Project 1: Sign up for our Rooftop Solar Bulk Buy

This post is regarding our first solar bulk buy in May 2017. For details on our latest bulk buy, click here.

We are organising a solar bulk buy. A bulk buy is simply arranging a group of people who want to get solar and negotiating a deal with a solar company on their behalf. You are invited to join, to get rooftop solar for your home.

Why participate in a bulk buy? The principle reasons are:

  • a discounted price
  • a less overwhelming selection of system options (we have carefully selected a few top-quality options)
  • friendly help and impartial advice from the bulk buy volunteer organisers
  • feel part of a community group – you don’t have to do it alone

In theory getting rooftop solar should be pretty easy. But it can quickly become very complicated. When you get quotes you are not just comparing the different solar companies. They all provide different options for system size, panel brand and type, inverter brand and other options.

And there are a few things to consider. Which panels can work with which inverters? Are premium panels and inverters worth it? What if I want batteries in the future? Which direction should the panels face? What if my roof has shading? How much will the local grid company let you install and how much can be fed into the grid at various times? And then some of the answers from different solar companies start to conflict with each other, adding to the confusion.

Meanwhile, this all takes time and costs money for the solar company. They have to add these sales costs onto the cost of the systems they provide. It all turns into an expensive and frustrating experience, for the buyer and the sellers.

Bulk buys can make this simple. All the hundreds of options are filtered down into a few, and the solar company is given a group of customers it can just speak with and sign up, reducing cost and time for everyone.

Best of all, you get to do it as part of a group. So you can speak with others who get solar in the group buy, and we can address any issues as they arise together.

How will it work

  1. We (Sunny Shire) get a list together together of participants, including contact details, size preference and any other comments.
  2. Since this is our first project we are aiming for about 10 – 20 participants. If it goes well we plan to do a larger one later.
  3. We get quotes based on the list (the bigger the group the better the price).
  4. We consult with you on the preferred option we choose the best offer.
  5. We host an info night where you can ask questions (maybe with the solar company / installer).
  6. We then provide the list to the selected local solar installer who designs your system and sends a confirmed quote
  7. You pay the deposit to the installer and he arranges your installation
  8. You get solar and start saving on energy costs!

How much will it cost?

The beauty of solar is that it is very scalable. You can choose the size and price to suit you. For example:

You can get bigger or smaller, depending on your needs. We got a 8kW for reasons I will share in a seperate post. But if you are unsure if you will live at your current home for a while, or if you have other concerns for rooftop solar, a smaller system may make, more sense.

Next Steps

We are looking to arrange this in late May 2017.

  1. If you are interested, let us know. This initial expression of interest is not binding. We will tell you when you need to commit.
  2. Feel free to pass on to anyone else who is thinking about solar. 
  3. We will send a couple more emails in the next couple of weeks with more detail and also some background and answering questions.

Questions

Please get in touch with any questions at info@sunnyshire.org.au

Thanks for reading!

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