One of my friends borrowed my brushcutter. I gave them a reel of string and a tank full of two-stroke, ready to tackle an overgrown house. After a long and hot weekend, I popped around to see the results and take my brushcutter back home. Lo and behold, their front and backyard were still overgrown. My friend exclaimed that they couldn’t get the brushcutter to work properly, with the string requiring replacement every few minutes. They gave up on it as it was too much work. Baffled by this, I quickly realised that they had been cutting a short length of string every few minutes, rather than realising that the brushcutter head was a bump feeder.
Solar panels have been added to Aussie rooftops since the noughties. The feed-in tariffs that allowed households to drill down their electricity bills with little to no usage changes have long disappeared. If you’re not seeing any changes to your electricity bill now, it could simply be that you do not know how to use your solar system correctly.
Let’s take a look at some common mistakes and how to avoid them.
Solar panels generate electricity during daylight hours
This may seem obvious, but it is an important topic to cover. Your solar panels require sunlight to create electricity. Depending on where you live and the time of the year, you might have a window of 9 to 14 hours, give or take, of solar generation. Outside of this, your panels will not generate any electricity.
It is important to understand this, as it is the number one reason why households are not seeing any savings on their bills. Suppose you’re out from sunrise to sunset, returning home to run your dishwasher, washing machine, and other power-hungry appliances/devices. In that case, none of that energy usage will be covered by your solar. You will draw from the grid, and likely during peak hours. If your feed-in tariff is 3 cents per kilowatt hour (kWh), and your system generated 20 kWhs during the day, you will only see a credit of 60 cents. Running your dishwasher alone could see you spend 60 cents. Your washing machine could rack up a $1 bill during peak hours. Add to that your dryer, kettle, oven, induction cooktop, TV, lights, and the charging of all your devices, and you could spend $3 to $5 at night just to run your household. Times that by 30 days, and you’re looking at a hefty monthly bill – and that doesn’t even take into account running air cons, hot water systems, charging your EV, and other hefty energy usage.
The wrong-sized system for your energy needs
If you have no plans to add battery storage, you may have an oversized system that no longer benefits from high feed-in tariffs.
Going bigger has always been the slogan in the solar game. You’d let your solar panels generate electricity and send it straight to the grid for 30 to 70 cents a kWh. Now that some households receive a feed-in tariff as low as zero cents, that big solar system won’t be doing much if all you’re doing is using electricity at night. Always plan for future energy needs, but consider your daily energy usage and size your system accordingly.
How to see savings on your electricity bill with solar
Just like my friend with my brushcutter – knowing how to use your solar system will see the returns you expect. Let’s break it down:
1. Shift your main usage to daylight hours
Changing your usage habits is the key to unlocking solar savings. Where you would turn your dishwasher on before you head to bed, change it to just before you leave the house in the morning. If you have a timer function on your appliances, set them to when your solar starts generating in the day. My advice is to open up your solar monitoring app, if you have it, and look at your daily and monthly trends for when your system begins to generate electricity in the morning and tapers off in the evening.
2. Time your usage correctly
A very common mistake made is turning on all of your heavy energy users at the same time. If your solar is generating 3 kW, for example, and you turn on your washing machine, dryer, and dishwasher at the same time, your solar would likely only cover half of the electricity required. Let’s take a look:
- Washing machine during wash: about 0.5 to 2 kW, higher when heating water
- Dishwasher while heating water: about 1.2 to 2.4 kW
- Dryer on heat: about 2 to 3.5 kW
If they all hit their peak at once, you could easily be drawing 3 kW from the grid.
For example: 1.5 kW washer + 2 kW dishwasher + 2.5 kW dryer = 6 kW
It would be better to stagger the usage, turning on the dryer as you near the end of the washing machine load, and then the dishwasher as your clothes finish drying. This would allow your solar to cover all of the usage.
3. If you must use electricity at night…
Let’s face it, there are many times when the dishwasher can’t wait until morning. If waking up with no cutlery or crockery is your idea of a nightmare, time your dishwasher to go on during off-peak hours – where possible. These hours usually begin between 10 and 11 pm and finish between 6 and 7 am. While the rate varies across states, distributors, and retailers, you can expect to pay 15-22 c/kWh on average for usage during this time. Using your dishwasher as soon as the sun goes down (no solar) will likely set you back around 40-55 c/kWh. Shoulder times vary, but usually sit around 8 to 10 pm. You’ll be paying approximately 25-35 c/kWh.
Why battery storage is king
The reality of solar is that it is now best paired with battery storage. As we’ve already demonstrated, maximising your solar is absolutely possible when usage habits are altered. If this does not fit your lifestyle, or you want your nighttime usage covered regardless, then adding a battery is your sure bet to kiss goodbye to your electricity bills. Your solar will feed directly to your battery, if not being consumed by the home. This will mean that you will never have to lean on feed-in tariffs or worry about peak/off-peak times.
It has never been cheaper to add a battery to your home, thanks to generous rebates. Read more about the Cheaper Home Batteries Program.
Next steps
My advice for anyone with solar, or exploring the possibility of adding in the future, is to get really comfortable with reading your electricity bills. The key to unlocking true solar savings is knowing how and when you use most of the electricity in your household. Here are some simple steps to get you on the right track:
- Analyse your bills and solar monitoring app (where applicable): Look at how much you’re importing from the grid, how much solar you’re exporting, your peak/off-peak/shoulder usage, and the time of day when your usage peaks.
- Shift usage to daylight hours: Get into the habit of using most or all of your big-ticket appliances during the day.
- Stagger your usage: During daylight hours, ensure that you’re not running too many appliances at once.
- Add battery storage: If your budget allows, add batteries to your home to truly maximise your solar.
- Get free quotes with Energy Matters: If you’re ready to make the leap into solar and/or battery storage, Energy Matters will tee you up with local installers who will provide you with tailored free quotes.
Solar is still a solid investment, but knowing how to use it correctly is the key. My friend now owns her own brushcutter with a bump head – and she knows how to use it!
