You Don't Need a Battery to Get a $0 Power Bill
We speak to a fair few people who are dead set on getting a $0 Power Bill.
And we'll say it upfront - it's not going to happen in winter. But in summer its totally possible, and actually very common!
Thing is though, everyone thinks you need a battery to achieve a $0 Power Bill.
But for a handful of clients - maybe 1/5 people we speak with - they can achieve a bill below zero through the summer months, even without a battery.
Seems crazy, I know. So, how is it possible?
Solar doesn't have to be stored to be valuable
Let's start with the obvious bit.
Your solar panels generate electricity during the day.
If your house is using that electricity at the time, fantastic.
You're using solar instead of buying electricity from the grid.
But what happens when your panels are producing more electricity than your house needs?
You export it.
And your electricity retailer pays you for it.
That exported electricity still has value.
This is important because there seems to be a common belief that:
“If I don't have a battery, I'm wasting all my excess solar.”
But you're not.
You're selling it.
And depending on your electricity retailer and buyback rate, that can be worth a surprisingly decent amount of money.
Here's where it gets interesting
Let's say you've got a big solar system.
During summer, it's generating far more electricity than your house needs - often by twice as much.
Your home might use 1/4 of the solar during the day.
3/4 gets exported to the grid.
Those credits from the power company often add up to more than the cost of your summer time evening loads and fixed daily charges.
We've got a few Google reviews from clients, without batteries, that say 'yup - haven't a bill in 6 months.'
It's not because they stopped using electricity. It's because the math is math-ing.
It's just a mathematical equation.
If your home only uses 2,800 kWh from November through February, but you generate 5,000 kWh with ~20 ish panels, you've got a ton of solar to sell.
Say you use 2,000 kWh of your solar, because most of your summer loads happen between 7am and 7pm.
(This is true for many families. The sun goes down, the aircon goes off, and people sit outside with a beer).
Immediately, your grid demand of 2,800 kWh drops to only 800kWh, because solar provided the rest.
At 35c, your new demand after solar adds up to about $280 over 4 months, plus about the same in daily charges.
So - $560 of your hard earned money should go through to the power company over those 4 sunny months.
But... You sell them them 3,000kWh and get about 17c for it. That's $510.
You're left with a $50 power account for all of Nov, Dec, Jan, and Feb.
See how the math is math-ing? Some people see a bit better results, and others a bit less favourable. But all in all, some people see those $0 summer bills, even without a battery!
You don't need to use every electron yourself
This is one of the biggest misconceptions about solar.
People look at their solar generation and think:
“But if I'm not home during the day, I'm not going to use all of it.”
That's true.
But it doesn't mean the solar is worthless.
Imagine your solar system generates 40 kWh today.
Your house uses 10 kWh while the sun is shining.
You've got 30 kWh left over.
That 30 kWh goes to the grid.
You get paid about $5 for it.
Then you spend that $5 in the evening.
So you don't need to consume 100% of your solar to get value from it.
You just need the exported electricity to be worth something.
And it is.
This is why system size matters
Here's where I think a lot of solar companies miss the mark.
They ask:
“How many panels does my client need?”
And the answer is often based on the clients daytime energy demand.
But that's not necessarily the right question.
A better question is:
“How much panels can I fit, and when does it become unreasonable?”
Because if you've already got the installer there, the scaffolding there, the electrician there and the system being commissioned, adding another five or ten panels can be relatively cheap compared with coming back and doing it later.
And those extra panels can make a huge difference during winter.
Because winter is the problem
Solar generation isn't evenly spread throughout the year.
You can generate an absolute shitload of electricity in summer.
Then winter arrives.
The days are shorter.
The sun is lower.
And suddenly your solar system is producing a fraction of what it was producing in January.
A small solar system just means the client still gets hammered by winter power bills. And what's the point of that?
Let's say your house uses 1,000 kWh in a month.
If your solar system generates 1,000 kWh that month, great.
But if you're only generating 600 kWh in winter, you've still got a significant amount of electricity to buy from the grid.
And there's another important distinction:
If your system generates half of your winter demand, your bills don't drop by half
Because...
Your bill has daily charges too.
If you want half off your winter bills, you need generate 70 - 80% of your usage, and have a battery big enough to make sure that energy goes to your evening loads.
