How to Read Your Electricity Bill (and Spot Where Solar Helps Most)

Your electricity bill has everything you need to work out whether solar is worth it — but it's buried in jargon. Here's how to read the parts that matter, in plain English.

1. Your usage (kWh)

This is how much electricity you used, in kilowatt-hours (kWh), over the billing period. It's the single most important number for sizing a system. Look for your average daily usage — most NSW bills show it — and multiply by 365 for a rough yearly figure.

2. The usage charge (c/kWh)

The rate you pay for each kWh you draw from the grid — often split into peak, shoulder and off-peak on a time-of-use tariff. The higher this rate, the more every unit of solar you use yourself is worth. NSW peak rates are commonly 30–50c/kWh.

3. The daily supply charge

A fixed daily fee (often around 90–130c/day) just for being connected to the grid. Solar can't reduce this — you pay it whether you generate power or not — so it's worth separating out when you estimate savings.

4. Feed-in tariff (c/kWh)

What your retailer pays for surplus solar you export — usually small (around 5c/kWh in NSW). Because exporting is worth far less than the 30–50c you'd otherwise pay to buy power, the real value is in using your own solar directly, and storing it in a battery for the evening.

5. Your usage pattern

Some bills break usage down by time of day. If you use most power in the evening, a battery makes a big difference; if you're home through the day, you'll self-consume more solar directly.

Where solar helps most

• High usage rate — every kWh of solar you use yourself saves more
• High daytime use — more solar self-consumed directly
• High evening use — a battery shifts cheap daytime solar into the expensive peak
• Big quarterly bills — faster payback on a well-sized system

Not sure how your bill translates into savings? Send us your latest bill and we'll model a system for your home — or try our payback calculator first, then get a free, no-obligation quote.