How does net solar work?

Net solar is a way of using the sun’s energy to power your home and save money on your electricity bills. Here is how it works:

• Solar helps you save money on your electricity bills because you use less electricity from the grid and get paid for the excess solar that you produce.
• Net-metered (net) solar refers to the way your solar system is wired into your house and your electricity meter.
• With net solar, your house uses your solar generation first and only tops up with power from the grid when generation is insufficient, for example, at night. At times, you generate more solar than you need. The excess solar is sent to the grid and you receive payment via your feed-in tariff.
  • The solar you use in your home is called self-consumption. This is free. Your solar system provides this power.
  • The excess solar you send to the grid is called export. You get paid via a feed-in tariff for exported power.
  • Top-up power from the grid is called import. You pay usage charges for imported power.

• An example: Let's say, in a three-month billing period, your solar system generated 2,000 kWh of electricity, of which 1,000 kWh was exported, and you used 1,500 kWh of electricity from the grid, mostly at night. Your bill might look like this:
  • Supply charges: You are charged the daily supply charge for 90 days.
  • Usage charges: You are charged usage rates for the 1,500 kWh of electricity you imported from the grid.
  • Export credit: You are paid the solar feed-in tariff rate for the 1,000 kWh of electricity exported to the grid.