Mamoun Reza and his family have earned $400 this year by installing a solar panel system and batteries. Credit: Provided/AAP
The father of four felt he had to give something up because he was paying $2,500 a year for electricity and thought the money would be better spent on vacations and trips to fine dining restaurants with his family.
Unwilling to cut back on his air conditioning and heating use, he took the plunge five years ago and invested $7,500 in solar panels, and the 7.5-kilowatt system has made an immediate difference.
“My electricity bill has dropped to less than $1,000 a year, saving me more than $1,500 a year,” Mamoon Reza told Yahoo Finance.
A Sydneyside father shared how his financial situation has improved since advocacy group Climate Council released new research this week that suggests Australians who install solar panels collectively save $3 billion a year on their electricity bills. The Seize the Sun report suggests Australia needs to add 26GW of rooftop solar capacity over six years.
We will add 2 million home batteries and 5,000 community batteries.
260,000 solar power systems installed in public housing.
Solar power generation will be mandatory for new buildings.
We offer interest-free loans for solar power generation.
Upskill workers to work as electricians and solar installers.
Can batteries help me save even more on my electricity bill?
Mamoon’s savings are nearly enough to pay off his solar investment, so he went all in on solar and bought a $10,000 battery.
“Since having the batteries installed, I haven’t paid a bill for electricity. In fact, I think I’m making a little bit more money,” he said.
“We used the battery in the evening and fed the excess back into the grid, earning a $400 credit as a result.
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Mamoon left a 28-year career in IT to start a solar power brokerage business, seeking financing to help consumers switch to solar power.
The story continues
“For me, it came down to the Japanese concept of ‘ikigai’ – what does the world need, what are you good at, and how can you make a living at the same time. So rooftop solar was a perfect fit for me,” he said.
While the savings are nice, there’s an even more important factor that keeps Mamoon interested in solar power: reducing emissions and creating a brighter future for his two daughters, ages 14 and 16.
“After becoming a father, I realised this issue wasn’t just about me. I may not see the worst effects of climate change in my lifetime, but my children certainly will,” he said.
“That being said, I think that with the accelerating effects of climate change, we’re probably going to see more than we would have anticipated 10 years ago.
“I think climate change is a terrible problem. It’s not something that anyone caused intentionally.”
“Fossil fuels allow us to live the lifestyle we’re used to and we don’t want to change that. But domestic energy consumption is probably one of the easiest problems to solve because, particularly in Australia, we have an abundance of sunlight.”
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