A Bright Sunshiny Day
12/10/2007 09:04 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
izmeinaBeen another glorious sunny day in Izzieland. Not a hissy fit to be found. It so so helps to have gorgeous sunshine and crisp crunchy breezes. Nothing like humidity and stickiness to induce a fit of snarkiness.
Not much planned for the day. Firstly the usual Friday morning public speaking meeting followed by a slink in a nearby park while listening to a very interesting discussion on the topic of common sense.
That was followed by a visit to the city centre and a bit of pottering around before getting the bus home at 1pm
Was looking forward to an afternoon snooze in the garden but it would probably not be possible since we were expecting visitors at 3.30pm. Instead spent the time reading permaculture garden books and looking over the various government application forms and brochures for solar panel rebates.
The original plan was to ring City Farmers on Tuesday afternoon to order straw and stuff for the garden. Would get them to bring it this afternoon so we could get started on some proper no-dig vegie patches and finish smothering the front lawn with straw.
But the phone rang before we had a chance to make any calls. It was one of the sales reps from The Solar Shop. They had a stand at the Royal Show last week. No one was there at the time but they did leave a list for folks to express interest. The Iz had provided contact details and a preferred time of Friday afternoons.
Guess we could have suggested next Friday instead but the inner serpent voice hissed - oh that's just procrastination at work.
So agreed to make it this Friday at 3.30pm. Really, there was no reason why the straw couldn't still come on Friday but it would involve a bit of juggling and would be a bit rude to be dividing attention between the two different people. That meant picking Tuesday afternoon for the straw. It would be nice to go somewhere exciting after work on Tuesday to celebrate the start of 3 weeks holiday but it was better to stay at home on Tuesday than to waste a whole day on Wednesday. Would not be an issue if these folks had an online site to order and pay for stuff - then would not have to be there.
So, was just an ickle bit miffed when the Solar panel man rang at 3.30 to say he was running late and would probably make it for just after 5 or so. Bummer. So ended up with neither a snooze nor the straw. Should have known better than to believe they would turn up on time
He rang again at 5pm to say he was on the way and it would be about 30 mins. He once again apologized for being late. But this time the Izzie asked why he didn't ring as soon as he knew he was going to be late. But apparently he had. Around 10am or so and a few times since. Was out so never did get those calls. And after 1pm he did not ring again because he had been busy with customers
So, it seemed quite kosher and reasonable. Guess that's where having a mobile number comes in handy. Well he did turn up 30 mins later and was very nice and efficient. Apologized again for being late but not in a grovelling pathetic sort of way - just a plain straightforward polite way.
But the bit that really did impress the Izzie - apart from actually going up and measuring the roof and getting compass directions and stuff, the company had a brochure listing all the various varieties and wattages of photovoltaic panels with all the technical details - but most importantly of all - the total price including installation, inverters and all those other costs.
So you could make comparisons and be able to enter a contract knowing what the final cost would be with no hidden extras.
Had googled other solar electricity providers but could never find this exact and most essential information anywhere on their websites. Turns out that this mob did not have it either but they did say that you could get it by asking. They did have prices of individual components listed but not the whole package. Suppose you cannot be too specific as competitors as well as customers would be most interested indeed.
Had come to the conclusion from following stories in the paper that builders doing new projects and buying in bulk could get one kilowatt systems for around $3,000 after govt rebates but the more usual retail price would be double that.
So, been slinking through the info he provided as well as reading all that government stuff. Izzie hates the Rat and his friends but that's no reason not to take advantage of the fact that they've doubled the rebate per watt for solar panels if you connect them to the grid
So, if we don't find another excuse to procrastinate - will set us back 6,000 silver sickles plus another 300 for a twodirectional electricity meter.
Being rational, it's hardly worth the trouble since the Izzie electricity bills would not even be $$500 for the whole year. But the idea of having an independent clean and green electricity supply and bestest of all selling our surplus back to the grid, now that is more interesting. And in Izzie's case, the surplus will usually be more than half of what the panels would produce.
He'll send us a quote early next week. Hopefully will have been able to get other quotes in the mean time. But one good thing - at least they've been around a while. Problem with government grants and stuff is that it brings all sorts of fly by nighters out of the wood work looking to make a quick buck. Usually what ends up happening is that the original price goes up by just under the amount of the rebate so in the end far less good is done than originally intended
It is such a strange strange feeling to have such a wishful thinking and far off distant goal to be so concrete and so near to becoming reality. Sort of scary
Needless to say, haven't mentioned a word of this to the ma. Can only begin to imaginge the whingeing and naysaying she will indulge in. Or who knows - maybe she will want one too.
