All things Solar (merged threads)

[poppa smurf]

just got my account from Lumo........it shows a $616.67 credit......including a very rude $88 supply charge if you don't mind for 88 days ( dollar a day??) the buggers keep moving the goal post, sign a contract for one charge and they change it with little or no notification

how can it be a "contract" if they can change it at will

whilst I am happy that i got this credit it does not add up with my calculations!

by my figures I should have been pushing the $1,000 mark by now....so I have some "number crunching" and an irate phone call to make where there will be many threats and much gnashing of teeth.....well I shall voice my grievance in the strongest of whimpy terminology anyway

[EgoFG]

Hey Pop,

The first thing to do it check their reading of your meter(s) against your readings on the same day.

Lumo's policy is that will allow you to drop the contract for a cheaper one, as long as you give them the option of meeting it first.

Do a little "finger" work on the phone, and you may get them cheaper.

[poppa smurf]

well the thing is I negotiated a pretty good deal about 4 - 6 months ago, Lumo then immediately, well within a month, changed the tariffs.....given it was a "contract" that I agreed to I fail to see how they can then turn around, break the contract, with ink still wet, and change it

I checked with other suppliers and found cheaper winter tariffs (saving) but dearer summer tariffs (loss).....it averaged out that I was better off with Lumo

this was around the time all energy suppliers hitched up the prices

these different tariffs (anytime step 1 and anytime step 2 confuses the crap out of me)

the account does not show a day to day reading and Lumo cannot get a daily reading as the meter is read quarterly

when i get time I will study the figures a bit more then give them a ring, I have a total of my figures that differ from theirs so I'll see how I go

but as yet our monetary figures differ quite a bit in their favour

[xisled]

Originally Posted by poppa smurf

just got my account from Lumo........it shows a $616.67 credit......including a very rude $88 supply charge if you don't mind for 88 days ( dollar a day??) the buggers keep moving the goal post, sign a contract for one charge and they change it with little or no notification

how can it be a "contract" if they can change it at will

whilst I am happy that i got this credit it does not add up with my calculations!

by my figures I should have been pushing the $1,000 mark by now....so I have some "number crunching" and an irate phone call to make where there will be many threats and much gnashing of teeth.....well I shall voice my grievance in the strongest of whimpy terminology anyway

With the contract thing. It will say that they can alter the rate. All retailers have a similar thing. Unless you get a rate freeze plan. But the thing about the rate freeze, once the time is up, you rate jumps up to the market rate and you get a massive price increase.

One thing that I say to people when speaking to the energy retailer. There is not point yelling at the customer service team, as they cannot change your bill. The billing department is the team that will look at your bill. Most retailers you will not be able to speak to the billing team.

[poppa smurf]

I never yell nor lose my temper....totally fruitless .....I gather all relevant info and hit them with figures

if they cannot answer me truthfully, honestly and correctly then they have lost my business

[xisled]

Originally Posted by poppa smurf

I never yell nor lose my temper....totally fruitless .....I gather all relevant info and hit them with figures

if they cannot answer me truthfully, honestly and correctly then they have lost my business

The problem with energy retailers is the person your speaking to in customer service has nothing to do with the billing side. Once you get off the phone it gets sent to another department to investigate the invoice. Most customer service people have very limited knowledge of the billing side of things.

Even if people request to speak with a team leader, it still does not get you very far as most team leader knows less than the customer service rep.

If you got a customer service rep that did billing it would be good, but in saying that customer service is a step backwards for a person who does billing.

I came across this every day. Customer service saying 1 thing, because that is what they are told to say, but when it gets to my area, what they have told the customer is incorrect.

[poppa smurf]

yep I find the first person is not in a position to do much but when I start talking solar, price, tariffs shifting suppliers and so forth I am quickly shunted to folks with a bit more power

I find Lumo, or come to that, all energy companies that I yak to are pretty good.....sometimes can be hard to hear or understand them because of language or their headset microphone position or simply my hearing

[rancidpunx]

Can somebody point me in the direction of what the readings on the metre are and mean. I have an Atlas Mk10a, which flashed between 2 settings, 1 and 40. They read 1 - 140 and 40 - 210. I have been told theres some arrows on the display that indicate whether I am exporting or now but I cant seem to see them. Cheers

[poppa smurf]

one should be the "export"......solar production going to grid

and the other should be "import" power coming from grid

which is which I don't know

I did a bit of research and found this...... http://www.wpdsmartmetering.co.uk/ge...city-V1-0.aspx

should help you a little I hope

[paule11]

System installed on the 26th of September meter on the 2nd of November got a bill for $88 this week normnally would have been about $700. We have had our roof painted as well so that would reduce air conditioning costs

[rancidpunx]

Thanks poppa, just found this as well

[rancidpunx]

So my calculations are the we have used 140wh at 25c from our supplier and sold 210kwh at 50c. So we are $70 ahead after 10days of solar. Does that sound right? Happy with that considering we have had 2 rainy days in that.

