Power bills, we all hate them?

[VK5PJ]

Hi fellow forum readers,
  I have for a long time now cringed each time a power bill arrived from our retailer (one of the big nation wide ones).  Over the years I have tried all sorts of strategies to lower our power bill, some bad, (trying to go off grid for the shack with some deep cycle batteries) and some good ones (fitting a Teslar battery after I nearly burnt the shack down with the deep cycle batteries).

No matter what I try we always seem to be paying out for power even though we have no reverse cycle AC and have a wood fire for winter.  I guess me running the HAM shack gear 24/7 is a big part of my problem LOL.

I ran across an advert for a power company with a difference, where they let you access the WHOLESALE power market and you get to buy power when its cheap and sell back from your battery when power prices are High, all to YOUR advantage not the power companies profit.

In many ways for people who have a good glob of Solar and Battery storage this model of power usage is a great way to make the market work for you.  Now I have no affiliation other than being an aspiring customer.  I have a friend a few kilometres away (also a HAM) who has been with them for a little while now and has only good things to say about this company (will not drop any names here).

So do you have grid connected Solar at home, a Grid connected storage battery and feel like you could be doing more with this equipment other than making profits for your power company? 

Sorry if this sounds like a sales pitch but I wanted to try and convey the idea that we can do better with what a lot of us have already, I will not include the name of the company directly in here but will link a video about the how wholesale power works, from that you will be able to see their name in the video.

https://www.yout-ube.com/watch?v=tYyM7Nf9EZw

Wholesale power on Youtube 

Oh if your wondering why there is a '-' in the URL between the T and U in youtube, well that fools their playback to not include adverts  give it a go on other youtube videos and see the difference it makes.

Dear Mr senior Admin, if this is bad content, please remove it.

[VK3RX]

To include the radio side in the subject

I've not yet gone down the solar path so have limited knowledge but the experience of a couple of guys I know has made me a tad wary.

One I believe spent about $20k on a kit i.e. a large set of panels etc., a wall battery and he gets some form of feed-in tariff.  

He admits that it will take quite a while to recover the cost of the system, and then at some point there will be panel & battery replacement. He did do his research beforehand WRT to the exact models of kit and I believe he has no RF interference.

Another gent, beforehand it was recommended to him that he also do his research i.e. find out from his installer addresses where he had put in the same system he was considering, so he could go around with (say) a AM & SW portable to assess RF interference. He didn't, has lost AM band reception and the lower end of SW and now has an issue getting the installer to do something about it. it was also recommended he specify EU manufactured panels etc. but not sure he did ....

Oh, and thanks for the tip re the "-" on Youtube - works a treat -

[VK5PJ]

Hi Damien,
 sorry to hear a friend has lost some access to some of the SW bands, there are some sure fire choices on the inverter front but saying that now is of no help to him I guess. 

In my case it was the NBN antenna that wiped out HF for me and after an 'upgrade' to a newer version I was able to listen to the AM broadcast bands and 160mx again.  Solar and battery have been very quiet, only when the battery is fully charged do I hear a few whimpers on some spot frequencies on HF.

I eventually went to a battery as our power has been terribly unreliable over the majority of my time living here in the outer Barossa, the Grid connected battery gives us some degree of blackout protection and allows us to time shift our solar generation into the night time, where we are  generally 100% self powered if the sun has been kind during the day.  

Many of the major companies pay you a pittance for your Solar exports and it can feel like you are being used when you compare the rate you buy at and the rate for the same electrons you have put into the grid.

I will not go all soap box on why to buy solar, I am sure there are many financial reason about why not to do it but some times there is more than just the money that counts.  For me, I am about to add a second battery with my last pay day from my current job (my last job I hope) and will use that to sure up the power reserves and dabble in the wholesale power market.  These may be my famous last words but hope it works out for me as many many others are already doing it.

As I want to keep running VHF WSPR and listening on SIX 24x7 I have had to do something about our power bill or it will become a problem as I stop working soon.

[VK5TM]

Had a look and tried their quote option - I think I'll wait until there are some rather more transparent reviews on the outfit.

'Oh, and thanks for the tip re the "-" on Youtube - works a treat' - Just be aware that is not Youtube site, it is an interface between you and Youtube - you might want to read their privacy statement.

I find Ghostery does a fine job of keeping the Ads at bay.