Allan Reid has not paid a cent for electricity to his East Bowral home since 2010.
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With the rising costs of electricity, he has found a way to ensure he stays ahead of the curve and make his electricity work for him.
Allan has installed a Tesla home battery storage system to store energy to use at night.
“I installed solar panels in 2010, and they were just covering electricity costs,” he said.
“With the cost of electricity rising, the difference between creating energy for the grid and getting something back for it has been lessening.”
Since the solar power rebate was cut from 60 cents per kilowatt to six cents per kilowatt, Allan decided he needed to add something to his renewable energy technology.
He went to Mittagong-based business Simmark Southern Highlands, after attending a renewable energy seminar.
“This single company does the whole lot, I’m very happy with them,” Allan said.
Simmark employees monitored the Reid household’s energy usage over a month to discover how they could reduce electricity consumption and which battery storage solution would be best for the house.
“We now do our washing and dishwashing during the day, when we’re getting the sun and using the panels,” Allan said.
“Then we use the stored energy at night for lights, television, etc when we’re not making power. We also now switch off applicances at the powerpoint, it makes a difference.”
The Reid’s also bought a new, more energy-efficient fridge, now use a gas kettle and are more conscience about how they are using their power.
Simmark branch manager Henry de Wilde said they needed to monitor the house for a month to get the clearest picture of what the customer needed.
“A lot of people generalise from the size of the house, or run off old bills,” he said.
“People also don’t realise that solar panels create power from the sun’s rays, not heat, so you can generate power on rainy or cloudy days.”
While a Telsa battery can cost between $10,000-$12,000, customers can get some money back from the Clean Energy Rebate, and be paid for how much energy they put back into the grid.
The government has recently announced a plan to raise the current tariff of 5.5-7.2 cents per kW to 11.6-12.6 c/kW.
If you’re interested in a solar battery, Simmark Southern Highlands is holding a free seminar on managing energy bills in the Highlands at the Bradman Museum on June 15, from 5.30pm to 6.30pm.
Find out more at www.simmark.com.au or visit the business at 4/9A Lyell Street, Mittagong.