How 20 new solar panels and a battery delivered affordable back-up power to Sumitha’s family in treelined Dural
Sumitha and his wife are not yet empty nesters. They share their five-bedroom home in Dural with their son and the family dog, while their daughter has just left home for university.
“It's quite a big house. I think sometimes we need to make the call to downsize, but not just yet!”
Over the last few years, multiple storms have hit the family’s home in the leafy suburb of Dural, with falling trees causing a series of lengthy and frustrating blackouts.
“We have a lot of trees around here, so every time there's a storm, we have a power cut. A tree will fall on a power line and the power will go.”
Faced with increasing power bills and regular blackouts, Sumitha made some major upgrades to his property, installing 20 new solar panels and a battery for energy storage.
“Because it's solar and a battery, now I don't have a power cut at all. My neighbours sometimes call me and say ‘do you have power?’ And of course I do.”
But it’s not just reliability in a storm that’s proven to be a benefit of the home upgrades.
“Power during the storms is an additional benefit, but I was also motivated by saving money on my power bills. If you look at my bills for the last three months, it’s down to $8, $7 and $6.”
Sumitha was able to offset the cost of installing solar panels and a battery by financing the installation through the Commonwealth Bank in partnership with Brighte.
“I work at CBA and I saw the partnership advertised at work. I signed on it because I was looking for a battery solution anyway, and when I saw this I realised it was a good deal. I'm paying around $150 a month towards the loan, and I figured my electricity bills were anyway going to be more than 150 per month. It was clear the savings from my power bill would cover my loan.
“This is a good deal because for me for a 19 kilowatt battery 20 solar panels cost me $12,400 and out of that, I got a 1500 back in the subsidy and I got a fixed rate of 4.99% for 7 years to finance it.”
And for Sumitha, securing Finance through CBA and Brighte was a simple decision for both cost and time savings.
“The process of getting the finance was seamless, actually. It worked very well. I then had to go to the website and choose from three of their providers. The installer I chose was very good. He kept me up in the loop so I knew what was happening and when it needs to happen.”