The jobs, as they actually happened.
Including the awkward roofs, the shade nobody else accounted for, and what the customers say about it in their own words.
Real systems, real bills, real numbers
Modelled savings are a projection. These are the jobs as they actually happened, including the bits that were awkward.
Every solar company can show you a projection. Projections rest on assumptions about consumption, tariffs and weather, and small changes to those assumptions move the answer a long way.
So where customers are happy for us to, we publish what actually happened. What they had, what was wrong with it, what we changed, and what they say about it afterwards in their own words.
All three systems below are Sigenergy SigenStor installs. We also fit Hinen, and which one we recommend comes down to your evening usage, whether you want whole-home backup, and what you are willing to spend.
Paul and Gail, Bangalee NSW
Heavy usage, heavy shade, and a battery that gave up at dusk
Paul and Gail live on a leafy acreage block at Bangalee, in the Shoalhaven. Two ducted air conditioning units, a pool filter running most of the day, and young adults in the house with devices going constantly. A genuinely high-consumption household.
The complication was the block itself. Mature eucalypts ring the property and throw serious shade across the roof through the afternoon, exactly when the old array should have been finishing its day.
A system that never stood a chance
As Paul put it: the old setup was completely underpowered for their usage. They got good sun in the morning, but whatever the battery had gathered was gone within an hour of dark.
They had already been quoted by other installers. The quotes came back high, and none of them engaged with the two things that actually mattered: the shade pattern, and how much storage a household like theirs really needs. A family recommendation brought them to us.
What changed
How we approached it
The shade was the whole problem, so the design started there rather than with a system size.
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First
We mapped when the sun actually hits the roof
Rather than assuming north is best, we worked out where generation was strongest through the morning and put the new panels there, away from the afternoon canopy.
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Then
We sized the battery to their evening, not to a round number
A high-usage household needs more storage than an average one. We worked that from their consumption pattern rather than picking a familiar capacity.
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On the day
We changed the plan on the roof
Once the crew was physically up there they could see things a desk audit cannot, and moved panel positions to better spots before fixing anything down.
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Before we left
We set up the monitoring
Paul was walked through the app on his own phone, so the family could see generation, storage and consumption from day one.
“They were really clear about what they were going to achieve for us based on our usage and shade issues.”
The outcome
The whole installation was completed in a single day. Paul described the process as more about what they needed than about selling them a system, and said the experience from first contact to final installation had been amazing.
Gail's summary was shorter. Streamlined, non-pushy, and exactly what they were after.
Got a place that sounds like Paul and Gail's?
Heavy shade, high usage, or a system that has never performed the way it was sold. Those are the jobs worth talking through properly.
Recognise any of this?
The Bangalee job is not unusual. A shaded or tree-lined block changes where panels should go and how much you need, and it is the single most common thing generic quotes ignore.
Plenty of systems were sized for a smaller household, or before a battery was on the table. Expanding is often cheaper than starting again.
And pools, ducted air conditioning and a full house after 5pm are exactly the load a correctly sized battery is for.
Bangalee sits in our Shoalhaven patch
This job was run out of our Unanderra hub, which covers Wollongong down through Nowra and the South Coast. The crew fitting your system is based minutes away rather than driving down the highway.
That local knowledge matters more than it sounds. Which distribution network you sit under, what export limit applies, and how the escarpment throws shade across an afternoon are all things we deal with weekly rather than look up.
- Illawarra and South Coast, from Wollongong to Ulladulla
- Sigenergy and Hinen battery storage
- Local SAA accredited installers
The resilience story
- 10.45 kW solar
- 24.18 kWh Sigenergy
- Whole-home backup
- VPP enrolled
“My battery and panels have been in for months now and have worked exactly as desired. My bill went from $320 to $28 which is half of the connection fee.”
When his suburb lost power, the gateway switched over fast enough that a PlayStation mid-game did not need a reboot. That is the difference between storing power and actually staying on.
Brian’s install
The savings story
- 11.88 kW solar
- 24.18 kWh Sigenergy
- EV charger added later
They came back to us afterwards to have an EV charger installed, to push the saving further still. A second job from the same household is a harder endorsement to fake than a review.
Want to see what your own bill could look like?
We model it against your actual usage, not an average household, so the number you get is one you can hold us to.
Got a roof that other installers have struggled with?
Shade, an underperforming existing system, or unusually high usage. Those are the jobs worth having a proper conversation about.
What our customers say
Ready to see what solar and battery could do for your place?
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