This is why bigger can sometimes be better
Let's say you have two options.
Option A
15 panels.
The system covers a large chunk of your annual electricity consumption.
Looks tidy.
Nice and affordable.
Option B
25 panels.
Costs more.
Generates significantly more electricity.
Produces a lot more surplus in summer.
And gives you much more generation during those cold winter months.
Which one is better?
Well, it depends.
But here's the bit I think people miss:
The extra panels aren't necessarily there to give you more electricity to use during the day.
They're there to give you more electricity full stop.
You can use some.
You can export some.
And that export income can help pay for the electricity you still need to buy from the grid.
That's how you can end up with a very low — sometimes effectively zero — power bill without storing every spare electron in a battery.
And then someone says: “But surely a battery would make it even better?”
Sure.
But this is where the maths starts to math a bit different.
A battery lets you take your excess daytime solar and use it later.
Great!
But it doesn't mean every kWh you put into a battery is suddenly worth the full retail electricity price.
Let's say your electricity costs around 35c per kWh.
And your retailer would pay you about 17c for your exported solar.
If you use that solar yourself later, you've avoided buying electricity at 35c.
But you've also given up the 17c you could have earned by exporting it.
So the incremental value of that stored electricity is roughly:
35c − 17c = 19c per kWh.
That's the bit that gets lost in the conversation about batteries.
The battery isn't creating electricity.
It's moving electricity from one time of day to another.
And you're giving up the export income you could have earned.
Which means batteries aren't automatically a better investment
You might have a $20,000 solar system without a battery that saves you around $2,500–$3,000 a year.
Then you add a battery.
Suddenly the system costs $29,000 or more.
And your annual savings might only increase by a few hundred dollars.
Wait. What?
Yep.
Because if you're already exporting a lot of cheap solar, the battery is only adding value to the difference between your export price and your avoided electricity cost.
Think about it. If a 10kWh battery stores 10kWh in a day, and it saves you 19c per kWh stored, that's only $1.90 in savings per day.
But you don't charge it the whole way on cloudy days...
So, batteries are great. Especially for backup power.
But they're not yet a home-run investment, not like the panels.
So why would you buy a battery?
There are some bloody good reasons.
Backup power.
This is probably the biggest one.
If the grid goes down, a properly configured battery system can keep parts of your home running.
That's pretty awesome.
Your lights stay on.
Your Wi-Fi stays on.
Your fridge stays on.
On sunny days you're laughing.
So, it's less about ROI and more about lifestyle.
Which is probably the same reason you do renovations every 10 years.
Some people simply like the idea of producing and storing their own electricity.
Fair enough.
You don't need to justify that with a spreadsheet.
The important bit is getting the system designed properly
And it starts with a conversation. A good one. Probably a 45 minute one. Preferably with a Solar Broker 😘
And it shouldn't start with:
“How many panels and what size battery do I need?”
But with:
“What am I actually trying to achieve?”
Do you want to:
Reduce your power bills as much as possible?
Get your winter bills down?
Have backup power?
Maximise your return on investment?
Become more energy independent?
Charge an EV?
Heat your hot water with solar?
Generate enough electricity to export a meaningful amount?
Because the answer to those questions changes the system you should buy.
And that's exactly why we don't believe in selling everyone the same 15-panel package with a battery bolted onto it.
Your house isn't the same as everyone else's.
So, do you need a battery?
Maybe.
Maybe not.
If your primary goal is financial, We'd absolutely want to see the numbers before recommending one.
If your primary goal is backup power and energy independence, then, hell yeah!
If you've got a suitable roof and enough electricity usage, you might be surprised by what a properly sized solar system can do without a battery at all.
Because sometimes the best battery for your solar system...
is more solar panels.
And that's probably not the answer you were expecting.
Want to know what makes sense for your home or biz?
That's what Equity Solar Brokers does.
We collaborate with you, and mutually discover the ideal solar system.
We design the system around you and your own solar objectives — not around some monthly promotion or product line.
Then we procure apples-to-apples quotes from trusted solar companies, keeping you anonymous throughout the process.
You don't need to spend weeks talking to salespeople or trying to work out why three completely different solar quotes all claim to be “the best”.
Let us do the heavy lifting.
No sales calls, No AI, No BS.
