What sort of meter do you have ?
You should have a digital meter, but if a very old system, perhaps not, it could be an old analogue meter.
I think you must have a digital meter, as it is recording solar too . . . unless in early systems there is an analogue meter that records solar feed in and is read like normal with usage meter readings, not sure what .
With solar you generally have to have a 2 way digital meter, and are on TOU (time of use) tariff.
With this, you can view your usage as often as you like, and have a real time update of where your bill is at.
You can download the interval file form the AGL app / website when logged into your account.
See the little icon on the usage page, up near the billing period tab.
If it's shown there, you have a digital meter, and can download your interval file covering 2 years.
On that, you will see solar feed in, and for a typical period you can add this column up easily in Excel or similar, for say your months billing period, then compare to what's shown on the months feed in, and do the sums on that to give you what you actually consumed in the home.
I'll be frank here, as a solar owner that installed last Nov, after much research on systems, options, and power company plans etc, an older system has probably had its time, and is very unproductive, especially in those early system sizes, 3kw is hardly worth it.
Most installers will say "get as much as you can on the roof" (realistically), you never regret going bigger, but plenty regret smaller systems.
I do believe that a modern system in a good productive size can make a huge difference to a homes rising cost of living spiral, but now with things changing in the market, TOU tariffs, future supply charge increases, perhaps even forced demand tariff on many in the future, you are mad to install without that decent size system (10kw of panels at least), and with a battery of 10kw +, for the average home.
Believe me, in winter you will not regret it.
The Tesla Powerwall 3 is out now !!
For new system installers, it is a no brainer.
Built in 10kw inverter, usual capacity of 13.5kw capacity, a few k more than the old PW2, but a huge saving in inverters and really lower cost overall.
Couple with quality panels and you are set for very little power cost, if any.
Get the optional Gateway for blackout protection, and you system can also power essential circuits through the night if power is down.
In winter if you do struggle, you can charge / top off the battery from the grid at your cheapest tariff time.
I plan on getting a battery now before next winter, but with the PW2 now obsolete and probably sold out and no longer available, I will possibly now go with the SolarEdge battery that also suits my system perfectly.
Get onto solarquotes.com.au the blogs there, click on Learn and get some insights, knowledge, to make good educated choices.
Carefully consider site aspects of solar like shading, roof positioning for best year round production, the site above can also put you in touch with a few solar cos to get quotes / advice from.
