the one we hear most, and it's almost always said with a laugh.

What's the one thing you'd do differently? Stick it in the comments, it helps whoever reads this next.

When the power goes out on your street, your house could be the only one with the lights still on. 🏠💡

That's blackout protection. Solar and battery systems are built to shut down in an outage, it's a safety rule so the lines aren't live while they're being fixed. Blackout protection is the extra part that keeps some or all of your house running off the battery when the grid's down.

It matters more than it sounds. A day without power means the fridge and freezer start warming up, the modem's off, the garage door's stuck, and whatever you needed to get done at home isn't happening. With it, the fridge and the lights keep going and the day carries on mostly as normal.

It's decided at install, so it's worth talking about early. And if you've already got a battery, it's worth checking which setup you have.

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There are three numbers on your power bill that matter more than the total, and they're the ones that decide whether solar or a battery makes sense for your house.

They're also the first thing we look at before we quote anyone.

If you've got a bill in front of you and none of it makes sense, bring it in. We'll go through it with you.

A lot of solar gets bought off a PDF. A quote, a few panel names, a price at the bottom, and plenty of people are perfectly happy doing it that way.

If you'd rather see it before you decide, it's all out on the floor at Torrens Road. The batteries, the panels, what actually goes on the wall, and someone to ask about any of it.

314 Torrens Road, Croydon Park. Come and check it out for yourself.

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A lot of solar companies have come and gone over the years. So if an offer sounds too good to be true, take a second look at it before you sign on the dotted line.

Do a bit of checking on the history of the company you're about to sign up with.

The worry we hear most with solar is that it won't go the distance, and you'll be buying the whole lot again in a few years.

Peter had his installed over 10 years ago. It paid for itself long before he came back to us, and it was still doing its job a decade on. So this time we've added a 48kWh Sigenergy battery and extended his panels, to make the most of where the technology has got to and create a system that will serve him for the coming years.

Same house, same company, ten years apart. Thanks for the five stars, Peter.

→ solarpowerdirect.com.au