Cath moved to Killcare in 2019, after many years in Northern Australia. Her electrification journey has been one step forward, one step sideways, and now another step forward – hopefully! Cath says, “While it’s been a very interesting ride, it hasn’t been a smooth one.”
“I don’t use a lot of electricity as I live by myself. Possibly, I will never amortise the cost of what I’ve installed, as my bills weren’t substantial. However, I want to be part of the national decarbonisation project so decided to put money into clean energy.”
In 2020, Cath installed 8 panels (that was all that would go on the roof’s east face) and a 2.6kW Growatt inverter. She has recently looked at some of the paperwork she received back then, with lots of categories and numbers, and says, “I didn’t pay any attention to it! I was working away from home a lot and until 2025 didn’t keep track of anything much electric. I didn’t even monitor The App (if there was one!).”
“Last year I began spending more time at home and paying attention to the growing buzz about batteries with the federal government subsidy, and the idea of electrifying everything one could. I costed stoves, heat pumps and a battery and I also started test driving EVs. Until now, the battery is the only thing I have actually purchased, to complement my panels.”
Last August Cath had a 3 x 8kW “stack” of Sigenergy batteries installed by Sea Solutions. And she joined Amber.
Cath says, “With the 24kW battery system I’ve had plenty of solar power even with only a 2.6kW system of solar panels, and currently I’m sitting with $150 worth of Amber credits. I expect this will be used up as winter approaches, and I’m also going to add some panels on the west side.”
The other thing Cath did do last year was put in underfloor insulation, and she looks forward to seeing if this keeps the house warmer this coming winter.
Some of the sideways steps – the Growatt inverter had to be replaced to be compatible with the battery. The location she chose for the battery was more than 10 metres from where it really needed to be, so she’s having it moved.
Joining Amber has been another sideways challenge, as Cath says it’s taken her some time to begin to understand the information provided in the Amber app.
“I think that the challenge has been going from no knowledge (I’ve never known, let alone tracked, my kWh usage – I’d just pay my bill!) to feeling bombarded by information in energy apps. Sorting out what’s a “need to know” and what not to worry about, seems to be a clue to not feeling overwhelmed by information. But it’s that old thing – you don’t know what you don’t know – so it feels like I need to know everything, to know what I don’t need to know. And then I can forget about it. Ahh, the new age of energy!”
“But even with the sideways steps it’s absolutely worth it.”
Find useful information about installing solar and home batteries.
Equipment details:
| Solar panels (2.52kW – 8 panels) & 3kW Growatt inverter | Installed by SEA Solutions | June 2020 |
| Sigenergey 3 x 8 kW batteries & single phase energy gateway 10 kW single phase energy controller | Installed by SEA Solutions | August 2025 |