Solar Panels

[NM]

Energy Australia is sure leading the push towards making your FiT free to themselves. Even if I can’t find a better deal, I intend giving them the flick, as I see no point in rewarding bad behaviour.

Even moving to another retailer with the same pricing can bring some benefits as many are offering once-off credit incentives for you to change. Often has to be done on-line, but can sometimes get $50-$200 credit with no min term lock-in. Electricity retails is a group of businesses for which I have no loyalty expectations (from them or me).

 

[Quickstatus]

Energy Australia is sure leading the push towards making your FiT free to themselves

9.5c FiT currently

A quick look i found Origin for my postcode:
16.5c FiT
54.58c peak but no peak tariff in April May sept oct
23.88 shoulder
14.13 off peak
100.27 supply charge

My EA plan:
9.5 FiT
43.32 peak but no peak tariff in April, May, Sept Oct
19.47 shoulder
11.79 off peak
102.85 supply charge

Most of the other plans have a Fit less than 9.5

So overall for me in my postcode my current plan with EA is still the cheapest despite the reduction in Fit from 12.5 to 10.5 to 9.5
We have started to move some overnight loads into the daytime, but will check the predicted weather the night before in case generation is reduced. If i managed to move all the offpeak (which i cant) into the export period so it is all covered I will save $40 for the quarter.

The risk of moving off peak loads into the daytime is that sometimes overcast days will cause consumption of power at the peak rate. As the current difference of 2.29c between Fit and overnight off peak is minimal, the cost and hassle of moving loads may not be worth it.

 

[Quickstatus]

I got a $30.98 credit via a PowerResponse Event where during the event period I used less electricity than the calculated baseline
If a power response event falls in a period where i have maximum export I dont think i qualify.

Paid at $2 per kWh difference between baseline and actual +$1 for taking part.
In this case approx 15kWh difference for the 3 hour period of the PR Event.


Energy Australia calculates the baseline in this way:
Step 1: Calculate the customer’s average electricity usage during the previous
10 business days where a PowerResponse event was not held.
Step 2: Measure the customer’s average electricity usage for the 3 hours leading
up to a PowerResponse event on the day.
Step 3: Adjust the customer’s average electricity usage for the day of an event by
utilising the baseline’s calculated from the 10 previous business days and
the 3 hours leading up to a PowerResponse event.

Solar export might reduce any potential Powerresponse Event credit.

 

[Hvr]

Just what I didn't want to get from my current energy provider:

Prior to 1st of July 2021, the minimum feed-in tariff for Victoria as set by the Essential Services Commission (ESC) was 10.2
cents per kWh.
From 1 July 2021, the new minimum feed-in tariff in Victoria is 6.7 cents per kWh. This will affect the feed in rate you receive
from 1 July 2021.

But I've changed plans to Origin and will retain the 10.2 c tariff for another 12 months.

It never ends.

 

[Quickstatus]

The FiT will keep reducing. I’m glad I got in 2 years ago. By the time the FiT goes to zero I think so will have paid off the array.

In some places, the grid operator is not allowing grid export because of too much solar - too much grid export by too many solar arrays in a street causes street voltage to rise beyond max allowed.

 

[leadman]

I have monitored my two arrays for just on 6 1/2 years and as of last month I have "paid them off". But how I see it is I have just pre-paid my electricity bill over that period of time. My calculations are based on the $$$ I get going to the grid + the amount that has replaced what would have come from the grid during the day. I now see it that we just get a cheaper rate for our power. It took a bit longer to pay off because the front panels are flat on the roof and you cannot tell we have panels. (that was not the driver to be flat, it was just the company stuffed up on quoting.)

 

[Quickstatus]

FiT is reducing
In other areas the grid operator is not allowing solar grid export due to potential for system overvoltage - ie too much grid export in that area pushing up grid voltage that is not able to be supported by the grid.

Energy Australia is reducing it from 9.5c to 7.6c ex GST per kWh from October 2021

 

[cove]

We bought an industrial property in SA this month and have ordered a 99.6 kW solar system as the property had only done LED lighting. We are now the landlord of that manufacturing location. The previous landlord did nothing to assist his two tenants.

 

[Quickstatus]

IndustrIal properties are eminently suited to solar panels with the electricity demand during the sunny periods.
Looking after tenants almost always pays dividends
.....

front panels are flat on the roof and you cannot tell we have panels. (that was not the driver to be flat, it was just the company stuffed up on quoting.)

Can be difficult to know if horizontal or tilted panels would have produced more electricity.
This is because tilting requires more area per panel. So the total number of tilted panels might be reduced by 30-40% depending on roof.
And then add in the cost of the tilting frames
Often it is better to spend the money on more panels vs panels + tilting frames

 

[RAM]

FiT is reducing
In other areas the grid operator is not allowing solar grid export due to potential for system overvoltage - ie too much grid export in that area pushing up grid voltage that is not able to be supported by the grid.

Energy Australia is reducing it from 9.5c to 7.6c ex GST per kWh from October 2021

Surprisingly recently received an email announcing changes to our electricity charges.

Changes not the surprise, cost falls AND FIT unchanged were the surprise.

Who knew AGL are so keen to keep customers?

