Jamie used to think solar was a scam. He'd seen the ads, read the promises, and dismissed all of it. Then Cam came to his house with a laptop and showed him exactly what his $1,800 quarterly power bill would look like on the other side of a properly designed solar and battery system. In Episode 3 of the Off The Grid Podcast, Jamie tells the full story — from sceptic to zero.

Off The Grid Podcast — Episode 3 · 22 min · Jason, Cam & Jamie (SEG customer)

Before: $1,800 a Quarter and a Healthy Scepticism

Jamie's home isn't unusual for Queensland — four bedrooms, a media room, a TV in every room, family and friends over regularly. What was unusual was the electricity usage. A 12kW ducted air conditioning system running 24 hours a day, seven days a week, summer and winter. Lights on through the night. Every appliance in regular use.

His quarterly power bill sat at $1,800. More than $7,000 a year just to keep the house running the way he wanted to live.

And solar? He'd thought about it. Written it off.

"It's a bit of a scam, to be honest. You spend a fortune, put them on your roof — you benefit during the day if you're home, but at night you're paying a power bill anyway. Does it really make sense?" — Jamie

It's a reasonable position, and he's not alone in holding it. Without battery storage, it largely was true. You generate power during the day while you're at work and export most of it to the grid for 3 cents per kilowatt hour, then pay 33–35 cents to buy it back at night. The economics don't work — not for someone who isn't home to use the daytime generation.

That's not the system Jamie ended up with.

The Moment That Changed His Mind

What shifted Jamie from sceptic to customer wasn't a brochure or an ad. It was Cam showing up at his house with a laptop.

Cam pulled up Jamie's address in the design software, put his actual bills on the table, and walked through exactly what would happen: the system size required for his usage, what the battery would store, what the payback period looked like given his current bill, and what the power cost would be on the other side.

"Cam came around, showed me how it all works — here's what it'll do, show me your power bill. I go: this is what I'm paying now and this is what I'm paying for that system. It's only going to take me this many years to pay it off. That makes sense. And that's what did it for me." — Jamie

The key detail: Jamie and his partner both work. The house is empty 90% of the day. Without a battery, a solar system doesn't solve their problem — the daytime generation goes to the grid unused, and they still pay full retail rates at night. The conversation only made sense because of the battery. The audit made it visible.

That's the difference between a package sold on a phone call and a system designed around how someone actually lives.

The System: Built for a High-Usage Home

The system Jamie ended up with isn't a standard package. It was sized specifically for his usage profile:

  • 19.99kW solar — 45 panels, including south-facing. Sized for his usage level and to keep the battery full even across consecutive overcast days.
  • GoodWe battery — installed before May 1, qualifying for the full rebate (~$14,000 in government contribution). Jamie went big deliberately, knowing his usage demanded it.
  • GlowBird VPP — joined within 2–3 weeks of install. Sells back approximately 10kW during the 6–8pm peak export window at $150 per session, plus earns the $1/day Zero to Hero credit that offsets the daily supply charge.

The 19.99kW system isn't overbuilt — it's matched. Jamie runs ducted aircon 24 hours a day. He has high overnight usage. He needed enough solar capacity to charge a large battery fully even on winter overcast days, and enough storage to cover those long nights without drawing from the grid.

Forty-five panels on a mix of north and south-facing roof space. On a fully overcast day mid-June, the system still produced 20kW of solar. The battery was at 97% by 2pm.

The Results: What the Numbers Actually Look Like

Since installation, Jamie's grid usage has been zero. Not reduced — zero. Checking back through months of data on his monitoring app, there's no pull from the grid.

Before

$1,800

per quarter

Now

$24

per month total — incl. gas

The electricity portion of that $24 bill is actually in credit — approximately $12–$20 credit per month. The remaining balance is the gas supply charge.

The GlowBird VPP is carrying the supply charge and a portion of the gas bill. Selling back during peak hours earns approximately $150 per session. Combined with the Zero to Hero daily credit, those two amounts cover costs that solar and battery alone can't eliminate.

Jamie was with Origin previously — he got some feed-in tariff revenue, but nowhere near the return he gets from GlowBird's peak export model. The 3-cents-per-kilowatt-hour feed-in tariff is effectively worthless compared to the 6–8pm sell-back arrangement.

His system paid for itself in just over two years. He paid cash. The battery alone had roughly $14,000 in government rebate applied at the time of install. That rebate has since dropped substantially — and drops again in December.

The Test: Three Weeks Without Sun

One of the most common objections to battery storage is cloudy weather — the idea that a few overcast days will drain the battery and leave you back on the grid.

