It’s been slightly below three months because the group from BREC Vitality put in 13 photo voltaic panels on my roof, and I’m now the proud proprietor of a 5.33 kW rooftop photo voltaic system!

This method is able to producing as much as 22 kWh of energy in a median day, which is nearly double our family electrical energy wants — superb! In actual phrases although, based mostly on our precise vitality use patterns, the system ought to account for about 36 per cent of our whole vitality consumption, with 64 per cent nonetheless required to be bought from the grid (as a result of like most households, we nonetheless use loads of vitality at occasions when the solar just isn’t shining).

So, did these predictions maintain up? Have I saved any cash in any respect on my energy payments? And what else have I learnt since making the large funding on rooftop photo voltaic?

Listed here are my trustworthy ideas and key takeaways from this entire expertise!

How a lot photo voltaic are we producing and really utilizing?

I used to be amazed to seek out simply how correct the photo voltaic supplier’s calculators have been about our vitality use, and predicted photo voltaic consumption.

Over the previous three months, our photo voltaic vitality has accounted for a median of about 30 per cent of our whole family vitality consumption. Additionally, on a month by month foundation, our photo voltaic use has steadily elevated every month, from 26 per cent of our general vitality in July, to a powerful 41 per cent in September.

Why? Properly, I’d prefer to suppose its partially as a result of we’ve learnt to regulate a few of our vitality use and take advantage of use of our electrical home equipment when the solar is shining… however, actually this improve is generally as a result of we’ve had extra solar in September! Because the summer time months roll on, we’ll doubtless see the proportion improve once more, earlier than reducing within the winter months.

What has this meant for our electrical energy payments?

This can be a difficult one. To be trustworthy, we haven’t seen a big lower in our vitality payments. When evaluating June – September 2022 with June – September 2023, our vitality invoice is just about the identical (round $300 for the quarter). However, how can this be, since we’ve diminished our vitality consumption from the grid by not less than 30 per cent?

The easy cause is, vitality costs throughout Australia have elevated considerably over the previous 12 months.

Our common every day vitality use is down from 10kWh/day to round 7kWh/day, however we’re nonetheless paying a median of $3.25/day for electrical energy, in comparison with $3.27/day for a similar interval final 12 months! So we’re paying roughly the identical quantity every month, for 30 per cent much less vitality.

The one optimistic we will take away from this, is that we’d be paying 30 per cent extra this 12 months for electrical energy if we hadn’t put in photo voltaic as a consequence of worth rises. I’m calling {that a} win!

How has having photo voltaic impacted our vitality use at dwelling?

One of many coolest issues about putting in photo voltaic has been gaining access to real-time monitoring of our photo voltaic system through an app referred to as My Photo voltaic Edge. This app got here included in my solar-set up prices. It’s so fascinating (and enjoyable!) to open the app at any time and see precisely how a lot photo voltaic is being generated on my rooftop, how a lot of it we’re utilizing, and the way a lot of it goes un-used (and despatched again to the grid).

One glorious final result of that is that we’re far more conscious of our family vitality consumption now. It was beforehand invisible and is now one thing we take an lively curiosity in.

Electrical energy not feels ‘infinite’, and that’s an excellent factor! I have already got a transparent sense of precisely how a lot vitality our family wants, and the way a lot we’re able to producing at dwelling. It’s actually helped to shift my perspective on our vitality use extra broadly. The app is so easy to make use of and it has additionally grow to be an amazing instrument to show my seven-year outdated daughter about vitality use and renewables.

What will we save/earn by promoting energy again to the grid?

You’ve in all probability heard the time period ‘feed-in tariff’ — that is the credit score you obtain again out of your vitality supplier, for any unused electrical energy you ship again to the grid out of your photo voltaic system. Often known as a ‘buy-back fee’, it’s normally a set fee per kilowatt hour (kWh) that you simply obtain as credit score in your electrical energy payments.

The issue is, vitality costs differ significantly based mostly on-peak and off-peak timing, and since each photo voltaic system in Melbourne is making massive quantities of extra vitality at precisely the identical time (i.e. when the solar is shining), the grid is flushed with extra solar energy at these occasions. It means you’re just about assured to get very low ‘purchase again’ costs for any vitality you ship again to the grid on a sunny day!

Sadly, these feed-in tariffs are so low the credit we earn by feeding vitality again into the grid are fairly negligible. It makes a powerful case for investing in a battery, which brings me to my ultimate level…

What will we take into consideration putting in a battery, now that we all know what we all know?

The concept of a battery positively appears extra interesting now that we will see how a lot vitality we’re producing daily that we’re simply not in a position to make use of. It feels as if we’re ‘losing’ round 70 per cent of every thing we’re producing (though that isn’t strictly true, because it is going again into the grid, which implies somebody, someplace can be utilizing it!).

In response to our photo voltaic supplier’s calculations, if we did have a battery our rooftop photo voltaic would cowl greater than 90 per cent of our family electrical energy use! That might be fairly superb.

Proper now, the funding in a battery remains to be too nice for us to significantly contemplate it — we’d be over $10k to do that.

Nonetheless, having grow to be extra conscious of my vitality use, the enchantment of a battery for our family has grow to be extra ‘holistic’ and fewer about pure monetary payback. In any case, the advantage of putting in a battery isn’t simply saving cash, there’s a robust incentive round simply being a extra vitality environment friendly family, and decreasing our reliance on fossil-fuels and the grid. So we nonetheless might contemplate it sooner or later!

Not prepared for photo voltaic? You possibly can nonetheless play your half in constructing Australia’s renewable future, by selecting renewable vitality, wherever you possibly can.

Momentum Vitality are owned by Australia’s largest renewable vitality generator.  Signal as much as a greener energy firm.