4.4kWp PV Plant - Heathmont, Victoria

"We built up our domestic solar system in stages. 

When we finally realized that a system much below 3 kW is way too small and encouraged by the big drop in panel costs ($ per Watt), we asked iEnergytech to quote for an upgrade of our system to 4 kW. 

Another driver for this upgrade was the quality of our existing inverter. 

This inverter was not state-of-the art and emitted a nasty radio noise that impaired both AM broadcast reception as well as my ham-radio hobby.

I was impressed when iEnergytech made sure that I got what I wanted and even went to the extent of measuring radio-noise emissions of various inverters with my help. 

Once that was done, they selected a suitable power inverter and designed a custom system to suit the extension of our existing system while maximizing the power yield and roof-area usage. 

The design was based on a full site assessment including measurements with dedicated instrumentation. Hence, it was easy for us to understand and agree to iEnergytech's proposal. 

The proposal confirmed our view that a larger system was the way to go in terms of all reasonable criteria.

The project started timely and while the old system was partially disassembled, it was discovered that there were severe problems in our existing solar installation to the extent of danger of fire. 

The previous installer had chosen to lay the DC cables directly under the colorbond metal roof without cable protection. In the course of the extension work further problems in our old system were revealed and we realized, how important it is to choose a knowledgeable, skilled and responsible supplier. 

We had indeed been a little naive when we signed up for our first solar system back in 2009.

The new system layout by iEnergytech made best use of the available roof space, carefully avoiding existing structures, like a TV dish antenna and my ham-radio aerial, etc. 

All DC cables were routed through metallic conduit pipes outside the roof structure. DC isolator switches were used and installed at proper locations (The previous installation had AC switches). 

Needless to mention that only high quality Swiss-made DC cable with minimal losses was used for the connection to the power inverter. 

In his constant strive to improve system installation practices, Udayan of iEnergytech even used torque wrenches for tightening the solar-panel clamp screws. In doing so, a maximum safety of the rooftop installation was achieved. 

Nothing was left to chance. 

Naturally such a high quality installation cannot be done in one day and short system-installation times are in fact usually a sign of potential shortcomings in the overall installation. 

The support structure design was another part that received great attention by iEnergytech. It is not correct to have vertical support under a tilted solar panel on a flat roof. We did not know that - but iEnergytech did and even ensured that all existing support material was modified accordingly - without extra charges. 

Such is the dedication of iEnergytech and that is why we chose them as a supplier.

Now the system has been running smoothly for many months and our choice to go with iEnergytech has proven correct in so many ways. The nominal installed maximum power output is 4.4 kWp, but on many days during summer we observed up to 5.2 kW power output. 

Our first electricity bill showed a delightful $735 credit and I don't need to state how good this feels – even though money was not our primary driver for installing the system. Now, in the winter months, we still get 17.5 kWh on a sunny day and peak power in August is an impressive 4.9 kW. 

In short: we got more than we paid for and it feels good to know that our system performs so well. 

The provided SMA power inverter does not only look good – it also works very well and lets us check the system performance in great detail, including wireless Bluetooth access if we really want to know all power-generation details & history. 

We are located on a small hill and strong winds occur quite regularly. However, the sturdy and well-designed support structure of our solar system withstands even the strongest winds with ease.

It is with pleasure that we wholeheartedly recommend iEnergytech as a solar-system supplier. 

Whether you just want to be sure that you get the best system for your location and for your power-usage pattern or you have many questions to ask before signing up – iEnergytech is certainly the right address for you." 

Dieter (Communications Eng) & Nilima Pelz
Heathmont, Victoria