{"id":71163,"date":"2023-03-13T11:13:56","date_gmt":"2023-03-13T00:43:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/?p=71163"},"modified":"2023-05-08T23:15:28","modified_gmt":"2023-05-08T12:45:28","slug":"amber-for-batteries-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/amber-for-batteries-review\/","title":{"rendered":"Amber Electric Review: My First Six Months"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Amber<\/p>\n

Six months ago, I retrofitted a SolarEdge Energy Bank battery to my 6.6kW solar system.<\/p>\n

Finn encouraged me to join a\u00a0Virtual Power Plant (VPP) to add depth to my battery ownership experience. I chose\u00a0Amber Electric’s ‘Amber for Batteries’.<\/p>\n

This post is a review of using Amber with a battery. I do not recommend using Amber Electric without a home battery.<\/p>\n

A four-point summary of my review:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Year-over-year, there was virtually no difference in my bills overall being with Amber Electric compared to being with Origin Energy.<\/li>\n
  2. I expect Amber to come out ahead over the autumn\/winter period.<\/li>\n
  3. Negative electricity prices can hurt savings if you have an inverter that can’t export-limit.<\/li>\n
  4. The tech that coordinates my SolarEdge solar power and battery system is fragile, reducing my savings.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    If you want to learn how I reached those conclusions, read on…<\/p>\n

    What’s A VPP, Again?<\/h2>\n

    As a refresher – joining a Virtual Power Plant (VPP)<\/a> means relinquishing control of your battery to the VPP operator<\/a>.<\/p>\n

    They will charge and discharge your battery as and when they like, to support the electricity grid when it’s stressed. In return, you’ll usually get a monthly credit as a line item on your bill.<\/p>\n

    \"\"

    “Would eight kilowatt-hours make you feel better?”<\/p><\/div>\n

    A handful of VPPs will offer a revenue split if they discharge your battery during a ‘grid event’. That’s when the price of electricity spikes (for example, due to storms or heatwaves), and the stored energy in your battery becomes much more valuable.<\/p>\n

    With my SolarEdge battery, I was only eligible for two VPPs – one run by Powershop (Powershop VPP) and the other by Amber Electric (Amber for Batteries).<\/p>\n

    Technically, Amber for Batteries isn’t a VPP, as you don’t have to give up control of your battery to them if you don’t want to. And they’ll only charge or discharge your battery for your financial benefit, not theirs.<\/p>\n

    Powershop offered $10\/month off my bill in return for permission to hammer my battery whenever they like.<\/p>\n

    Amber promised me full control of my battery and access to wholesale energy prices – meaning on rare occasions, 10kWh of electricity in my battery could be worth up to $150.<\/p>\n

    \"Amber

    How Amber benefits users, in a nutshell. FiT = Feed in Tariff (what you’re paid for exported solar energy). Image credit: Amber Electric<\/p><\/div>\n

    In exchange, by signing up, you pay a higher daily supply charge (approx. $1\/day for me in South Australia) and a monthly membership fee ($15 per month). So, naturally, I joined Amber, as the potential upside for me was far higher than with Powershop.<\/p>\n

    The payoff was near-instant – within the first month of being with Amber, a wholesale price spike meant I netted ~$100 from a single day of exporting my energy:<\/p>\n

    \"Amber<\/p>\n

    If only this could have been a regular occurrence – the reality of being on Amber over the last six months wasn’t quite as lucrative.<\/p>\n

    Amber Is For Enthusiasts<\/h2>\n

    If you spend 5 minutes browsing the Amber Electric Users Group<\/a> on Facebook, you’ll notice day-to-day posts involve the minutiae of individual homeowners squeezing every possible cent by micro-managing their usage:<\/p>\n

    \"Amber<\/p>\n

    As wholesale electricity prices sometimes go a bit nutty, this inspires some equally nutty behaviour from Amber users.<\/p>\n

    On more than one occasion when my house was already at a comfortable temperature, I still cranked both of my aircons to their max settings to get paid to heat\/cool my house when electricity prices were negative.<\/p>\n

    If you’re an average person who doesn’t want to worry about their energy use habits, spending 15 minutes reading these posts may (rightfully) scare you away from Amber.\u00a0This isn’t a criticism of Amber – the reality is the most hands-on users will get the most out of it.<\/p>\n

    What Batteries Does Amber Electric Support?<\/h2>\n

    At the time of writing, Amber-supported battery brands are:<\/p>\n