{"id":82198,"date":"2024-03-19T07:24:30","date_gmt":"2024-03-18T21:54:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/?p=82198"},"modified":"2024-03-19T07:24:30","modified_gmt":"2024-03-18T21:54:30","slug":"steves-solr-shocker","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/steves-solr-shocker\/","title":{"rendered":"Steve\u2019s Solar Shock: How I Sorted His Dodgy $4,000 Electricity Bill"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Simply<\/p>\n

Just before Christmas, one of my best mates finished installing solar on his shed. Six weeks later his eagerly anticipated new electricity bill came.<\/p>\n

He was mortified when he opened the envelope to reveal his bill had tripled; and was almost as surprised when I openly laughed at the nearly $4000 allegedly owing.<\/p>\n

I knew instantly that, once again, our friends at Simply Energy had simply cocked up. Here’s how it happened.<\/p>\n

\"electricity

Added solar with a bonus of thousands of added kilowatt hours.<\/p><\/div>\n

Inside Steve’s Solar Installation<\/h2>\n

This is the second solar panel system I’ve installed for Steve1<\/a><\/sup>. The first was some 14 years ago, but sadly he sold that house before making a good return on investment. (Unbelievably, his real estate listing didn\u2019t even mention a $10,000 solar asset on the place — in those days, solar simply wasn’t on estate agents’ radars unless it was attached to a pool.)<\/p>\n

This time, we planned for solar panels<\/a> during the build. In order to qualify for a premium feed-in tariff, we trenched in a power supply and solar-configured electricity meter.<\/p>\n

But of course, as with any Grand Design, there were delays, so the tariff evaporated and solar was kicked to the bottom of the priority list.<\/p>\n

The Shed Goes Up<\/h3>\n

Steve’s new home is powered by a solar array on his glorious brand-new shed. It’s 40-foot square in the old money and a magnificent structure for installing solar.<\/p>\n

Hours were spent on discussions and drawings, to decide what the perfect layout would look like. Instead of a huge slab of glass on one side, in the end, we settled on using both sides of the roof and having some service gaps allowing access between the arrays.<\/p>\n

We used a SG15RT Sungrow inverter<\/a> and 48 x 380W JA Solar Panels<\/a>, for a total of 18.24kW. Soon, we had enough solar yield to power the air conditioning in the house up the hill.<\/p>\n

There’s currently no landline for internet sadly, mobile reception is dodgy at Steve’s, so there’s plans afoot for a whizz-bang aerial and dedicated 4G router to make the Sungrow consumption monitoring<\/a> work.<\/p>\n

\"Erecting

This was a brilliant way to erect a shed.<\/p><\/div>\n

Not-So-Smart Metering<\/h3>\n

Before retailers got involved, SA Power Networks used to install dumb digital meters. This one has been clocking up consumption for many years, but it’s been programmed for solar from the outset, and so it’s had to wait patiently to measure any exports to its 009 register.<\/p>\n

There’s no separate element or clock for controlled load, just two manually-read numbers from one 3 phase utility meter. It’s so simple you would think nobody could get it wrong. Unfortunately, you would be incorrect.<\/p>\n

\"digital

The very first few minutes of yield show one-fifth of a kilowatt hour.<\/p><\/div>\n

Simply Energy Gets It Wrong<\/h2>\n

Here’s what happened. Simply Energy billed for consumption as usual, then added the export figures, and billed for that too.<\/p>\n

The headline figure was 5099kWh, minus 1259kWh of actual billable supply, it means means Steve was billed wrongly for 3,840 additional kilowatt hours, or 309% of average consumption.<\/p>\n

These basic type meters use a block pricing model, and Steve had, of course, broken through the 970kWh\/qtr threshold, so to add insult to injury he was charged an additional $0.09\/kWh on everything above that. $371 added on the bill just for kicks.<\/p>\n

\"Electricity

The only other reading on the meter is register 003.<\/p><\/div>\n

Inflexible Support Processes<\/h3>\n

I have played these games before, so I asked Steve to have me authorised to speak to Simply Energy on his behalf. This is a pretty standard process, but again it became a problem in this particular case.<\/p>\n

Without being in the same room and speaking on the same phone call, the support team simply wouldn’t have it.<\/p>\n

Simplifying The Details<\/h3>\n

Simply Energy’s privacy policy meant the representative on the phone wouldn’t confirm any details to me. However, they had already pulled up the details of the bill in question and could see in front of them what I was speaking about.<\/p>\n

I simply put it to them that:<\/p>\n

    \n
  • There was obviously an error in their billing;<\/li>\n
  • That I had identified the error;<\/li>\n
  • That they could see the error for themselves;<\/li>\n
  • And they’d better go about fixing that error before an ombudsman gets involved.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

    The message got through eventually.<\/p>\n

    \"revised

    This is a much better-looking bill considering there were only six weeks of solar involved.<\/p><\/div>\n

    It Was A Simple Fix, This Time<\/h2>\n

    In this case, the problem was clear cut and it wasn’t too hard to get things back on track.<\/p>\n

