Semi regular readers of this blog will know that at a couple of points over the summer I have had reason to bemoan my not so recently installed solar panels (it is now five months since those white elephants were placed on my roof).
Two weeks ago, some 4 plus months after installation, the cowboy solar installers finally got the inverter commissioned by Jemena (ie the electricity supplier).
Mind you, the installers had promised that they would take care of all the paperwork required for the electricity supplier and retailer to sort out switching on the panels, making the process hassle free for me. Obviously this was not the case, given the annoying number of calls I have had to make to the installers, to the retailer, and to the supplier since mid December.
Today, as I have heard nothing, I made a long and frustrating call to AGL (the retailer) to try and sort out the current state of the necessary meter reconfiguration. They were clueless about the inverter commissioning, and suggested I ring Jemena. Jemena’s phone line was down til sometime in the afternoon, and then when I did get through, I was told that they required AGL to request the meter reconfiguration.
And so, I rang AGL again (I have lost track of the amount of time wasted on calls to AGL or Jemena over the past three months). Was finally put through to someone who seems to know what they are doing – I then emailed them the documentation I was sent as a cc from the installers who had gotten it from Jemena two weeks ago. So now AGL are getting the meter reconfiguration request to actually happen.
This might really be end in sight to this sorry saga!
Two nasty twists to it though:
- Reconfiguration might take 40 working days (ie 2 months).
- There is no retrospectivity to when the savings start – despite the panels having been sitting on my roof fully paid for the past 5 months. (Someone in AGL at one point told me something contrary to this sometime during my many interactions.)
Another takeaway is that there is no seamlessness to this process. I needed to prod the installation company for the right documentation, then prod both the retailer and supplier as neither of them communicate with each other.
If/When I actually get the solar panels up and running, rather than sitting inertly on my roof, I am curious to see what actual difference they will make to my electricity bills, and how long til the $4700 I have wasted on them is repaid. I will be factoring in the opportunity cost of what the money spent could have actually earned if left in a high earning bank account instead (assuming a 5% interest rate, $235 pa).
I will keep you posted on this. If the panels actually start working, there will be no sense of smug joy at this development, just a sick relief that I have not lost the entire sum – just invested it poorly.
Lost For Words! 