Our relationship with energy is changing. Years ago, it was a one way relationship - coal-fired power stations generated electricity, which was distributed through the grid to our homes. But the energy picture doesn't look like this anymore. Now there are people-owned energy generation points scattered across the country. Everyone with rooftop solar is an energy generation point, and everyone who is seeking out renewable energy is influencing the grid.
When 1 Million Women was born almost 15 years ago there were less than 7000 households with solar in Australia, and now there are solar panels on one in every three houses (that's more than 3.6 million homes). People are leading this change, and here at 1 Million Women we're on an electrification journey, learning how to make our homes fossil-fuel-free, energy efficient powerhouses. Join us on this mission by signing up to be part of our Women Power community.
Throughout this journey we've been finding the tools that help us make the best decisions for our households. One of the tricks in our toolkit is the Solar Maximiser calculator. This one's for you if you're considering installing solar panels, upgrading your solar system, installing a battery or a hot water heat pump!
How Solar Maximiser helps you make decisions and energy savings
It's not easy navigating how to transform your household's energy systems. It can feel like a full time job weighing up upfront costs versus savings over time and trying to piece together what the best solution for your household is.
A great way to simplify some of your fact finding missions and sums is to use a calculator. Solar Maximiser is free, easy to use and saves you time by collating a whole lot of data and condensing it for you. The calculator compares the upfront cost and savings over time of different clean technologies like solar, batteries and hot water heat pumps. It also considers location specific data including things like export limits and rebates to give you accurate results on cost.
Here's how it works: Solar Maximiser compares you with thousands of Solar Analytics customers to make a personalised report. To get started, the calculator asks for information on your household size, if you have solar, a pool, things like that. Next up, you'll be prompted to input the details of your electricity bill so they can analyse your usage. You have the option to input manually or upload your most recent bill document. If you don't have this information, you can also pick 'I don't know'. Once all information is in, the calculator does its thing and presents you with a selection of options. The options outline how much you'll save on energy bills with different combinations of solar, batteries and heat pumps, plus how long it'll take to pay back.
On average Solar Maximiser users can find yearly savings of $1906 for households who have gas hot water and don't yet have solar panels - and $850 a year for those that already have solar. Check it out here if you're keen to give it a try.
The story of energy is our story. Every home that is installing solar, every apartment that is draught-proofing or sharehouse that's replacing broken appliances with energy efficient ones is part of the movement making our systems fossil-fuel-free.