Jamie addressed this directly. At the time of recording, southeast Queensland had seen close to three consecutive weeks of overcast conditions. Winter, reduced solar angles, cloud cover most days. On a fully overcast day that week, the system still produced 20kW of solar. By 2pm the battery was at 97%. At no point in those three weeks had the system pulled from the grid.

The lowest his battery has been overnight since installation is 40% — in the middle of winter, running ducted aircon through the night. Not once has it run flat and reverted to grid power.

The system size is the reason. A 6.6kW or 10kW package might struggle to maintain a large battery through extended overcast. A 19.99kW system sized for his actual usage doesn't. The solar share offer's forced 3-hour charge window between 11am and 3pm (starting July 1) adds another layer of resilience on top.

After the Install: Monitoring Every System, Every Day

One thing Jamie mentioned that's worth highlighting: the after-sales experience. Every SEG installation is monitored through a customer portal. The GoodWe app flags any system anomaly automatically. If something changes — a drop in production, a battery error, anything unexpected — the SEG team is notified before the customer typically notices.

"Joe gets up every morning and checks everyone's portal to make sure everything's good, no one's having dramas. That's good customer service." — Jamie

The contrast here is direct. In Episode 2 of the podcast, Jason and Cam described the pattern with off-the-shelf package companies: something goes wrong, the customer calls, the selling company redirects to the installer, the installer redirects back. Nobody owns the problem. That blame loop happens specifically because the company that sold the system has no ongoing relationship with it.

Proactive monitoring means that never starts.

What Jamie Would Tell Someone Who Still Thinks Solar Is a Scam

At the end of the episode, Jason asked Jamie directly: if he ran into someone who thought solar was a scam today, what would he do?

"Show them my power bills. Show them my app — there's the proof. My house. I can afford my fuel now. Not paying power bills means I can afford a Ram." — Jamie

His other piece of advice: move now on the rebate. He saw the trajectory clearly. He got in before May 1 and claimed the full government contribution. He knows what those same batteries cost now and what they'll cost by December.

"You either save six grand now or three grand in six months time and nothing after that. Now's the time. Definitely look into it." — Jamie

And what to look for in a company — from someone who's been through the process and referred multiple people since: knowledge of the product, genuine customer service, and someone who's still going to be around in five years.

"They're never bad and they're always long" — that's how he described SEG's Google reviews when asked how he vetted us. Real detail. Real people saying what they actually experienced. That's what he looked for. That's what gave him confidence.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Can solar and battery really get my power bill to zero?

For many households, yes — particularly those with higher usage profiles. Jamie's 4-bedroom home with 24/7 ducted aircon hit zero grid usage within 3 months of installation. The outcome depends on correct system sizing, battery capacity matched to overnight usage, and in most cases joining a Virtual Power Plant to offset the daily supply charge that exists even at zero grid draw.

What is a Virtual Power Plant and why does it matter?

A Virtual Power Plant (VPP) like GlowBird or Amber connects your home battery to the grid and pays you to export stored power during peak demand events — typically 6–8pm. Jamie earns approximately $150 per peak window event plus a $1/day Zero to Hero credit. Combined, this offsets his electricity supply charge and a portion of his gas supply charge. Without a VPP, the daily supply charge (~$1.26–$1.44/day) remains even at zero grid usage.

What happens to solar production on cloudy and overcast days?

Modern panels still generate under diffuse UV light — they don't need direct sunlight. Jamie's 19.99kW system produced 20kW on a fully overcast winter day and had the battery at 97% by 2pm. Three consecutive weeks of overcast weather in June resulted in zero grid draw. The key is having a system sized for your actual usage, not an off-the-shelf package that underdelivers when conditions aren't perfect.

How long does it take for a solar and battery system to pay itself off?

Payback period depends on system cost, your current bill size, and how well the system is designed. Jamie paid off his system in just over two years — helped by a high pre-solar bill ($1,800/quarter) and the full battery rebate he qualified for before May 1. For a typical Queensland home paying $800–$1,200/quarter, payback on a well-designed system typically runs four to five years.

Is the battery rebate still available?

Yes — but it has already reduced significantly since the scheme launched, and will reduce again in December. Jamie qualified for approximately $14,000 in government contribution. That same system has a substantially smaller rebate today. Every six months the contribution steps down. Waiting doesn't hold it open.

How do I know the company will still be around to support my system?

This is one of Jamie's top criteria for choosing an installer — he wanted someone who'd be reachable in five years if something needed attention. SEG monitors every installed system through a live portal, with proactive checks run daily. If a system issue appears, the team knows before the customer typically does. That's the opposite of the off-the-shelf model where the installer relationship ends at sign-off.