Moving into a House with Solar Panels. How to Get Rebates Added?

• 

  Typical16-bitEnjoyer on 16/12/2019 - 12:36

  +1

  Call a major retailer (Lumo are usless), they can check your meter config and give you a quote.

  If the major retailer can give you a solar quote, then you know the problem is with Lumo.

  If the major retailer cannot give you a solar quote, then you know the problem is something still.

• 

  Chris Topher on 16/12/2019 - 12:40

  Get a solar experienced electrician to check and document it.

  The savings might pay his bill in a year or 2, depending on the FIT you get as a result.

  • 

    Typical16-bitEnjoyer on 16/12/2019 - 13:13

    What exactly are they supposed to "check" and "document" considering they don't configure meters?

    • 

      Chris Topher on 17/12/2019 - 17:37

      "Check" that it is installed properly, working as it should, and safe.

      "Document"? You'd be better asking a solar experienced electrician that one. I have documents from the installer that are copies of the ones sent to my energy wholesaler who controls the electricity here.

      • 

        Typical16-bitEnjoyer on 17/12/2019 - 18:59

        The distributor exchanges/configures the meter. Not the installer.

        Any "documents" would have been sent to the distributor post-install. Waste of OP's time when this won't resolve their issue.

        • 

          Chris Topher on 18/12/2019 - 18:03

          @Typical16-bitEnjoyer: Exchange/configures the meter isn't in the discussion.

          "unable to detect the panels and to get the panels configured" hence my suggestion to get a sparky.

• 

  goldkitkat on 16/12/2019 - 13:23

  +2

  Lumo are indeed useless, but never-the-less, they should know the configuration of your meter (solar + light and power = import and export).

  As a side note, the Victorian government has closed the fund for feed-in tariffs (where you feed excess power back into the grid) for new customers.
  Unfortunately, you are considered a new customer, despite the solar panels on the house being installed earlier when the feed-in tariffs were active. The feed-in tariff only applies to the original customer at the specified address.

  So, the fact that the previous owner of the house had a rebate, doesn't mean you will automatically be entitled to one as well.

  Many retailers do offer retailer solar feed-in tariffs which don't rely on the government fund, but I am not sure if Lumo is one of these retailers. I know the big 3 (Energy Australia, AGL and Origin) have retail solar tariffs which are around 12c/kWh.

  • 

    lgacb08 on 18/12/2019 - 15:00

    What you've referred to is premium fit, any new customer still get guaranteed 12c fit as of now.

• 

  Pootie Tang on 16/12/2019 - 14:42

  What state are you in?

  • 

    slurm on 16/12/2019 - 20:36

    Im in Victoria

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  slurm on 16/12/2019 - 20:48

  Spoke to Lumo again and they said ill need to call the solar company that installed the panels and get them to reconfigure and then send through 3 documents to my energy distributer (powercor)

  1.EWR electrical work request
  2.CES Certificate of electrical safety
  3. Solar Agreement Form

  I feel like im getting the runaround. I didnt think this would be so complicated.

  Ill call around to ask the other major energy companies. I will keep you all updated. Fingers crossed

  • 

    Typical16-bitEnjoyer on 17/12/2019 - 08:40

    Here's a tip. When speaking to them, ask them to provide your meter(s) tariff code(s). They should be in the form of "P13R" "NEE11" "GENR" etc. etc. and there will likely be more than one.

    If they can't give you the tariff code(s) then you're speaking to a level 1 pleb or a crappy retailer. Move on and call another.

  • 

    brad1-8tsi on 17/12/2019 - 11:59

    I'd talk to the electricity supplier (whatever the equivalent of AusGrid is) rather than the retailer as they are the ones that want that documentation and should have it on file from the previous owner.

    Is there a sticker on the inverter or inside the distribution board that says who supplied / installed?

    • 

      Typical16-bitEnjoyer on 17/12/2019 - 17:08

      Distributor won't help. They aren't "customer" facing. That's the retailer's job. They'll just palm something like this off.

