How Helen Cut Her Shocking Electricity Bill
Helen has lived in the same village for close on 40 years. Welby, in the Southern Highlands of New South Wales. It is her home forever, and she is not moving anywhere. What changed was her power bill. It was a shock every month, and it kept getting worse. So she took action, and a solar and battery system installation is how she did it.
This is her story. Here is what it covers:
- why rising bills pushed Helen to act
- why she chose a local installer she felt she could trust
- how she made the most of her north-facing roof
- what the install and the aftercare were actually like
What made Helen decide to install solar and battery storage?
The bills did. “They were quite a shock every month and were getting more so as time went on,” Helen says. “So I had to take some action.”
There was a second reason, and it was sitting right above her head. Helen’s home faces north. “I face north and have all this wonderful free energy streaming in,” she says. “It would have been a total waste not to use that to the best advantage.” A home solar installation turns that free sunshine into power she can actually use, and a battery holds it for later. For Helen, letting it go to waste was not an option.
Why did Helen choose a local solar and battery installer she could trust?
She looked around first. “I did check out a few other places,” she says, “but I kept coming back to Lenergy, mainly being local, and backup and support going forward.”
That was the deciding factor. The confidence that someone nearby would still be there after the install. “I think the ease of dealing with Lenergy and the chaps who run it went across everything with me,” she says. “So I felt confident.” For a decision meant to last decades, knowing who to call mattered more than anything else.
How did Helen make the most of her north-facing roof?
She maximised it. Helen installed the largest system her home could take: a 13.2kW solar array paired with 40.3kWh of battery storage and two 5kW inverters. That is a lot of residential battery storage, and it was a deliberate choice.
“I installed the maximum number of solar panels that was possible for this location, and the same with the battery,” she says. “So I’m maximising what I have, the space that I have, and utilising all this beautiful sunshine that just streams in with the north-facing aspect.”
A north-facing roof is the ideal starting point for solar in Australia, which is worth understanding before you settle on a layout: read more on getting your roof orientation right. Pair a well-oriented array with a battery and you capture the daytime sun and use it after dark, which is where the real savings from solar panels tend to come from.
What was Helen’s experience working with Lenergy?
Straightforward, by her account. “Oh, it was fine,” she says. “I can ring up the office, speak to Aysha, Danielle, Matthew, any of them, and they straight away get on to it. Or I can call in there if I need to, which I think I did once or twice.”
Then the line that says the most about a local installer: “Oh yes. They know me by name.”
That is the backup and support Helen was after in the first place. A real person who picks up, and a name she can put to the voice.
Would Helen recommend going solar with Lenergy?
She already does, without being asked. “I already have, to many of my friends,” she says. “Having lived here for so long, I know a lot of people who are going down this path, so I always mention it.”
For a homeowner weighing up whether a battery earns its keep, Helen’s answer is a lived one: she went as big as her roof allowed. If you are still deciding, it helps to work through whether a home battery is worth the investment for your own place, and to understand why solar homes can still receive a bill before you size a system.
Read next: Mistakes to Avoid When Buying a Solar Battery.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much can a solar and battery system reduce my electricity bill?
It depends on your usage, your roof, and the size of your system. A well-sized solar and battery setup lets you run on your own stored sunshine through the expensive evening peak instead of drawing from the grid, which is where most of the reduction comes from. Helen’s own driver was a bill that was “quite a shock every month,” and her response was to install the largest system her home could fit so she could make the most of the free energy hitting her north-facing roof.
How long does it take to install a home solar and battery system?
For most homes the physical install is completed in a day or two, depending on system size and roof access. The full process, from first quote to switch-on, usually runs a few weeks once approvals and scheduling are sorted. A larger system like Helen’s, with a 13.2kW array and 40.3kWh of storage, sits at the bigger end, so it is worth asking your installer for a timeline for your specific home.
Is a home battery storage system worth the investment?
For many homeowners, yes, and it comes down to how much of your own solar you can use rather than export. A battery stores your daytime generation for use at night, when grid power costs the most. Helen chose to install the maximum battery capacity her home could take for exactly that reason. Whether it suits you depends on your usage pattern and budget, which a local installer can work through with you.
