2023 – Suppliers Scoop the $ >>>
Our report for Spring 2022 is pretty much ‘more of the same’.
Our electricity usage from the grid has dropped and our solar feed-in to the grid has increased, but our bills have still increased, thanks to an increase in the cost of grid electricity per kWh and an increase in the daily supply charge.
In 2021:
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- we used 788 kWh of grid electricity in the Spring quarter (9 kWh per day) – that’s an 86% decrease in electricity consumption from the grid since 2007;
- we returned 464 kWh of electricity to the grid from our solar panels;
- the cost of grid electricity from the grid was 22c per kWh;
- the feed-in fee from our solar panels was 5c per kWh;
- we were paying $1 per day grid supply charge;
- the net cost of our electricity (including solar feed-in rebate) was $236.
in 2022:
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- we have used 656 kWh of grid electricity in the Spring quarter (7 kWh per day) – that’s a decrease of nearly 17% in electricity used from the grid since this time last year;
- we returned 627 kWh to the grid supplier – that’s a net increase in solar-generated electricity of 35% compared to the same period last year;
- the cost of grid electricity from the grid was 25.25c per kWh;
- the feed-in fee from our solar panels was 5c per kWh;
- we were paying $1.21 per day grid supply charge;
- our net cost of electricity for this three month period (September, October, November) was $240 – that’s an increase of $4 -nearly 1.7% – since this time last year.
So, despite reducing our consumption from the grid by 17%, and increasing the electricity we are returning to the grid from our solar panels by 35%, our bill has increased nearly 2%!
This is due to an increase in the cost of electricity from the grid from 22c / kWh to 25c / kWh (+14%), and an increase in the daily supply charge from $1.02 per day to $1.21 per day (+19%).
With much steeper increases to come after 1st July 2023!
How about a battery?
We are selling (donating?) our excess solar-generated electricity to our grid supplier for 5c / kWh, then buying it back at 25c / kWh. Very generous of us!
So, rather than feeding that electricity back into the grid, why don’t we feed that excess electricity into an on-site battery, and then use it ourselves, rather than paying our supplier 25c to buy iy back?
We have investigated a battery, but we are advised that we don’t have enough spare electricity to keep a battery more than 80% charged (when calculating night-time usage) – which apparently voids a battery warranty.
We have 4.2 kW of solar capacity, but need at least 6.5 kW to generate enough excess electricity to keep the battery charged. Only problem is that our available roof area is completely covered – no space for additional panels. And we are also advised that new panels are significantly different to the panels we currently have installed, and additional panels would require replacing the existing panels as well. Not worth the expense.
Our best battery option would appear to be waiting for the availability of a community battery.
More to come.
2023 – Suppliers Scoop the $ >>>