Australia’s first SENEC Home set for early payback!
Wayne Spilsbury, the owner of Australia’s first SENEC Home Storage System is well on track to achieving a return on his investment, comfortably inside the products warranty period. Wayne’s battery was installed last August, retrofitting on to his existing 5kW PV array. Having installed the full 10kW system, he is now experiencing a dramatic reduction in his power bills. Using as much as 35kWh per day, his home is at the higher end of the consumption spectrum, thus increasing the need for storage.
“My power bill was costing me a small fortune before, so reducing that by so much has been the main benefit for me.”
Having previously saved around 25% on his energy bill from his solar panels alone, the addition of the SENEC Home has now reduced his bill down from $700 to just $70 in the summer months.
“My SENEC Home has been installed for just under a year, and my energy bill has reduced a further 50% compared to having only solar panels.”
Through the SENEC app, the Spilsbury family have detailed access to their energy consumption. Not only has this allowed them to track their savings, but it also helped to adapt consumption patterns, maximising savings and decreasing payback periods.
“Being able to view our consumption has really helped us adapt our behaviour. Through ‘peak shaving’ we aim to consume the majority of our power during the day, which gives us more freedom to use extra power in the evenings, on the luxuries!”
The Senec.Home updates its software automatically, granting immediate access to the latest functions, whilst keeping the battery management system up to date. The most recent programme to hit Australia is Senec’s intelligent grid charging programme, designed specifically for time-of-use tariffs Australia wide. This latest innovation from Senec allows customers to maximize their savings through ‘tarriff arbitrage’, charging the battery only on the cheapest off-peak tariff, whilst relying on their solar and battery to get them through the expensive peak rate. In the graph below you can see the grid charge in red, starting at 3 am and finishing at 6. This pre-programmed partial charge is enough to support the house through the morning peak until the solar can come in fully. Having then recharged during the day, the battery can support the rest houses demand until midnight, meaning the only power purchased from the grid is at the lowest off-peak rate of 14c, and some small spikes throughout the day.
Whilst the PV system is not optimally sized (too small), considerable savings have already been achieved. With the addition of the tariff arbitrage software, Australia’s first Senec.Home owner is on track to pay the system off well within the warranty period of 10 years.