The Bill

 The electricity bill came on Friday.

I wasn't happy to see this amount staring me in the face:

Last quarter's bill was only $81.49 and that was

a late winter-early spring bill.

Mind you that was with the solar panels connected

but without the new meter to measure

how much electricity they generated.

Therefore, we paid for what we used off the grid, 

but weren't reimbursed for what we fed back.

So taking this into account, 

the new bill seemed ridiculously excessive.

Ah, but then I spotted those lovely little letters - cr

next to the amount.

That's a credit!

It is how much they owe us,

not the other way around.

Not bad eh?

Gotta love solar power.

Oooo, Yeah baby!

118.2 Kwh of electricity from the grid at 21 cents per Kwh*

118.2 x 0.21 = 24.822

 

132.8 Kwh produced by our panels 

and fed into the grid at 68 c pr Kwh

132.8 x 0.68 = 90.304

90.304 - 24.822 = 65.482 

or $65.48

Can't wait for the next 'bill'...it should be a cheque!  

*21 cents per Kwh is what we pay for peak.  

Some of the 118.2 Kwh would be charged at a lower rate 

because we also have an off-peak rate to heat the hot water.

Mind you, this is a drop in the ocean of the overall cost of the system.

But it still makes my solar powered heart skip.

Giving some back...

....and getting paid for it!  I am looking forward to our electricity bills now that we are finally connected to the grid.  We just scraped in and will be receiving the old feed in tariff ...I think it is 61 cents per kW hour.  I keep opening the box and looking at my new money saver!

Birthday present

Firstly, thank you to 'Anonymous' for 

letting everyone in the blogosphere know it was 

my birthday yesterday.

Secondly, thank you for your kind birthday wishes.

They must have worked because

look what I got for my birthday!

 No, not a new van, or two.

...nor a lot electrical wiring.

 No, it wasn't a ladder....

...or a toolbox full of tools and swear words.

 And it certainly wasn't a couple of cheeky boys!

 It wasn't a second storey on the house...

IT WAS THE

SOLAR PANELS! 

They are not pretty...but they already had the old

meter running backwards today.

i.e. making more power than we were using.

It's elecrifyingly exciting.

Walking the Walk

I have taken the bull by the horns, taken the plunge, coughed it up, and forked it out.  


I have bitten the bullet and signed up for solar panels for the roof.

You may think I am a fool and that a fool and her money are soon parted or that I am spending money like a man with no hands.  It isn't as if I have money to burn or that the money I have is burning a hole in my pocket. 

It isn't about the money at all it is about the planet. 

I have been waxing lyrical for some time, talking the talk, been on my soapbox, lecturing about living sustainably ... so much so that I began to feel like I was fiddling while Rome burned. This is one little black duck that wants to stop living beyond her means.

Electricity in Victoria is generated by burning brown coal...which is filthy stuff.  It is so easy to turn on a switch, a long way from those generators, and ignore the consequences.  I think it is time for me to have the courage of my convictions and step up to the line to be counted.  So I have put my money where my mouth is.

Now all I need to complete this picture on the brochure is the handsome man with the two kids.