Beat the Fat-Cats & Go Solar Safer!

Australia is seeing a new attitude, perspective and demand from customers for renewables and a better rate on their electricity. With a lack of political encouragement over the past few years to say the least and the ever increasing electricity prices in Australia, customers are looking for options. Becoming self-sustainable in terms of electricity with rooftop solar is now a very attractive proposition. 

Home solar is one of the fastest growing industries in Australia not to mention the rest of the world. Residential solar actually works in a very similar way to the large-scale electrical providers. You generate electricity during the day and buy the rest from the grid at night. Just the same, the grid doesn’t have an unlimited supply of power to be tapped into at any time. The energy companies will determine how much electricity is to be generated based on a calculation and projections of the most probable usage for a given area. 

Although the big power generators do a great job at supplying us with power, their business models are rigid and restrict development towards more modern, renewable technologies. After making massive and under effective investments in power-line infrastructure there is no wonder they seem to be fixed on recouping their losses at the expense of you, the customer. There is a reason you may find your power bills confusing.

They don’t want you to read them!

Our federal government is tied closely to coal power plants and the taxes that come from the industry supply are a large amount of revenue to invest in other areas.

In terms of the average Australian family looking to remove themselves from the monopoly that is big power, the best solution comes in the form of the small-scale solar industry. Rooftop solar power is becoming a truly worthy challenger to the big guys. It has worked its way to build a massive market in one of the least politically welcoming climates in the world over the past years. 

When installing a solar power system, you’re essentially creating a personal electricity utility, a small scale solar plant. In order to get it right, it helps to first understand where your electricity actually comes from.

For big power plants, the daily production of energy is projected by taking into account the history of electrical use in the area over time. There are reserve backup supplies but even those are not an infinite source. You as a solar customer are creating your own personal utility, so your calculations should mirror this process on some level when determining the right system. 

First, calculate your average daily usage over a year or longer. Make sure you factor in night-time usage. Then ask yourself if batteries are something you will be considering in the future. This will determine the size and components of the system you are looking at. 

For a standard on-grid system, remove the night time usage and off-peak hot water usage from your figures. You should be left with the average daily usage for daylight (usable) hours. The system that will generate this amount of power should give you the highest return on your investment (upfront cost/savings per year for the lifespan of your system). 

For a hybrid, battery backup system you will want to include your night-time usage to make sure you’re generating enough to charge your batteries. Getting the calculation correct means you are essentially shielding yourself from rising prices of mass-produced electricity. You are protecting yourself from paying for the mistakes of the fat cats. You’re as free as you can conveniently be from the grid… for now. 

Get In Touch With Solarhunters

The solar world can be confusing at the best of times. I strive to explain the process in simple, easy-to-digest snippets for your benefit, but if you’re still not quite getting it, ask us a question directly and one of the team from Solarhunters will be happy to try to clear up any questions you may have!