Does anyone know anything about Solar Panels?

[grympy]

I understand that South Australia has some of the most expensive  electricity in the developed world, @ about 41 cents per kwh.


We are currently  near the end of a cold, wet winter, a lot of overcast days . I have been running a 3 HP a/c most days, for over 8 hours a day, up to over 12 hours.  Plus of course; storage hot water system, freezer, fridge, computer , LCD flat screen

I have a 5KW Solar Power system. Net feed in system.

This week I received an electricity bill ; for $406, which is the largest since I had the panels installed, over 2 years ago. I checked the Solar Panel metre yesterday ,at about 4pm, it showed 5kW for the day .

Is there any way I can tell if the  power is actually going to the house? Or is that what the metre is measuring?

 Please excuse my appalling ignorance.

[skyking]

It sounds like you have a grid tie system, that feeds power to the grid when not being used at the house. That is what my brother has.
He has two meters, one for power used, and another for power generated.

[grympy]

It sounds like you have a grid tie system, that feeds power to the grid when not being used at the house. That is what my brother has.
He has two meters, one for power used, and another for power generated.

Yes. The metre  for the Solar Panels is right next to the household power box. I guess my question is ; what does the solar panel metre measure?  Is it only the amount of power generated, or the amount being fed into the house? Because of my recent high electricity bill, I want to know how to check the amount being fed in the the house.  

Of course I can wait until the next bill. Spring is pretty much here, so less use of my monster a/c  and more sun, the next bill should be less than half. The penultimate bill was $138, but that was  over summer .

[skyking]

My understanding is, the solar meter just measures the panel output.
are those monthly bills? 41 cents per KWH is really high.

[grympy]

are those monthly bills? 41 cents per KWH is really high.

The bills are quarterly. 

Yes, as I said, South Australia has some of the most expensive power in the developed world   Perhaps why my state has one of the highest take-up rates of domestic solar power in the world;  25% of all households


Before I had solar power, my quarterly bill could be as high as $700 . One person all electric house.  

There are 14 houses in the cul de sac in which I live. Five of us have solar power.