By: Richard Wedekind

Richard Wedekind — Mon, 19 May 2014 22:15:17 +0000

Hi PhotoPhill
Our initial negotiation with Mercury Energy were not straight-forward. No one at their call centre knew anything about solar generation and it was only after we had signed up to change to Meridian that Mercury came back with their solar offer plus a sweetener to stay with them. At the time I think Mercury only had a handful of solar customers and dealing with them hadn’t filtered down to their front line staff.
I don’t know anything about a dividend from Mercury – I was referring to the Auckland Energy Consumer Trust dividend ($330) which is paid out to all Auckland power users through the Trust’s 75% shareholding in Vector.
Another factor to consider in assessing our results is that on winter mornings our roof is partially shaded. This necessitated the additional expense of having micro-inverters on each panel so that they could operate independently of each other.
As already stated, if your house is better oriented and without shading issues, you should expect considerably better performance from your system.

By: PhotoPhill

PhotoPhill — Wed, 07 May 2014 04:43:57 +0000

I am very interested in the info regarding Mercury Energy.
SolarKing installed a 2 KW 8X panel system on my roof for just under $6000. (Feb 2014) Their latest costing is now a little higher. And the complete installation and certification was completed in just under four hours!
Contacting ME was difficult to get a straight answer regarding the $330 payout each year and now you have confirmed they do actually pay an annual dividend to users of on-grid solar systems. Nice to hear as this will confirm I should be able to cover the cost of the system in around 6-7 years. Considering the annual increases in power charges each year of around 5 to 7%, six years may be a reasonable possibility.
Best regards PhotoPhill ( Beachlands )

Comments on: Solar Power at Orapiu

By: Richard Wedekind

By: PhotoPhill