How to Read Your Power Bill for Solar or a Battery

Start with the billing period and total use

Check how many days the bill covers and whether it represents summer, winter or a milder season. One unusual period can distort the picture, so several recent bills are more useful than one isolated total.

Find total electricity use in kilowatt-hours (kWh) and the daily average where it is shown. Treat cost and energy separately: the total payable also reflects supply charges, tariffs and the retailer plan.

Annotated bill field guide

This is a field map, not a customer bill. It contains no name, address, account number, National Metering Identifier or meter number.

1 · Billing period and daysCheck the start date, end date and number of days.

2 · Total electricity useLook for total kWh used during the period.

3 · Daily averageUseful for comparing bills of different lengths.

4 · Tariff type and ratesFlat, time-of-use or controlled-load labels may appear.

5 · Solar exportsLook for exported kWh and feed-in credits where present.

6 · Supply chargeA daily fixed charge, separate from energy use.

7 · Retailer-plan nameUse the exact current plan when checking tariff settings.

Look for tariff and export clues

Your bill may show one usage rate or different time windows. Labels and times vary by retailer plan. For a home with solar, exported energy may appear as kWh and a feed-in credit. Neither the credit nor the bill total alone shows how much solar was used directly in the home.

Useful first enquiry: tell us your suburb, what you would like solar or storage to achieve, and any big changes coming—such as an EV, electric hot water, pool equipment, air conditioning or a change in occupancy. A bill is optional and can be emailed separately if helpful.

What your bill cannot tell us

A bill rarely provides a detailed picture of when individual loads run. It also cannot show the roof, shade, switchboard, phase, export settings, equipment space, cable routes or future plans. Those details belong in the site and design assessment.

Use the bill to test a proposal

Ask how the proposed solar size relates to daytime use, how battery capacity relates to evening use, and which current retailer plan and export assumptions were used. The proposal should connect those points in plain language.

What an on-site assessment adds

Adelaide SolarSafe is happy to attend the property. A site visit lets the team compare the bill with roof area, shade, existing equipment, electrical work and practical equipment locations before the design is finalised.

One-page bill checklist

Billing start and end dates
Number of billing days
Total electricity use in kWh
Daily average use
Tariff type and time windows
Solar exports in kWh, if shown
Daily supply charge
Current retailer-plan name
Large future household loads
What you want the system to achieve

Reviewed by the Adelaide SolarSafe installation team.

How to read your power bill before sizing solar or a battery.