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The bright sides of solar
Solar energy is clean energy. It reduces pollution and your reliance on the electricity grid because you’re generating your own power. A huge benefit of this is lower electricity bills while reducing carbon emissions.
Plus, with a battery system, you can store your unused power for later (regardless of the weather) or send (sell) it back to the grid. In addition, your home’s value can be increased with solar power, so it’s a good long-term investment, and requires low maintenance overall too.
Why switch to solar power?
As Australia makes the transition towards increased renewable energy sources, more and more homes and businesses are switching to solar power.
Alongside the great environmental benefits, there are more good reasons to switch to solar.
- Saving on power bills
Generating and storing your own electricity can lead to reduced energy bills and along with the financial benefit, you also start to become energy independent. - Benefit from the energy you generate
Aside from using the energy to power your home If your solar panels generate excess energy, it doesn’t need to go to waste. You can either store it via a battery for later, or sell it back to us.
Bonus: if you have a battery: you can take part in our PowerResponse Virtual Power Plant (VPP). - Low maintenance, more value
Aside from routine maintenance, cleaning and health checks, your solar system will largely be set-and-forget (plus you’ll add value to your home).
How does solar power work?
Energy harnessed from the sun is called solar energy. The process of harnessing this energy happens in the following stages:
Our solar partner, eko energy
Originally established in 2007, eko energy has installed over 10,000 solar PV and battery storage systems around Australia with a proven track record for quality.
As a member of the Clean Energy Council, eko energy is committed to responsible sales and marketing as well as solar industry best practice.
When it comes to customer service, quality and experience, we couldn’t be happier to be partnered with eko energy (part of the Echo Group) as we know our solar power customers are in good hands.
Featured brands
The range of products eko energy provides are Clean Energy Council approved and come with a range of functions and warranties.
FAQs
Environmental
When you switch to solar energy, you play a key role in Australia’s shift towards clean and renewable power. This is because solar energy comes from sunlight, making it a sustainable source of energy which does not produce any direct greenhouse gas emissions.
Financial
Solar energy can reduce your electricity bills because by generating and using your own power, you’re using less power from the grid. You can sell unused excess power back to the electricity grid if you choose.
Low maintenance, more value
Aside from routine maintenance, cleaning and health checks, your solar system will largely be set-and-forget (plus you’ll add value to your home ).
Solar panels are installed in a non-shady spot so that they can capture the sun’s energy. This energy is captured as direct current (DC) and must be converted to alternating current (AC). It’s then sent to an inverter to be converted for use in your home or office. This power can be sold back to the grid or stored in a battery if it’s not used immediately.
On sunny days, your solar panels may capture more energy than you actually use. When that happens, excess energy is either stored in a local battery for later use or sold back to the grid.
This means that during the cloudy days, if you have bought and installed a battery, energy you’ve stored in the past can be drawn from it. If you didn’t store energy and your panels aren’t generating enough energy to power your home, additional energy will be purchased from the grid.
Although cloudy days don’t generate as much energy, the sun’s UV rays still provide some power.
Australia, north-facing roofs with minimal shade and enough space are ideal for installing solar panels. However, there are often workarounds if your home doesn’t have the ideal roof for solar panels.
If you’re unsure about your roof’s solar compatibility, reach out to our partners and solar experts eko energy for help. You can get in touch with eko energy on 1300 740 784 or by emailing hello@ekoenergy.co.
Originally established in 2007, eko energy has installed over 10,000 solar PV and battery storage systems around Australia with a proven track record for quality.
As a member of the Clean Energy Council, eko energy is committed to responsible sales and marketing as well as solar industry best practice.
eko energy is part of Echo Group, EnergyAustralia’s solar partner. This partnership gives our customers the certainty that we’re committed to being a strong and reliable solar provider now and into the future.
Making the most of your solar connection
Now you’re connected, monitoring your solar usage information is easy with the EnergyAustralia mobile app. You can track how much solar energy you’ve used and how much excess energy has been fed back into the grid.
Find out more about the EnergyAustralia app here.
Plus, if you want to know more about getting the most out of your connection, check out our solar power blog.
Feed-in tariffs
A feed-in tariff (FiT) is a credit you can receive for any unused electricity sent back to the grid. It's usually a set rate per kilowatt hour paid as a credit on your bills.
If eligible, you can be paid a solar FiT with any of our electricity plans, though your solar rates and your electricity rates have separate terms and conditions. If a solar rate changes, we’ll let you know before you’re affected.
To give you an indication of what rate you may be eligible for, here's a table of our current feed-in tariffs:
Single rate FiT
| State | EnergyAustralia FiT (cents per kWh)^ |
| VIC |
7.1* |
| NSW | 7.6 |
| ACT | 7.6 |
| SA | 8.5 |
Currently, with a retailer FiT, you’re paid one rate for any excess energy that you export back to the grid.
*The minimum feed-in tariff price set by the Essential Services Commission is 6.7c/kWh.
Time of use FiT
| State | Peak (3pm-9pm Weekdays) |
Shoulder (7am-3pm, 9pm-10pm Weekdays; 7am-10pm Weekends) |
Off Peak (10pm-7am everyday) |
|
VIC |
11.6 cents per kWh^ | 6.5 cents per kWh^ | 7.1 cents per kWh^ |
The minimum feed-in tariff prices set by the Essential Services Commission are 10.9c/kWh (peak), 6.1c/kWh (shoulder) and 6.7c/kWh (off peak).
For residential customers in Victoria, the time of use (TOU) FiT will pay varying rates that better reflect demand on the grid at different times of the day. Currently, you have a choice of either the single rate FiT or a TOU FiT.
^Rates are GST exclusive. We’ll pay you GST if you’re a business customer registered for GST and provide us with your Australian Business Number (ABN). Our rates will generally be adjusted annually, and we’ll notify you in advance when this happens.
Your solar FiT is an add-on to your plan, which means the rates are not fixed. This is explained in EnergyAustralia’s ‘Terms and Conditions’ and in the ‘Welcome Pack’ that is either posted or emailed out to you once you have signed up to one of our plans.
There are two main types of rebates that customers with solar power can be eligible for:
Small-scale Technology Certificates (STCs)
STCs are electronic certificates created when eligible solar power systems or solar water heaters are installed.
Government rebates
Governments may offer rebates to support solar panel installations. To find out more, check out your state government website to see if there are any government rebates currently available.
If you're a new customer, call 1800 171 209 to switch your plan or electricity to EnergyAustralia.
If you're an existing EnergyAustralia customer, call 1800 703 035 to add a feed-in tariff to your plan.