How rooftop solar can work for you
South Australia is rich in solar energy, with households often generating more electricity than they comfortably use. If you’re a high energy user, or want to future proof your energy costs, solar and batteries are one method that may work for you, in conjunction with energy efficiency upgrades within the home.
A rooftop solar photovoltaic (PV) system converts the sun’s energy into electricity. That energy is usually delivered to the building first and excess is often exported back into the main grid.
Understand your energy needs
- Review your electricity bills to determine your average daily, monthly, and seasonal usage (in kilowatt hours, or kWh), your peak demand and importantly when you use your power. If you have a smart meter you can do this for free via the SAPN Energy Dashboard which will show you your energy use and generation hour by hour.
- What electrical appliance and systems do you use? Do you have an electric water heater, a revers cycle air conditioner or pool pump that could use your solar power?
- Identify peak demand and total usage to size your batteries peak output (kW) but also its total capacity (kWh).
- Consider future changes in your home, such as adding an electric vehicle or new appliances. Are there other appliances that could be upgraded to maximise the value of your new asset?
- Finally – decide if you are going to add solar, a battery or both.
Note: If you installed your solar system before 2012 you may still receive the Distributor Feed-in Tariff (D-FiT) of 44 cents per kilowatt hour (kWh). This tariff will end on 30 June 2028 as originally intended. After this time, you may only receive a Retailer Feed-in Tariff if your provider offers this.
Get more out of your solar system
With so much solar in South Australia, it’s common for households to find themselves generating more than they use. To maximise the benefit of your solar system, the focus should be on self-consumption during the day by load shifting your appliances. In conjunction to this, you can consider the following:
A home battery system will allow you to store excess energy to be used later. This is especially useful on days where the sun is not shining as much, such as during cloudy or rainy weather which will limit how much solar energy can be generated for your home
A virtual power plant (VPP) is a network of distributed energy resources – such as homes with solar and battery systems – all working together as a single power plant. Opting to connect your solar and/or battery to a VPP can help improve grid stability by balancing demand loads during peak times of use.
By connecting to a VPP, you can receive a payment for exporting your excess solar energy to the grid. Only the extra energy you don’t use will be sent back to the grid. Your current supply will not be interrupted by connecting to a VPP. This is a VPP feed-in tariff and is offered by your energy retailer.
Contact your energy provider to confirm the tariff.
If you have a gas cooktop, you may consider switching to an induction cooktop. These are efficient electric appliances that are extremely fast to heat, easy to keep clean and eliminate emissions within the home. This means you can use your excess solar energy to power your cooktop, which may enable you to save you money in the long term by removing your additional gas bill.
If you have an electric vehicle, consider charging it in the middle of the day when there is an abundance of solar. This is considered an ‘off-peak’ period where electricity demand is low and solar generation is high. If you are on a Time of Use (ToU) tariff, this can help save you more on your household energy bills by eliminating petrol or diesel bills.
When you have a new solar system installed, you will likely need a new smart meter installed as well. This could mean the type of energy plan you have with the retailer will change.
Talk to your retailer about how installing a smart meter maymaychange your electricity plan.
The best solar PV system and battery will depend on:
- how much electricity you need
- the time of day you use electricity
- how much roof space is available and its orientation
- the direction and orientation of panels.
Your installer will be able to help you decide.
Make sure you consider the information given to you by the person selling the solar system. Check that they are using relevant energy costs and feed-in tariffs for both solar and batteries to calculate your payback period.
