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Comment by som | Hacker News Reader

Forget 3hrs free. We lived in the tropics in Australia with a ~6kW system and often had negative quarterly invoices (i.e. got paid by our retailer) ... esp. in winter months. Aircon, pool, appliances all electric. At the very least the pool pump ran free all year round.

Edit: should add, that's straight solar no battery

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We live in a deep valley where it snows a ton in Canada, and with 7.2kw of panels and no battery we only get a bill in winter. For the entire year our power bill is $500, and we have heat pump heat, and disconnected the natural gas.

We just got a very high efficiency wood stove, I expect we will now have no electricity bill each year.

    > often had negative quarterly invoices (i.e. got paid by our retailer) ... esp. in winter months

"[I]n winter months"? My stupid northern hemisphere brain did a double take; I needed to remind myself that Christmas (December) is summer!

It's got nothing to do with the hemisphere.

Most likely the aircon is running less in winter so they don't use as much power. There is not much of a winter in the tropics.

Sorry should have been clearer, in winter there's no aircon (but also no heating, it's 20-25 deg c) and the pool pump runs approx 50%

It is winter right now.

Yes, but it's nothing like winter further from the equator. It's a lovely time of year in that part of the world.

Winter is the cold one down here too mate

What are some direct solar appliances or equipment you've found that you like?

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