Gosford family recoups $2000 in solar savings

The day Lachlan Anderson received a power bill for more than $600 was the same day he made the decision to invest in solar power.

“It was the tipping point for me,” said Mr Anderson.

“Wages aren’t going up but the bills are.

“Between power and water, we needed to find ways to reduce our running costs.”

Mr Anderson shares a two-storey, five-bedroom house with his wife Rachel and their one-year-old daughter in Narara, NSW.

Determined to reduce their power bills – which were consistently between $400 and $600 per quarter – Mr Anderson put in a call to One Power Solar & Electrical, based on a friend’s recommendation.

That phone call has seen the Anderson’s save more than $2000 since their system was installed, money that’s gone a long way towards off-setting the cost of their new solar power system.

The consultation phase

An appointment was set down at their home and One Power Solar Sales Consultant Carl Selvaggio walked them through the process and the various options.

“Carl sat down with us and explained everything,” Mr Anderson said.

“He took the time to consider our home and to work out the best system to suit our roof which has a large flat section facing north.

“It was all really easy to follow and helped us to make the right decision for the size of our home and our energy usage.”

Why they chose One Power

Although there are cheaper systems on the market, Mr Anderson said the fact that One Power Solar does their own installation was a major point of difference.

“Being accountable for the installation is, in my view, as important as the quality of the system itself,” Mr Anderson said.

“Lots of the solar dealers out there will sell you a system and then contract out the installation which is where the problems start.

“One Power handles the job from start to finish so you know they are accountable for their work.”

The installation phase

The Andersons invested in a 6.48kw system comprising 24 panels and a 5kw inverter which took the One Power Solar team a day to get up and running.

“The whole system was installed and configured in a day,” Mr Anderson said.

“They left the site neat and tidy. Because we have a charcoal roof, the panels blend right in and you hardly notice them driving past.

“I’m really happy with the standard of the work and the system continues to save us money.”

Savings with solar

From the day the system was installed in December 2018, it didn’t take long for the Andersons to start seeing a return on their solar investment.

“Our first bill for the quarter was a $70 credit,” Mr Anderson said.

“Since the system was installed we’ve saved more than $2000 which has offset the initial spend on the system.

“It’s pretty much free electricity once that system is paid off.”

The solar monitoring app has been highly educational, he added, by allowing him to monitor their power consumption versus production in real time from his mobile phone.

“At any time of the day I can see if we’re using more power than we’re producing and make changes as needed,” he said.

“We tend to put the dishwasher on in the morning and do a load of washing in the afternoon so the load is shared across the day.”

A final word of advice

For those considering going solar, Mr Anderson has a few tips to pass on from his experience.

“If someone wants to go solar, I would say get the biggest system you can on the space you’ve got.

“I would also say to invest in decent panels and make sure that the person selling the system belongs to the same company that will install it.

“I’ve recommended One Power Solar to five of my neighbours and they’re all really happy with the results. It’s like monkey see, monkey do with solar on our street.”

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