Avoid Simply Energy if You Have Solar Panels (at Least in SA)

highwind on 03/03/2015 - 14:36
Last edited 03/03/2015 - 14:36

Was checking the electricity bill (SA based) and just thought I'd let people know that, if you're with Simply Energy and have solar panels on your roof, they're charging you 35% more for daily supply charges (+27.423c per day) than if you didn't. It may not sound like much, but that's ~$100 per year extra, regardless how much you feed into the grid. No other energy company does this.

http://www.simplyenergy.com.au/pdf/Resources/SA/Price-Fact-S…

http://www.simplyenergy.com.au/pdf/Resources/SA/Price-Fact-S…

As a household that feeds in more electricity than we use, this is a lot more expensive than other energy companies with poorer rates. We're now switching to AGL, which (from my calculations) give the best rates for solar users in SA.

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Comments

  • Jacqueline DB on 03/03/2015 - 14:48
    +1

    We're looking for solar panels for the Mansfield area. Any recommendations on what I should/should'nt do in terms of the technology?
    Thanks

    • highwind on 03/03/2015 - 16:49

      Well currently, the feed-in tariff is pretty much non-existent, so I would firstly suggest working out how much power you consume daily and match/go under that in terms of solar panel wattage. Anything excess you export to the grid won't get you very far.

      Also note that it is generally a two-meter system, so what you export is calculated separate to what you import - So if you generate a lot during the day, but only use power at night, your consumption remains similar, and the power you generate will not benefit you.

      In terms of technology… We installed ours a few years back, and so the current panels would be quite different from ours. They're probably all made in China, same with the inverters, so I doubt there would be significant difference between companies… My suggestion is to go with a company that's likely to last for a bit, since they're the ones that you would contact in case the panels fail (it takes a few years to recoup costs, so ideally you need the panels to last till then).

  • burningrage on 03/03/2015 - 14:58
    +1

    In Melbourne, if you belong to one of the SP Ausnet distribution network and have installed Solar Panel,

    you will be forced to move to a GH/GR Rate that entails near 100% increase of supply charge vs its GD Tariff.

    Thats an increase from 78c (GD) to nearly 150c per day (GH/GR)

    That's $284 per annum.

    The difference with Simply Energy is, they were loud about it. With SPAusnet, they went quiet as they are distributor so they're kind of off the radar. Simply Energy is not, they're retailer and so bear the front end of the brunt of publicity.

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