How to read your first electricity bill after solar installation in Sydney

Receiving your first power bill after a solar installation can be confusing. While you expect a lower amount, the new layout and terminology can be tricky to navigate. The key change is the appearance of credits for the solar energy you’ve exported to the grid, which directly offset the cost of any electricity you’ve imported.

Your bill is typically broken down into three main sections:

• Summary Page: This shows your previous balance, new charges, solar credits, and the final amount due. This is where you’ll see the immediate impact of your solar system.

• Usage Breakdown: You will now see graphs or tables detailing not just how much electricity you used from the grid, but also how much solar you exported. This helps you understand when you are a net producer versus a net consumer of energy.

• Detailed Charges: This section lists all the debits and credits. You’ll see familiar items like the ‘Daily Supply Charge‘ and ‘General Usage’, but now a new, crucial line item will appear: the ‘Solar Feed-in Tariff‘ or ‘Solar Export Credit’.

Understanding solar net metering on your electricity bill

Australia uses a system called ‘net metering’ to bill solar homes. Your new smart meter, installed with your solar system, measures electricity flow in two directions:

• Grid Imports: The electricity you draw from the grid when your panels aren’t producing enough power, such as at night or on heavily overcast days. This is what you are charged for.

• Solar Exports: The surplus electricity your solar panels generate that you don’t use yourself. This energy flows back into the grid for others to use, and you receive a credit for it.

Your bill calculates the ‘net’ total. It subtracts the value of your exported energy from the cost of your imported energy and other fixed charges. The goal of a well-designed solar installation is to reduce your grid imports as much as possible, maximising self-consumption first and then benefiting from export credits.

Solar feed-in tariff rates in Sydney for 2025

A solar feed-in tariff (FiT) is the rate your electricity retailer pays you for each kilowatt-hour (kWh) of solar energy you export to the grid. In NSW, the market is deregulated, meaning retailers set their own rates.

While the NSW Government doesn’t set a minimum FiT, the Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal (IPART) provides a benchmark. For 2025, you can expect most retailer offers in Sydney to be in the range of 5c to 8c per kWh. Some retailers may offer higher rates as part of specific energy plans, but these often come with higher daily supply or usage charges.

AU Solar Panels’s Pro Tip: The feed-in tariff is less important than your ‘self-consumption’ rate. Using your own solar power saves you the ~30-40c/kWh you would have paid to import it. Exporting it only earns you ~5-8c/kWh. The biggest savings come from running appliances like your dishwasher, washing machine, and pool pump during the day to use the free power from your roof.

Example of an electricity bill with solar panels in NSW

While layouts vary, the core calculation remains the same. Here’s a simplified breakdown of what you might see on a quarterly bill for a home in Sydney with a 6.6kW solar system.

In this example, without solar, the usage charge alone would have been much higher, leading to a bill well over $300. The solar installation has cut the bill by more than half.

How to read an Origin Energy, AGL, or EnergyAustralia solar bill

Australia’s major energy retailers present solar information in similar ways, though they use slightly different terminology.

• AGL Solar Bill: AGL bills clearly separate ‘Electricity we sold you’ from ‘Solar we bought from you’. The solar feed-in credit is usually listed in the ‘Other charges and credits’ section and shown as a negative value.

• Origin Energy Solar Bill: Origin often includes a dedicated ‘Your solar’ section that summarises your total generation and export credits. The detailed breakdown will show a ‘Solar feed-in tariff’ credit line that reduces your total charges.

• EnergyAustralia Solar Bill: Similar to the others, EnergyAustralia bills show your ‘Feed-in Tariff’ as a credit. They often include helpful graphs that compare your solar export to your grid usage, making it easy to visualise your energy habits.

Regardless of the provider, look for the line item that details the amount of energy you exported (in kWh) and the rate you were paid for it.

What does ‘controlled load’ mean on a solar electricity bill?

A ‘controlled load’ is a separate electricity circuit for specific high-energy appliances, most commonly an electric hot water system. It is metered separately and charged at a lower rate than your general usage because the network operator can control when it switches on (usually overnight during off-peak hours).

With solar, it’s important to understand that your solar panels typically do not offset controlled load charges directly. Your solar system generates power during the day, while your controlled load appliance usually runs overnight, drawing cheap power from the grid. To power your hot water with solar, you may need to install a specific device called a solar diverter or adjust your system with the help of an SAA-accredited installer.

Calculating your solar savings from your electricity bill

Calculating your total savings requires looking beyond just the feed-in credit. Your true savings come from two sources: bill reduction (avoided cost) and export credits.

The formula is: Total Savings = (Solar Power You Used Yourself x Your Usage Rate) + (Exported Solar Power x Your Feed-in Tariff)

Your bill only shows what you exported. To find out how much you self-consumed, you need to check the monitoring app for your solar inverter (e.g., Sungrow’s iSolarCloud, Fronius’ Solar.web). This app shows your total solar generation.

Example Calculation:

• Your inverter app says you generated 1,200 kWh in the quarter.

• Your electricity bill says you exported 800 kWh.

• Therefore, you self-consumed: 1,200 kWh – 800 kWh = 400 kWh.

• Your usage rate is $0.35/kWh and your FiT is $0.07/kWh.

Your quarterly savings: (400 kWh x $0.35) + (800 kWh x $0.07) = $140 + $56 = $196

Case Study: A Family in Penrith, Sydney The Sharma family was struggling with quarterly electricity bills often exceeding $550. They installed a 6.6kW system using Trina panels and a Sungrow inverter for a total cost of around $6,000. By shifting their pool pump and dishwasher usage to the middle of the day, they now maximise their self-consumption. Their last quarterly bill was just $45, covering only the daily supply charge and a small amount of evening grid usage. Their annual savings are now over $1,900, putting them on track for a payback period of just over 3 years.

Common charges on a Sydney electricity bill with solar

Even with a highly effective solar system, you will likely never have a bill of $0. This is because some grid-related charges are unavoidable.

• Daily Supply Charge: This is a fixed daily fee you pay for being connected to the electricity grid. It covers the cost of poles, wires, and network maintenance. In Sydney, this is typically around $1.00 – $1.30 per day.

• Usage Charges: This is the cost of any electricity you import from the grid when your solar system isn’t producing power.

• GST: Goods and Services Tax is applied to the final total of your charges and credits.

Understanding these charges helps set realistic expectations. The primary goal of a solar installation is to eliminate the variable usage charges, leaving you with only the predictable fixed supply charge.

If you’re feeling overwhelmed by your bill or want to ensure you’re on the best possible plan for your new solar system, we can help. Our team can analyse your usage and connect you with a trusted local expert to optimise your savings.