      • 

        brad1-8tsi on 17/12/2019 - 17:40

        +1

        I believe you but when I was trying to sort out a minor issue with my electricity and Amaysim were hopeless, Ausgrid were helpful. Maybe I got somebody good or maybe it was the very small wedge of the pie they are willing to deal with.

        • 

          Typical16-bitEnjoyer on 17/12/2019 - 19:01

          +1

          @brad1-8tsi: It depends on this issue. This particular issue? Retailer needs to investigate. OP will probably find it's all fine and dandy once they call a legit retailer who actually look up their tariff.

  • 

    Pootie Tang on 19/12/2019 - 00:14

    Sounds pretty legit. In South Australia we need a COC (certificate of compliance), Seg approval (Small embedded generator) and a form to change the meter. As mentioned the distributor usually applies the tarriff so I think a call to them might clarify. The retailer is ultimately responsible though. Good luck

• 

  Wickz on 17/12/2019 - 10:16

  As a tenant, I moved into a propety that had solar. I was with AGL, and didn't actually know I had solar panels (as the ad didn't say and they werent visible from the street) until AGL told me. Received 11c feed in, but I only had 6 panels and to be honest they barely generated enough to cover appliances in standby mode. Previous tenant wasn't with AGL either, so I don't know why you are being asked to "reconfigure them" as that should already be done and can be see on your smart meter.

  Maybe try getting some quotes from other companies and see if they can see your solar panels.

  • 

    brad1-8tsi on 17/12/2019 - 11:55

    +1

    6 panels would be one of the 1.5kw systems from about 2010. It probably averages 6kW/h a day over a year. That's about $2.00 worth of electricity which doesn't sound like much but over a year that's $700 you haven't paid on electricity.

    • 

      Wickz on 17/12/2019 - 14:12

      You would think so but I don't believe all the panels where actually working, as you could log into your account and see generated vs usage, and even on a 30 degree summer day in Vic, they weren't doing enough to even cover the fridge per hour!

      You are right, the house was built in 2010 so would have been from then. :)

      • 

        brad1-8tsi on 17/12/2019 - 14:21

        +1

        Heat reduces the output. A clear 20c day is ideal.

        If a panel is dead then i think they produce nothing as they are wired in series.

        6 panels might even be just 1000w. Still better than nothing. Your fridge sounds like a monster :-)

• 

  Euphemistic on 18/12/2019 - 11:48

  +2

  Just to be clear, you should be asking for the feed in tariff, not a rebate, maybe that is the problem. A rebate applies when installing the system. The feed in tariff is the amount you are paid per kWh for energy you export on a system that is working.

• 

  slurm on 20/12/2019 - 16:24

  I gave the power distributor a call (Powercor).
  They were able to give me the name of the company the originally installed the panels.
  They said they had an outstanding request that was sent to Lumo back in 2018 requesting the rates for feed in tariffs, they also quoted me a reference number to give to lumo. They said that lumo should be chasing this up not me.

  Called lumo.. the reference number meant nothing to them… however, they did transfer me to their metering team. The fella told me that the solar panels may already be working for me during the day but they are unable to detect and cant see any excess energy being feed back through the grid.
  So from here it just depends on what I want to get out of these panels.
  I can contact the solar company to confirm how the solarp anels are connected and potentially get them to adjust it so that I receive credits for the excess power or just leave it as it is and have the solar panels work for me during the day time.

  Not sure if this makes sense.. I dont think im using the right terminology.

  • 

    Euphemistic on 20/12/2019 - 16:52

    +1

    Depending on how many Panels you have you may not be using all the power you generate during the day. If you aren’t using all of it, might as well get your 12c feed in tariff for the rest, otherwise it is just wasted.

    Of our 4kw system that generates 15-20kwh per day we average 7kwh fed to the grid. Not a lot of coin, but this is ozbargain, cents make the difference, especially ones that essentially free.