 

[cove]

Yes @Quickstatus looking out for tenants is a long term strategy that has worked well for us.
Cutting our power use for all of our manufacturing in SA will be completed in a couple of months.

 

[Quickstatus]

email announcing changes to our electricity charges.

Yours is a flat rate
Mine is a time of use. If I converted mine to flatrate using most recent bill ( = same as avg cost per kWh), I get 18.93c / kwh
But AGL is ahead because of the FiT 11c vs 7.6c and the deeply discounted supply charge 0.7542 instead of 1.5455

AGL offers for my address are: charges 1.42 supply charge, 7C FiT and less attractive usage tariff than my current provider

 

[RAM]

Yes @Quickstatus looking out for tenants is a long term strategy that has worked well for us.
Cutting our power use for all of our manufacturing in SA will be completed in a couple of months.

Curious on how you charge your tenants for the power.

 

[RAM]

Yours is a flat rate
Mine is a time of use. If I converted mine to flatrate using most recent bill ( = same as avg cost per kWh), I get 18.93c / kwh
But AGL is ahead because of the FiT 11c vs 7.6c and the deeply discounted supply charge 0.7542 instead of 1.5455

AGL offers for my address are: charges 1.42 supply charge, 7C FiT and less attractive usage tariff than my current provider

I showed a simple spreadsheet layout for comparing plans a few months back - worthwhile using as it makes a big difference to use at least a year's bills since Winter/Summer consumption can vary massively for people.
________________________________

Not necessarily the best AGL offer for your address though.

From my experience over the last 7 or 8 years - none of the power comparison sites actually work effectively for the public. None. Not even a couple on 'solar sites' which I have been trying to get improved, or at least highlight their failings. Hence my reliance on our own spreadsheet.

For example - with our AGL plan it did not show up on ANY of (6 I think it was) comparison sites including the Fed Govt one (IMHO that is one of the worst for the public btw).

If you go to the companies' own sites and use their tools - the results that come up often 'unintentionally' hide the best results for people. Total coincidence.

What I found, by accident, when I decided to scroll down to the very bottom of the results was that just like when doing a 'search' using Google et al - that the best results are often not the ones that show up first. This has been widely documented for Google (for example), and I am not talking about the advertising 'results' shown. Historically, the unbiased search results appear around the 30th listing, aka mid 2nd page of results.

The AGL offer was around the 2nd or 3rd to last after some AGL business offerings and many residential plans. When I then rang about it - I actually got a plan (the one shown) that was slightly better (3rd decimal place for daily supply charge & 3rd decimal place for usage).

So if you scrolled down a little you got several residential plans, then several business plans and then another batch of residential plans that were better (cheaper) options.

Being a pedant. I then went back to Origin, Dodo (and others) to see if there was a similar outcome - yes there was for most, but not all of the sites.

 

[RAM]

Yours is a flat rate
Mine is a time of use. If I converted mine to flatrate using most recent bill ( = same as avg cost per kWh), I get 18.93c / kwh
But AGL is ahead because of the FiT 11c vs 7.6c and the deeply discounted supply charge 0.7542 instead of 1.5455

AGL offers for my address are: charges 1.42 supply charge, 7C FiT and less attractive usage tariff than my current provider

Unless you are very special (which of course you are!) then Time of Use works against you.

"Time of use" was introduced to Australian State owned power companies by a very well known Australia investment bank as a win-win-win proposal.

Win = generates consultancy fees & ongoing retainer for the Investment Bank
Win = could be sold as customer/environmentally friendly
Win = actually increases total earnings for the power company if correctly designed.

Guess what? All TOU plans are correctly designed so they increase total customer costs. In some rare cases there are customers who are better off, however, these are the exceptions. I knew the person who created the tool that the investment bank used - he is a very thorough/pedantic/8th decimal place type.

 

[Quickstatus]

Not necessarily the best AGL offer for your address though.

It is and the plan Im on is actually the best plan I can find.
I don't think anyone wants me as a customer as the (recurring) annual electricity bill is circa negative $800 pa on one of the solar equipped properties.

the best results are often not the ones that show up first

Correct

All TOU plans are correctly designed so they increase total customer costs

Somewhat correct

 

[cove]

@RAM the industrial tenants get the power bills in their names.

 

[Quickstatus]

the industrial tenants get the power bills in their names.

Curious on how you charge your tenants for the power.

Usually powerbills are in tenant's name. Same for my residential tenants
This means they get the FiT and any credits associated with it
Various court cases testing who gets the FiT have solidly fallen on the side of the tenants.
On the other side of the ledger it adds to the value of the property (and supports/increases rental income)
But it also adds the "feel good factor" which also supports and increases rental income and increases tenant stickiness.

I do have a clause that the solar array does not guarantee electricity production or any income from FiT

 

[RAM]

@RAM the industrial tenants get the power bills in their names.

Thank you.

So does that mean the power generated all goes to the grid or are you able to monitor each tenants usage of your PV produced power they use?

 

[cove]

@RAM the tenants get the ability to monitor their solar roof systems.
Because most tenants that we have generally work sunlight hours the savings tend to be larger for them than for residences.
Typical payback in electricity savings runs at around 3 years based on our 5 warehouses that we operate.