Loading Solar Battery Perth...
Loading Solar Battery Perth...
Your Synergy electricity bill shows where a battery could save you money. This guide explains each section of the bill, how the DEBS time-of-use tariff works, and what a before-and-after comparison looks like for a typical Perth household.
A Synergy bill has the same few sections every billing period. Here is what each one means, and how it affects the case for a battery.
This is the fixed daily charge for being connected to the Western Power grid. It applies no matter how much electricity you use or generate. The current residential supply charge is approximately $1.16 per day. Solar and batteries cannot remove it. It is a fixed cost of grid connection.
This section shows the electricity you imported from the grid, measured in kilowatt-hours (kWh). The charge is your usage multiplied by the rate that applies. On the standard A1 tariff, that rate is flat, at approximately 32.37 cents per kWh. On the DEBS time-of-use tariff, the rate varies by time of day.
If you have solar panels, this section shows the electricity you exported to the grid. Export credits appear as negative charges, which lower your total bill. The rate you receive depends on your tariff and the time of day you export.
Your total is supply charges, plus energy usage charges, minus solar export credits, plus GST. Synergy bills are issued bi-monthly — roughly every two months, so about six bills a year. To estimate a billing-period total from a daily figure, multiply it by about 60 days.
The Distributed Energy Buyback Scheme (DEBS) is Western Australia's time-of-use tariff for homes with solar. Unlike the flat A1 tariff, DEBS pays different export rates depending on when you send electricity to the grid. That timing changes how a battery pays off.
DEBS has two export rates. The peak rate, around 10c/kWh, applies from 3pm to 9pm, when the grid needs power most and Synergy pays more for your exports. The off-peak rate, around 2c/kWh, applies from 9pm to 3pm. That covers overnight hours and the middle of the day, when solar generation across Perth is high and grid demand is lower.
The DEBS tariff structure creates a clear financial case for batteries:
On the flat A1 tariff, all imports cost ~32.4c/kWh. Synergy A1 customers default to the DEBS time-of-use feed-in tariff for their exports, at 10c/kWh peak and 2c/kWh off-peak.
DEBS is that time-of-use feed-in tariff: exports earn ~10c/kWh during peak (3-9pm) and ~2c/kWh off-peak (other times).
For a home without a battery, DEBS can lift export income if the panels face west and generate into the peak window. For a home with a battery, the tariff choice matters less, because you are self-consuming most of your solar generation.
If you have solar panels, your Synergy bill includes a separate line item for the electricity you exported to the grid. Reading it tells you whether a battery could improve your return.
Export credits appear as a negative charge, which lowers the total amount due. Your bill shows three things:
Your bill shows two key energy figures, and comparing them tells you how well you are using your solar generation. Import kWh is the electricity you drew from the grid, charged at ~30c/kWh. That is the expensive side. Export kWh is the electricity you sent to the grid, credited at just 2-10c/kWh. That is the low-value side.
These rates have fallen over the past five years, and may keep falling as more Perth homes add rooftop solar. That trend makes self-consumption through a battery more worthwhile than exporting.
To see a battery's financial impact, compare two scenarios for a typical Perth household with a 6.6 kW solar system.
These figures are based on summer generation. In winter, solar output drops, so savings are lower. A realistic annual average for Perth is around $800-$1,200, depending on household size, usage patterns, and battery capacity.
Once you can read your Synergy bill, you can see where a battery saves money: it shifts cheap midday solar into expensive evening use. The wider the gap between your export kWh and import kWh, the more a battery saves.
Use our tools to estimate how much a battery could cut your Synergy bill, based on your own usage and Perth solar conditions.
Compare up to 3 quotes from SAA-accredited local installers. Free, no obligation, no pressure.