[poppa smurf]

well without having all figures at hand I would say it sounds about right

I found the one you showed as well but thought it may confuse a little......I was looking for an operational manual

I reckon it could be found with a little more research, it appears there is more than one screen which can be accessed by holding the button in for greater than a 3 second time period, this brings up various options

good result paule11....well done

[prydey]

Originally Posted by rancidpunx

at 25c from our supplier

hmmm, here in sa, the min charge is almost 10c up on that. i'm sure they would argue 'supply v demand' or something like that but it doesn't seem right.

[stevejg33]

Originally Posted by rancidpunx

So my calculations are the we have used 140wh at 25c from our supplier and sold 210kwh at 50c. So we are $70 ahead after 10days of solar. Does that sound right? Happy with that considering we have had 2 rainy days in that.

25 cents per kilowatt hour, I wish. In S.A. we are paying around 35 cents

[ute83]

Momentum energy here in Vic, 26.55 cents per kwh peak gst inc, 13.27 off peak, and 78.36 cents charge per day all fixed for12 months.

[stevejg33]

In S.A. we are so lucky, (sarcasm) we get summer peak usage between 1st Jan to 31 March, which means our 35 cents / kwh goes up to around 40 cents / kwh

[poppa smurf]

Originally Posted by stevejg33

In S.A. we are so lucky, (sarcasm) we get summer peak usage between 1st Jan to 31 March, which means our 35 cents / kwh goes up to around 40 cents / kwh

with a swing of that size I think it is time to compare retailers......Lumo (for one) dont charge a higher rate for summer........I'm paying $0.32c per kilowatt year round

here is one site simply for comparison........ http://www.switchwise.com.au

never feel you have to stay with one supplier, be prepared to walk

talk to your supplier for a better deal

[poppa smurf]

after tangling with my "water broom" thingy and straining to get the last foot or so of my panels from the last step of my ladder I found out the bloody thing EXTENDS

I was in my own little world, washing the panels..... when she who must be the possessor of all things shiny and expensive took it from me while I was getting off the ladder

she said "thats a good one"

I said it would be far better if it went out another foot or so

she said ......"like this you mean".......she gave the handle a twist and extracted another 4 foot

I just stared blankly and said ......"yes dear, ....exactly like that!"

talk about things that make you go HMMmmmm!.......all that straining and struggling......I just hung my head

[Captain Stubing]

You have to know when to be humble and accept defeat...

[poppa smurf]

humble was not really amongst my thoughts.......the words that jumped to mind would have earned me a very quick and smart clip round the lug holes

however I cooked her tea last night, roast beef with all the trimmings.....all cooked in the Cobb......bewdifull!

[gtxb67]

we just got our first bill since the solar went on

the previous bill was $392
this one was $79 - including a $44 fee for meter alterations

for the first 51 days, we were charged $254.54 - no solar at this point
for the last 43 days, we were $218.07 in credit
from my basic guess, for a full billing period we would have been around $450 in credit, which seems to be approximately an $850 turn around . . . although that seems too good to be true

from owing $400
to being owed $450

and our panels have not been cleaned yet, and we still have a neighbour's tree casting a shadow on our panels at present, so maybe it will get better soon

[prydey]

thats very good. what size system did you go with again?

41 degrees here in adelaide today, and with scattered clouds, and mine has generated over 20kwh so far. i expected it to be quite a bit lower given the heat, although there is a bit of a breeze as well.

[poppa smurf]

well done......damn fine result!

[gtxb67]

thanx guys - it seems too good to be true
it is only a 3kw system, but either way, it is great so far

[prydey]

3kw! your usage must be very low!

[gtxb67]

Originally Posted by prydey

3kw! your usage must be very low!

we averaged around 10kw a day and now it is 6 (that we pay for anyway)
i used to think we used a lot until i asked some friends and saw some posts on here

[davenl5l]

got my xmas present from agl yesterday my first credit $124.87. love it when a plan comes together!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[poppa smurf]

yep!.....I agree....well done.....I'm consistently between $5 and $6 per day in front after all usage is paid for

cleaned my panels yesterday morning, produced 23.5kilowatts in the 24 hours from 6pm wednesday to 6pm yesterday

before that i was producing around the 21Kw mark consistently ....so either we had a perfect production day or the panels were extra filthy......weather has been similar although warming up slightly over the past week

but I'm happy that the system is working right for you.......time to look forward to your electricity account from now on

[Rastus]

I'm still waiting on my first bill. Solar was put on in June, but the new smart meter was installed mid August, so we had a small bill from the final reading of the old meter.
I would've thought I'd get my next bill 3 months (quarter) later as a result. (Late November.). Or could it be that when you're in credit there's no hurry...but when you owe them it's in the mail straight away. ;-)
[Vic Powercor/Red Energy]