The solar people finally got around to installing the panels on the roof! The original install date was meant to be in January 2009; they were installed on 29 May, and we are still waiting for the solar hot water to be installed. The company is not very good at giving reliable timeframes for installation of things.
These cells are meant to save us “up to” 25% of our electricity bill. They put a big inverter at the side of the house. The highest amount I’ve seen it put out is about 300W, though it is winter so the sun’s rays aren’t at full strength. It has a nifty LCD display to tell you stats.
The hot water system will slash our hot water bill to $0! I used to live in a share house where the landlady was a bit crazy and didn’t let anyone turn on the electric booster: though we never ran out when I needed the hot water and it was always scalding hot! (I was once told of a story where they ran out and tried turning it on when she was out: it didn’t work anyway)