    However, it’s disappointing that whenever these errors happen, they invariably favour the retailer.<\/p>\n

    If the customer in question was elderly, spoke English as a second language, or just didn’t have the knowledge that I do as to how the system works, I suspect they would be vulnerable to these errors, to the tune of thousands of dollars.<\/p>\n

    Next time, I’m going to try to untangle another months-long saga, this time involving AGL. Stay tuned.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Just before Christmas, one of my best mates finished installing solar on his shed. Six weeks later his eagerly anticipated new electricity bill came. He was mortified when he opened the envelope to reveal his bill had tripled; and was almost as surprised when I openly laughed at the nearly $4000 allegedly owing.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":28,"featured_media":82200,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[636],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-82198","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-electricity-prices","entry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nSteve\u2019s Solar Shock: How I Sorted His Dodgy $4,000 Electricity Bill<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"When Steve installed solar, his electricity bill inexplicably tripled. 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I Bought Solar But My Bills Are Still High","author":"Finn Peacock","date":"November 22, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"In this post you will discover: Why - if you want tiny bills - buying a solar power system is about more than buying a good system from a reputable installer. How to quickly estimate if any solar panel array is working well in 3 minutes, with or without monitoring.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Solar Panels"","block_context":{"text":"Solar Panels","link":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/category\/solar-panels-2\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/help-high-bills.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/help-high-bills.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/help-high-bills.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/help-high-bills.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/help-high-bills.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":67197,"url":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/solar-compare-electricity-mb2700\/","url_meta":{"origin":82198,"position":1},"title":"Solar Owners: Shop Around For The Best Electricity Plan","author":"Michael Bloch","date":"November 3, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Here's an example of what can happen if owners of solar power systems don't find the best electricity plan for their situation. I was reading an article elsewhere yesterday on renewable energy in South Australia and in the comments below was a fellow unhappy with solar feed-in tariffs, which aren't\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "General Solar & Storage News"","block_context":{"text":"General Solar & Storage News","link":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/category\/solar-battery-news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Comparing electricity plans for solar owners","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/solar-retailer-comparison.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/solar-retailer-comparison.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/solar-retailer-comparison.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/solar-retailer-comparison.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/solar-retailer-comparison.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":33505,"url":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/solar-electricity-bills-mb1213\/","url_meta":{"origin":82198,"position":2},"title":"How To Maximise Electricity Bill Savings With Solar Power","author":"Michael Bloch","date":"September 16, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=m_L0iTatZqk If you've installed solar panels - congratulations! Here's what Finn advises you do next to make the most of your solar power system so you'll end up with the lowest possible electricity bills. Transcript: Here is a graph taken from the monitoring system on my house, the beautiful yellow\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "General Solar & Storage News"","block_context":{"text":"General Solar & Storage News","link":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/category\/solar-battery-news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Post-solar electricity bills","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/post-solar-electricity-bills.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/post-solar-electricity-bills.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/post-solar-electricity-bills.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/post-solar-electricity-bills.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/post-solar-electricity-bills.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":84589,"url":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/tas-solar-tariff-mb2945\/","url_meta":{"origin":82198,"position":3},"title":"Tasmania’s Solar Feed In Tariff Takes A Hit","author":"Michael Bloch","date":"June 19, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"While many Tasmanians shouldn't experience as much electricity bill hip-pocket pain in the new financial year, those with solar panels will be receiving less for the electricity they export to the grid. With just a couple of weeks to go before the end of the financial year, Tasmania's Economic Regulator\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "General Solar & Storage News"","block_context":{"text":"General Solar & Storage News","link":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/category\/solar-battery-news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Tasmania solar feed in tariff update","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/tas-solar-tariff.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/tas-solar-tariff.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/tas-solar-tariff.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/tas-solar-tariff.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/tas-solar-tariff.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":62348,"url":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/regional-qld-electricity-fit-mb2496\/","url_meta":{"origin":82198,"position":4},"title":"Higher Power Prices, But Boosted Solar Feed-In Tariff For Regional QLD","author":"Michael Bloch","date":"June 1, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"The Queensland Competition Authority delivered bad news for the state's regional residents and small businesses yesterday in the form of a significant jump in electricity costs. But there is some good news for solar power system owners. The QCA is charged with the task of setting regulated retail electricity prices\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "General Solar & Storage News"","block_context":{"text":"General Solar & Storage News","link":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/category\/solar-battery-news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Regional Queensland electricity prices","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/regional-qld-electricity.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/regional-qld-electricity.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/regional-qld-electricity.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/regional-qld-electricity.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/regional-qld-electricity.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":4575,"url":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/why-are-solar-owners-charged-gst-on-money-they-never-spent\/","url_meta":{"origin":82198,"position":5},"title":"Why Are Solar Owners Charged GST On Money They Never Spent?","author":"Finn Peacock","date":"March 4, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"I have a 6kW (24 panel) solar system on my roof. My last quarterly electricity bill is here. The good news is that it was for only $33.60. The interesting thing is the breakdown of the $33.60. 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