As the days start getting longer, it will soon be time to dust off the cozzy and clean the BBQ. For many Solaray customers, the summer months are also when their power bills are close to $0, despite having the pool pumps running and the air conditioner on most afternoons.

From September, a solar system in Sydney will begin outputting significantly more solar power, often enough to run everything in the home during the daytime, plus generate excess solar power that is stored in a battery to then use at night.

Don’t miss out on the best months of the year for solar

Putting solar on the backburner until after summer could cost you over $1000 in savings on your power bill.

A 5kW solar system could save you up to around $1000 by the end of summer, while a 10kW system could save you up to around $2000! That’s assuming all the solar power is used in the home as it is generated, and that your cost of electricity is 25 cents per kWh. Many households are now paying a lot more than that due to the skyrocketing price of electricity, especially if you are on time of use billing. Here are the average daily output figures of a 5kW solar system in Sydney, by month, provided by the Clean Energy Council:

Uncertainty around future STC prices

There is also a lot of uncertainty around STC prices at the moment (the government incentive). Basically, the larger the system, the more certificates you get, and the more each certificate is worth, the larger the price reduction is when you install solar power.

Last year we saw a big drop in the STC price from around $37 to $31. That resulted in a price increase of over $500 for a 5kW system and over $1000 for a 10kW system. The STC price is expected to do the same this year and it has already started moving down. There are many people predicting the STC price may actually drop as low as $25, significantly reducing the value of the government’s incentive.

Could the government rebate be completely scrapped?

There were rumours from the Coalition’s party room that the federal government was going to adopt the recommendation by the ACCC to completely scrap the SRES (commonly referred to as the government’s solar rebate).

In the end, the dispute over the National Energy Guarantee ultimately resulted in a change in Prime Minister, and a formal position on solar rebates was brushed to the side… for now.
But the recommendation by the ACCC to scrap the solar incentive is still the latest advice, and there is no indication what will transpire over the coming months.

Our advice remains unchanged

Our advice is simple: the sooner you install solar power, the sooner you will be generating your own electricity for a fraction of the price you would otherwise be buying it from the grid. The price of solar power can be as low as 5-10 cents per kWh so every day you don’t have solar is a day you are missing out on these potential savings.

With regards to the government rebate, your price is locked in when you place an order. You get the full value of the government’s incentive upfront so once you have a system installed, it no longer matters what happens to the STC price or the scheme in general. If you choose to hold off, the STC price could drop, or the government may even scrap the scheme entirely. This would be devastating to the solar industry as solar power systems would rise in price by many thousands of dollars.

So it’s the perfect storm at the moment. Solar pricing is at a record low, Sydney’s long summer days are still ahead of us. Let’s help you go solar now so you can finally do something about those rising power prices.

Request a Solaray Quote Today