Charles - Brisbane, Queensland

Household

I live in a three storey home with my wife, toddler and small puppy. The electricity use in our home is pretty standard for a domestic household, however, we do have two electric vehicles that we charge at home, as well as a ducted air conditioning system through the house and a heated pool. 

Pre-solar

Prior to installing solar and the batteries, I lived in a unit. One of the important reasons to me personally for wanting to move into a house, was so that I could get solar and put batteries in. I feel passionately about sustainability and moving away from the use of coal, so that was an important factor for me when looking for our next place to live. 

Research 

Just over a week after I settled on our new home, I signed a contract with 1KOMMA5° for solar and batteries having spent weeks with them already sizing it up. I was passionate about getting it done as quickly as possible. When I went into the process of selecting a provider, I knew very little about solar and batteries. And what I found when researching it was there was an extraordinary number of suppliers and installers of these products. I actually found it very hard to decide who to go with and I spent a lot of time researching and looking at various forums to get recommendations. 

I was an early adopter of Tesla electric vehicles. I had a hypothesis at the time that I wanted a Tesla battery, simply because of that brand affinity to Tesla. Most of the providers that I spoke to were very happy just to just roll that out for me and give me quotes and pricing. Whereas when I spoke to the 1KOMMA5° team, they challenged me around that bias and gave me different perspectives on other types of batteries and why they would be better for my scenario. I found that perspective, the insights they had and the results I'd seen through the installations much better than what I got from other people. It built a lot of trust for me. 

Being a 1KOMMA5° customer

The quality of work from the team has been very, very good. I've been extremely happy with the service I've received and the installations have been excellent.  

The engineers were all very knowledgeable and efficient at what they did. The job looks very tidy and there's a lot of complexity in the cabling and set up. They were always very precise around how they did things, taking into account the aesthetics of the property as well.

The aftercare has been great. The team is very helpful and on the rare occasion anything goes wrong, they’re accountable and quick to respond.  

Benefits

Living in Queensland - certainly in summer - it’s very difficult not to run air conditioning overnight. So being able to sustain our energy needs overnight with what has been stored throughout the day has been great. 

Again, living in Queensland where weather-related power outages take place, it’s been fantastic having the peace of mind knowing the battery will sustain my home. During the period we had Cyclone Alfred, there was significant hail damage and impact to communities, and in my role I need to be available for the business I work for, and customers we ultimately support, during these times. I never for a moment worried about my personal circumstances and how my family would function if I lost power for multiple days - this took a significant load off my mind.

There have been times when my neighbours and people around me have lost power and I haven’t noticed until they told me after the fact because our house has been able to rely on the system we have. 

My view on how we use energy in the household has changed significantly, too. Asking myself whether something is a good use of energy and wondering how much fossil fuel energy this would use or the related costs, has not been a factor. If I'm deciding to use power, it's because I'm generating the power and I feel quite passionate about that.

Values 

I’m very aware of the climate change and sustainability issues we face as a society more broadly. I feel passionately about doing my part to limit the use of coal in sustaining my energy needs and that's really where these technologies come into play.

Advice 

Do your research on the technology because it changes very rapidly and speak to a provider you trust - I found 1KOMMA5° very helpful in that regard. I also think provision for your future needs, not your current needs. I made the decision initially to fully stack out the roof. I don't regret that for a second. If I could have my time again, I probably would have bought more battery initially than what I thought I needed because I've subsequently grown into it. I think the other point is don't just think about the returns from solar, think of the positive impact these decisions have on the planet - being able to sustain your own energy needs is pretty amazing.