Hi everyone,

I'm looking into buying a new Solar system and I'm doing some research, I'm thinking about using Nova energy Solar water heating. I have spoken to a few people and many say stay away from it due to being X-Sola 60 and also retrofit solar not being efficient enough. By the way I must say that when they first called they said they wanted to discuss my power bill and not sell me a solar system. I hope someone out there can help with this.

thanks guys

Linkback: http://www.plumbers.co.nz/forum/solar-heating-and-heat-pumps/9/nova-energy-solar-heating/493/

No matter what system you decide to buy, its very important to compare the installation with the New Zealand building standard. You can find most acceptable solutions in G12 (download on this site) Many solar systems are imported and could possibly not comply. A good guide to find approved systems is to visit the EECA website and always make sure a qualified plumber does the job. Remember that a sales person will always tell you his system is the best one to make a sale so its very important to do the research yourself before making up your mind. Feel free to post any concerns and I'm sure you will find the answers you are looking for.

Thanks for all the advise. Once you get started with the research its very hard to differentiate the systems but I'm getting there. So far my my favorite is an Australian made panel that has been around for 25 years so very established in the solar heating market. After more research I found the Nova Energy Solar water Heating retrofits to be at the low end of the spectrum and here one link I found about the Sola 60 Panels they are promoting http://rustypanels.blogspot.com. Was good having the homeshow where I was able to speak to a few people from the trade and many agree to stick to panels that have been around long enough to prove their efficiency and quality, most companies tend to stay away from retrofits especially combination low pressure. I really appreciate the emails you have sent me many have been very helpfull! 

hi yorkieboy, i am sure that your system has good points as you state, a few posts do not support the system i don`t know why. this is an information highway that tradesmen post personal views and technical information, everyone is entitled to thier own opinion. Some info comes from hearsay other by way of company reps/council inspectors and so on. People make decisions on information gained from all sourses and recommendations, if you want to increase your sales get the info out there but if people do not know of the technical info from the experts they will make decitions based on hearsay, please give us all the relevent info that is what we need, if you have a good product and can prove it ,you will have it recommended,cheers

Just going through the new information provided by the ITO this is straight from the EECA.

Connection to Existing Hot Storage Tank

The connection of a SWH collector circuit to an existing conventional hot water tank is by its nature a custom built system as the tank is not known until the system is to be installed. Although such an application is a way of reducing the capital cost of a SWH system installation it is important to realise that the performance of such systems may not be as effective as a packaged system installation and there are issues that need to be negotiated when carrying out such installations.

Retrofit System Issues. The problem with using an existing displacement hot water storage tank is that the supplementary heating electric element is located at the bottom of the tank. Because this is where the cold water comes in, and is where the thermostat tends to be, the electric element in these tanks comes on soon after any hot water is drawn off. This is no problem when the tank is heated conventionally by an immersion element, but with a solar system this results in the following:


Electricity is used, when the sun may well have achieved the same result later in the day.
The water flowing to the collector is preheated by electricity, so solar heating is much less efficient within the collector.
The thermal stratification of water stored within the tank is destroyed.
In contrast, a tank that has been designed for solar systems is typically about 300 litres in capacity, and has a mid-mounted electric supplementary heating element, and thermostat. This results in the electric element only heating the top half of the
tank, while the solar collector heats the colder water in the bottom half.

I think thats self-explanetory.

mr plumber

Found this Forum while looking up Nova Energy on the internet today, im amazed how companies like this get away with so much. I found that their sales team to be very arrogant on the phone. Up until that point in time I used Nova but now switched over to Meridian Energy. Just a note on how they approached me and I would be very interested to know if others out there experienced the same thing. One day out of the blue a Nova Energy Solar representative rings me and offers me a free consultation on how I can decrease my power bill. Having 2 teenagers in the house of course I said YES! After he arrived I very quickly noticed that it was just a scam to get into my house and sale me a solar system they intend to bill me for through my power bill! What a shamble! After doing the math I would in total have a higher bill then before over the next 5 years (plus interest) and by the time I pay off the system I will most likely need repairs or even replace the panel or other parts on the system. I feel they should have been honest from the start and said "we want to sell you solar" I could have been prepared and done some more research. After watching Nova Energy on Fair go today it all makes sense!!

The solar industry has been through many changes over the last few years, amazes me that your members with very little knowledge and are prepared to undermine a 2.5billion oil and gas company that has frankly saved the solar industry in New zealand.
For the information of plumbers all solar system must be registered with EECA to gain a grant, every system goes through a permit request and is installed by a certified plumber.
system performance are modelled, i would ask your so called experts to check out AS/NZS2712 ; 2007, AS/NZs 4234;2008, google them.
You will see all Nova systems have met and exceeded the various standards required.

as for existing hot water cylinders, if you are replacing electric resistance heating with 50%, this must be deliver savings!!!

Modern systems directly control the electric element and therefore this is held off during the solar period to maximise solar gain.

Suggest you do the numbers, 180x 4.2(shc)x50(temp rise) = 10.5kw per day, assuming you can work out kw/hr. new cylinder installs cost around $2000, this would on average put another 5 years on the solar payback, surly people can do this one step at a time

Information of your Luddite's Nova install around 80 systems per month across NZ, who's kidding who on quality of product and installation

They used to have sparkies installing their systems until regulations changed. Now sub contract some poor bugger (plumber) that does it. Let me guess they told you the panels are made in NZ? Well that's not true they import from Turkey. A mate resigned his postion as an installer due to all the issues he had with them and the system they promote he also told me a few interesting stories as to what really goes up in Nova ville (Tauranga). PM me you email and I will send a bit of info. Cheers

I am from Tauranga and know Nova Energy well , they have the corporate syndrome going on , be interested to see how they get on now that the subsidys are coming to an end in June