The short version
- Most Australian homes with solar-only systems use around 28% of what they generate, according to Solar Victoria. Adding a battery typically lifts that to around 60%.
- Shifting appliances into daylight hours takes no new equipment, just a change in habits. Solar Analytics found households that shifted 30% of their consumption saved about $330 a year.
- Your electricity plan is usually the bigger lever. Solar Analytics estimates solar owners save an additional $400 a year on average just by switching to a better plan.
- Most retail plans pay a fixed feed-in tariff for exports, often around 4c per kilowatt hour. Amber Electric passes through the wholesale price instead, which can be worth far more during evening price spikes.
- A battery earns its keep when you've got evening consumption you can't move. On Amber, SmartShift can sell stored energy back at up to $19/kWh at peak, and you keep 100% of it.
Some of these steps take no new spending, just different habits. Others cost money upfront and pay back faster once the free habits are already in place. The list below runs in that order: no-cost changes first, spending second.
What's the fastest way to get more out of solar you already have?
Run high-draw appliances during daylight hours. It's a change in habit rather than a purchase, and it starts working the same day. Solar Victoria recommends running energy-intensive appliances like the dishwasher and washing machine during the day, and notes that electricity is usually cheaper between 10am and 5pm. SA Power Networks runs a similar "solar sponge" window in Adelaide, between 10am and 3pm, and its tariff guidance suggests moving washing machines, dishwashers and pool pumps into it, either manually or on a timer.
This is called load shifting. Solar Analytics found that households shifting 30% of their consumption into daylight hours saved $82 a quarter, close to $330 a year, without touching any hardware.
It also has a ceiling. If the house is empty during the day and most of your usage lands in the evening, there's only so much you can move, and you'll hit that limit quickly. On a wholesale plan like Amber's, that ceiling matters even more, since grid prices in the middle of the day are often at their lowest anyway, and the appliances you can't shift are the ones a battery ends up covering instead.
Are your panels actually producing what they should?
An underperforming system won't tell you on its own. Dust, leaves and bird droppings block sunlight, though SA Power Networks notes rainfall usually deals with most of it, with a clean worth considering during dry spells when dirt builds up. Shade is the bigger risk, because it worsens gradually as trees grow, so keeping panels in full sun matters more over time, not less.
Solar Victoria recommends having your system serviced at least once every two years by a licensed A-Grade electrician. Solar Victoria also suggests checking your bill and inverter to see how much energy is being generated and exported, and tracking that against what your system should produce in current weather. A gap between those two numbers means something has changed, regardless of which retailer you're with, Amber included, since a plan can only pass through wholesale value on the energy your system actually generates.
Does your electricity plan affect your solar returns?
More than load shifting does. Solar Analytics estimates that solar owners can save an additional $400 a year on average simply by switching to a better plan, without touching the hardware at all.
Your plan sets two numbers that matter: what you pay for grid electricity, and what you're paid for what you export. Most retail plans pay a fixed feed-in tariff, and those rates have been falling for years. At around 4c per kilowatt hour, there's little reason to organise your day around exporting more.
Rates also drift over time. Traditional retailers tend to win customers with an attractive opening rate and let it climb afterwards, so the price you signed up on is often not the price you're paying two years later. Solar households are as exposed to that as anyone else. We've written separately about how this loyalty tax works.
How does a wholesale energy plan change solar returns?
It changes what your exports are worth, and when it makes sense to buy.
A traditional retailer buys energy on the wholesale market, adds a markup, and sells it to you. Their margin is the gap between those two prices, so a wider gap suits them better. Amber passes the wholesale price through with no markup, both when you buy energy and when you sell it back, and our only margin is a flat monthly subscription that doesn't move when your bill does.
For exports, that means no fixed feed-in rate. Amber customers get the wholesale price for what they send to the grid, which during an evening price spike can be worth considerably more than a few cents. The same works in reverse: wholesale prices often fall through the middle of the day, sometimes to nothing, right when solar households are already trying to concentrate their usage.
When is a battery actually worth it?
When you've got real evening consumption that can't be shifted into daylight hours. A battery is the biggest cost in this whole process. Try the no-cost changes first and add a battery only for the consumption they can't cover. Solar Victoria's figures show the effect clearly: adding a battery takes typical self-consumption from around 28% to about 60%, on average.
Most batteries arrive set to self-consumption mode, charging from solar during the day and running the house at night. That's a sensible default and it does lower bills. What it can't do is respond to price, because it has no visibility of what wholesale prices are doing at any given moment.
SmartShift, Amber's battery automation, does have that visibility. It charges the battery when energy is cheap or free, holds it, and sells stored energy you're not using back to the grid when prices peak, which can reach up to $19/kWh in those moments. Amber customers keep 100% of those earnings. A VPP, by contrast, controls the battery in its own interest and pays a flat rate for the privilege.
What order should you actually do this in?
Shift what you can into daylight hours first, since it's a change in habit rather than a purchase and starts working this week. Confirm the system is producing what it should. Then look properly at your plan, because on the available numbers it's the biggest single lever for most solar households, and it only takes an afternoon to check. If you're still buying significant grid power after dark once that's done, a battery has a clear job to do. On Amber, that battery can be set to SmartShift and left to respond to wholesale prices automatically, rather than sitting on a fixed feed-in rate that was never built to reward it.
Common questions
How much can I save by shifting my usage into daylight hours? Solar Analytics found households that shifted 30% of their consumption saved $82 a quarter, close to $330 a year. The actual saving depends on how much of your usage is genuinely moveable. Households with most consumption in the evening will see less.
How often should solar panels be cleaned and serviced? SA Power Networks notes rainfall is usually enough to keep panels clean, with a clean worth considering during dry spells. Solar Victoria recommends having the system serviced at least once every two years by a licensed A-Grade electrician.
Is a battery worth it if I'm not home in the evening? Less so. A battery pays back on evening consumption you can't shift into daylight. If you already run most loads during the day, load shifting and your plan will do more for you than storage will, whether that plan is Amber or otherwise.
What's the difference between Amber and a VPP? A VPP controls your battery in its own interest and pays you a flat rate for access to it. With Amber, the battery still works for you. You can run it on SmartShift or take manual control, and you keep 100% of what it earns.
Do exports earn more on a wholesale plan? They can. Most plans pay a fixed feed-in tariff, often around 4c per kilowatt hour, regardless of what energy is actually worth at the time. Amber passes through the wholesale price, which during evening price spikes can be worth far more, and up to $19/kWh at peak for stored battery energy.
