We get asked a lot of questions daily, like : How much is a battery? Will my panels work at night? How much will I save with solar? and Why do the electricity retailers pay us nothing for what we export into the grid? Now although some solar cowboys have been known to spin a yarn about panels working off moon light, we’re sorry to say it’s not the case!
We have been doing solar for so long now that we have over 1,000 satisfied clients who regularly contact us and send through their electricity bills, ecstatic with their savings. For the last few years we have also had the ability to view our solar installs remotely via wifi monitoring which is standard on solar inverters, what a time to be alive!
Calculating Your Energy Savings
I’m going to let you into a little secret… we have analysed a lot of solar systems, most of which are installed for South Australian families working 9am to 5pm and never home much when the sun is shining. Now on the average 6.555kW solar pv system we install for them, they have been saving from $1,500 to $2,000 per year!
How can that be? I hear you say, they are never home much during the day when the sun is shining and most of their electricity usage falls outside of sunlight hours – either in the morning getting ready for work or coming home after dark. Well the reason is that the electricity retailers are now paying you 15c to 18c on average per kWh exported. This is money for jam, making up over 50% of your solar savings and explains why every day South Australians are putting as many panels on their roof as they can to make some money back from the energy retailers for once.
So with the inverter production data and your new digital meter now recording the solar production not being used by your home (export figure on the meter), we can work out your solar savings with some quick maths, and have put together a case study to show you how and where the savings are made!
Key Learnings
– We are seeing at least $1,500 yearly savings at the current electricity rates and feed in tariff for our clients.
– Those that are at home running aircon or heater during daylight hours are saving closer to $2,000 per year.
– Even with a 6.6kW solar system you will still fall short in winter months charging a Tesla Powerwall 2, should you choose to add one.
– If you want a Tesla Powerwall 2 in the future, it’s best to add 10kW to your solar system to get you through the cooler and cloudier months.
– Even if the feed in tariff was to drop by say 50% and down to 10c per kWh exported in the future, average savings will still be between $1,200 and $1,700 year!
I encourage you to read through our real life case study for a 6.6kW system based on 12 months real data for an average family!