2 Meters and Solar installation

[KrisG]

Recently moved to new place and connected with AGL.

Scheduled a Solar system installation as well.

Now i came to know i have  2 meters, one for hot water and one for rest of the house. This is just my assumption as i see 2 meter under my AGL account. haven't got first bill yet. I am not even sure if HWS is timed.

Now, if i install solar, what approach is best for my situation?

should i consolidate both meters to one(to the main meter) and timed HWS  to run during day time when i have decent solar power? Is this possible? should i talk to sparky first before solar installations?

This is my first home and i am really not sure where to start. i just want to use my solar to its full potential and reduce drawing power as much possible.

Thank you in advance.

[Lester]

@KrisG sounds like you have normal and controlled load meters.

We had always had the old analogue meters with both, and when we went solar also had 2 new digital 'smart' meters fitted.

The main registers normal TOU (time of use) and solar, the other CL TOU (controlled load) on the HWS.

Now, we don't NEED the CL, and in fact would be better off just having it on the main supply meter with a 'dumb' timer set for productive daylight solar times (or 0000 - 0600 on 8c EV rate, but that's another plan option to normal).

That's in the pipeline, along with a couple of trees to be trimmed or removed.

As far as getting educated on solar, a VERY wise move before investing !

Go to https://www.solarquotes.com.au/

Read up, get some basic knowledge.

Use their service to find 3 local solar experts to give you a no obligation quote.

There are many great YouTube videos on Aussie based solar too, so google around and search there for more info.

You really have to be home and use most of your power during the day to get the most from solar, and / or get a battery form the start to really pretty much eliminate your bill totally (as long as you get some overkill on system size, and there is a little feed in tariff to wipe the supply charge).

Feed in is in most parts of the country just considered icing on the cake, the real savings are using you power to reduce peak tariff pricing during the day when the suns shining (hopefully).

Your site situation will dictate what solar you need, trees / other shading, local weather patterns, but most solar places will now recommend getting a larger system than you might think needed, they really aren't that much dearer now, overkill your needs, as winter production really drops off.

We ended up with 11.23kw system, SolarEdge inverters (2 x 5kw on 2 phases) and their optimisers to make the most of every panel whether partially shaded or not.

Good you asked, so you can get a bit of an education and make an informed decision.

Al lthe best with finding the right solar and then retailer / plan.

[Lester]

@KrisG I read your post again and noted . . .

"i just want to use my solar to its full potential and reduce drawing power as much possible."

Now, this led me to check my reply, and I didn't mention a battery.

After I installed had my solar system installed, I think it would have been a couple of weeks when I realised a battery would virtually eliminate all of our bills.

So look very carefully at that too while getting solar, it'll save a couple of grand doing it same time.

A big investment, you have to look at what the solar alone based on your times at home and usage needs, will do vs with a battery.

It could be your bills if low will be virtually wiped anyway with solar alone, using a good sized system to cover daytime use and feed in to cover supply charge and at least part of non daytime usage.

Our first bill on full solar billing period is looking to be $200 total, and as we hit winter I expect the next to be perhaps $350, and then dropping again to $200 odd, and in summer could be nil, with even the tiny feed in amount covering supply charge for that period.

This bill would have been $1000 for sure, so happy with 80% saving result.

We are however putting 70% of our production into the grid each day, a waste for the household for sure, that could easily cover our night use from a battery.

Is it worth me investing another $12,000 - $15,000, then to cover $750 cost a year, vs just be happy with around $2900 a year saved on solar alone ?

A 5 year payback is not too bad on the battery, then no bills for another 7 years or so until things need reassessing.

It's not an easy calculation, the solar companies do seem to underestimate a systems' output, so definitely go for a bit of overkill on system size, based on you usage.

Also your area might have better feed in tariff, lower usage tariffs, better time of use tariffs, etc, so look at all of that.