The Serpent's Sunshine Scheme
Not much planned for the day. Firstly the usual Friday morning public speaking meeting followed by a slink in a nearby park while listening to a very interesting discussion on the topic of common sense.
That was followed by a visit to the city centre and a bit of pottering around before getting the bus home at 1pm
Was looking forward to an afternoon snooze in the garden but it would probably not be possible since we were expecting visitors at 3.30pm. Instead spent the time reading permaculture garden books and looking over the various government application forms and brochures for solar panel rebates.
The original plan was to ring City Farmers on Tuesday afternoon to order straw and stuff for the garden. Would get them to bring it this afternoon so we could get started on some proper no-dig vegie patches and finish smothering the front lawn with straw.
But the phone rang before we had a chance to make any calls. It was one of the sales reps from The Solar Shop. They had a stand at the Royal Show last week. No one was there at the time but they did leave a list for folks to express interest. The Iz had provided contact details and a preferred time of Friday afternoons.
Guess we could have suggested next Friday instead but the inner serpent voice hissed - oh that's just procrastination at work.
So agreed to make it this Friday at 3.30pm. Really, there was no reason why the straw couldn't still come on Friday but it would involve a bit of juggling and would be a bit rude to be dividing attention between the two different people. That meant picking Tuesday afternoon for the straw. It would be nice to go somewhere exciting after work on Tuesday to celebrate the start of 3 weeks holiday but it was better to stay at home on Tuesday than to waste a whole day on Wednesday. Would not be an issue if these folks had an online site to order and pay for stuff - then would not have to be there.
So, was just an ickle bit miffed when the Solar panel man rang at 3.30 to say he was running late and would probably make it for just after 5 or so. Bummer. So ended up with neither a snooze nor the straw. Should have known better than to believe they would turn up on time
He rang again at 5pm to say he was on the way and it would be about 30 mins. He once again apologized for being late. But this time the Izzie asked why he didn't ring as soon as he knew he was going to be late. But apparently he had. Around 10am or so and a few times since. Was out so never did get those calls. And after 1pm he did not ring again because he had been busy with customers
So, it seemed quite kosher and reasonable. Guess that's where having a mobile number comes in handy. Well he did turn up 30 mins later and was very nice and efficient. Apologized again for being late but not in a grovelling pathetic sort of way - just a plain straightforward polite way.
But the bit that really did impress the Izzie - apart from actually going up and measuring the roof and getting compass directions and stuff, the company had a brochure listing all the various varieties and wattages of photovoltaic panels with all the technical details - but most importantly of all - the total price including installation, inverters and all those other costs.
So you could make comparisons and be able to enter a contract knowing what the final cost would be with no hidden extras.
Had googled other solar electricity providers but could never find this exact and most essential information anywhere on their websites. Turns out that this mob did not have it either but they did say that you could get it by asking. They did have prices of individual components listed but not the whole package. Suppose you cannot be too specific as competitors as well as customers would be most interested indeed.
Had come to the conclusion from following stories in the paper that builders doing new projects and buying in bulk could get one kilowatt systems for around $3,000 after govt rebates but the more usual retail price would be double that.
So, been slinking through the info he provided as well as reading all that government stuff. Izzie hates the Rat and his friends but that's no reason not to take advantage of the fact that they've doubled the rebate per watt for solar panels if you connect them to the grid
So, if we don't find another excuse to procrastinate - will set us back 6,000 silver sickles plus another 300 for a twodirectional electricity meter.
Being rational, it's hardly worth the trouble since the Izzie electricity bills would not even be $$500 for the whole year. But the idea of having an independent clean and green electricity supply and bestest of all selling our surplus back to the grid, now that is more interesting. And in Izzie's case, the surplus will usually be more than half of what the panels would produce.
He'll send us a quote early next week. Hopefully will have been able to get other quotes in the mean time. But one good thing - at least they've been around a while. Problem with government grants and stuff is that it brings all sorts of fly by nighters out of the wood work looking to make a quick buck. Usually what ends up happening is that the original price goes up by just under the amount of the rebate so in the end far less good is done than originally intended
It is such a strange strange feeling to have such a wishful thinking and far off distant goal to be so concrete and so near to becoming reality. Sort of scary
Needless to say, haven't mentioned a word of this to the ma. Can only begin to imaginge the whingeing and naysaying she will indulge in. Or who knows - maybe she will want one too.
The Serpent's Sunshine Scheme
