Month: January 2019

Many home owners are still asking us if purchasing solar is still worth it even though the FIT (Feed in tariff) has been reduced from 45c Per KW to 11c Per KW. It seems crazy doesn’t it? Why would you bother having solar installed when you are getting so little back from the energy companies?

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How to save money on the OLD Feed in Tariff:

The tactic is simple…. Vacate your house during the day, have your solar produce as much power as possible without being interrupted and sell it all back to the grid at a rate of 45c Per KW…. Then come night time, you turn all your power-hungry devices on (Washing machine, dishwashers, pool pumps, ETC) and buy back all the power you sold during the day for a much cheaper 20-30c Per KW. If you are on the old FIT and you are not doing this, you need to start! There are huge savings available to you if you start. (SAVINGS PER KW 10-20C) 

How to save money on the NEW Feed in Tariff:

This is where people are stuck in the past, if you stick to the above strategy for power usage there is no way you can take full advantage of the savings that your solar system has to offer, that is why you need to switch it up! Don’t use all your power-hungry devices at night that would be crazy! No you need to start using it all during the day instead, by doing so instead of selling your power to the energy company for 11c Per KW and buying it back later for 20-30c Per KW at night you consume the power as it is created and before it is sold to the grid! Doing this means that you save the 20-30c Per KW that the power companies charge! HUGE SAVINGS (More than OLD FIT that’s for sure)

Now you are possibly thinking “I work all day, I can’t just rush home to put my washing on when the sun comes out” and you would be right, that would be a pain in the backside… Not to worry though technology has you covered! Provided most of your appliances were not made in the 90’s there is a good chance that they all have built in timers meaning you can stack the dishes the night before set the timer for 8am and grab your clean dishes out the following afternoon with all power provided by your roof! The same goes for all major appliances, washers, dryers, pool pumps, even hot water systems (I will cover hot water in another post) these can all be thrown on timers for different parts of the day so you can reap the full benefit of you Solar.

Sure, when you get solar installed you can just “set and forget” but that is definitely not the right way to go about it if you want to maximise your ROI (Return on Investment)., the best way to maximise your ROI is to monitor your all-important solar numbers:

Production: How much power your system produces

Consumption: How much power your house has used (Total including grid power + Solar)

Solar Exported: How much solar you have sent back to the grid.

Power Imported: How much power you have imported from the grid.

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I’m not saying you need to be an expert on these numbers and know them off the top of your head because who has time for that? What you do need to do is when your solar is first installed, monitor how much power is produced over a day and gauge at what time it turns on and what time it turns off… As I explained in my last post “Old Tariff VS New Tariff” if you are not getting the good 45c Feed in tariff you will want to be using your power as it is produced, that is why knowing what hours of the day your solar is producing power is crucial.

It is important to keep in mind that as the season change so will the operating times of your solar, so remember to check up on it periodically. (Use your power bill as a reminder)

Now there are a range of different options when it comes to monitoring solar usage so here are a couple that we use daily:

Solar Analytics – Not Inverter Brand Specific

Fronius Smart Meter – Only Compatible with Fronius Inverters

Sungrow Wifi – Only Compatible with Sungrow Inverters

Old Fashioned – Walk out and read the inverter screen.

Our Choice: Solar Analytics (Please note we are not affiliated with Solar Analytics or any other brand mentioned in our post)

It is the functionality options that are offered with Solar Analytics that makes it our number 1 choice when recommending solar monitoring. As stated above it is universal so it will work with even the oldest solar systems. It easily monitors all the above listed numbers, Production, Consumption, Solar Export, Power Import and because it allows you to enter in your own specific power prices it gives you all the information in the most universal language of them all MONEY.

You don’t need to worry about converting KW produced to a $ figure, it does it all for you so you can see exactly how much money your solar system saved you today, this week, this month, this year or in total since it was installed…. Pretty cool right? Check out the video below to learn more about solar analytics.

If you want to learn more about solar monitoring let us know by clicking the contact us page and getting in touch.