As the flyer says, with the recent electricity price increases, it may be time to time to think about a battery to complement your solar system. We have rooftop solar that has contributed less to our bill over the last few years as the feed-in tariffs have decreased. Was wondering if anyone has gone ahead with a battery installation? Considering it? Installed but regret it?
This group spams these letters out, I get them from time to time. It feels a bit scammy, but I can't say for certain that they are a scam. Probably just very aggressive marketing.
I have a 10kw battery, and unless you want to feel better than everyone else, I don't think it's worth it. With the battery you should expect your feed in rates to go to zero (increasing your bill), as you'll charge the battery during the day. If you can keep your usage under the battery capacity, your grid usage will be near zero. It's also potentially useful to be able to run your house on battery if you have a power outage, but that is an optional extra ($300).
I tried out Amber for Batteries, but it quickly became clear that there isn't really a way for it to be profitable. Usage is always ~20c higher than feed in, so you need to have a lot of battery capacity to ensure you don't run out and need to start pulling from the grid.
There really is no free lunch anymore, and solar and batteries don't strike me as being valuable investments anymore.
I would not order from a flyer like that.
A few points to look out for:
- no mention of how much storage (kw) your battery will have
- no info to the exact battery type, so you can't compare
- they're trying to put pressure on you with the relatively short time span. 14th September.
- FYI just having an energy storage doesn't necessarily mean it will work in the event of a power outage
I would either ask them for the full details or contact another company and ask for an offer.
I wouldn't even contact this company - I don't trust any company that does business by putting flyers through letterboxes claiming massive discounts over competitors or going door to door (esp when putting time pressure on people to sign up). If it sounds to good to be true, it is.
Is this a one off, or is there a catch? Are they getting the remaining tarrif? If so, it's obviously worth more than you think. They're making money. We need to think, how are they making the money? Is it worth me losing X in the future to gain now?
The discount is from the Victorian gov. The letters will say that the offer expires, but that is just high pressure sales bullshit. You can get the same deals from other battery installers.
As much as I despise Facebook, if you're interested in solar, electricity and generally improving the performance of your home, you should check out the 'My Efficient Electric Home' (MEEH) group.
As other people have said, this seems sus. I work for a PV, inverter and battery manufacturer and that flier has left a lot of things unclear. Like what brand the modules are from? what is the kW rating of the PV array? what is the throughput of the inverter (both ac and dc)? how many batteries? what the kWh storage of each battery?
Even things like: what is the weatherproof (IP) rating on the inverter and battery, this will impact where you install it. What are the warranty periods on the solar modules and battery and inverter.
If you were to even consider going with that you should definitely call and seek clarification on some of the above questions.
If you are generally interested in getting some installed, a good resource to know is Solar Quotes (https://www.solarquotes.com.au/). It is run by an electrical engineer who doesn't seem to be a representative of any of the manufacturers, so it's pretty unbiased. He rates all the different manufacturers for each product too.
I can't comment on the AUS market but I work in battery storage analysis in the UK, and given the state of our energy market, it's definitely a good time to invest. We have some half hourly variable import and export tariffs that can be capitalised on. The main thing is to do your research on what product and capabilities you want as there are a lot of cowboys around trying to sling in the cheapest/simplest system they can.
