Why did Chris upgrade his old 1kW solar system with new solar panels and a storage battery?

In the foothills of Adelaide, only 10-15 minutes away from the city, a one kilowatt solar energy system was installed 13 years ago with the government rebate scheme. However, the system was insufficient for the household needs and expanding it was not feasible due to the unattractive government feed-in tariff. But with the recent drop in solar panel prices, they have decided to install a new solar energy system with a battery backup that provides them with 10 kilowatts of power, ensuring they have water even when the power goes out.

This installation demonstrates the benefits of keeping up with technological advancements and exploring renewable energy options that fit your household's needs. It also highlights the importance of government subsidies in incentivising households to switch to renewable energy sources. Keywords: solar panel prices, government rebate scheme, renewable energy, battery backup, Adelaide, household needs, technological advancements, government subsidies, power outages, water supply.

We're in the foothills of Adelaide. We're not far from the Suburbs, it's only about 10-15 minutes to the city. We recently had a one kilowatt system installed when we built the house about 13 years ago. That was when the government rebate scheme first started, and we got obviously a good solar feed-in tariff out of it. The one kilowatt system over the years, we found to be rather insufficient for our needs, And we thought already for quite a few years of expanding that. However, the government feed-in tariff at that time of paying the extra 46 or 50 cents subsidised by the government was very attractive, and made it at that point unfeasible cost wise for us to expand the system because the net benefit wasn't there.

However over the years the prices of solar panels have obviously dropped, as have the inverter costs and installation costs.So as of recently there was massive price drop in the media quite noticeable that made us reconsider. Well, we just recently got a solar installation. We also wanted to add a battery to that system. In our area, we are basically with no mains water. We are fed off basically a tank with a pressure pump on demand, when the power goes out we have no water. Battery backup means that after hours the battery will provide us with 10 kilowatts of power if we need to. We can prioritise water as being the main use for that.