Faq

An Evergreen Energy Plan (EEP) is a financial arrangement in which a third-party, COREnergy owns, operates, and maintains a photovoltaic (PV) system, and a customer agrees to site the system on its roof and purchases the system’s electricity output from the solar for a predetermined rate. This financial arrangement allows the customer to receive stable and lower electricity costs, while COREnergy receives income generated from the sale of electricity to the customer.

With this business model, the customer buys the electricity produced by the PV system rather than the PV system itself.

An EEP arrangement enables customers to avoid many of the traditional barriers and risks when looking to install solar systems: high up-front capital costs; system performance risk; and complex design and permitting processes.

In addition, EEP arrangements can be cash flow positive for the customer from the day the system is commissioned.

Simply provide COREnergy a copy of your latest power bill and we will provide an obligation free proposal. If the proposal is attractive a site visit will be required with one of our qualified consultants.

The system size will depend on the estimated day time usage of power over a normal 7 day period. The aim is to install a solar system which generates only what is consumed during the day. COREnergy will nominate the system size after conducting their analysis.

The system size will depend on power usage but it will be between a 10kW and a 100kW system. Larger systems are possible for large scale users.

There is a meter/inverter reading fee which is $20.83 plus GST per month for an independent accredited reader company to read the meter and inverter each month and the cost of the import/export meter fitted by SA Power Networks, however if you pick a 3 to 5 year term COREnergy covers the cost of the import/export meter.

Single Phase Meters 286 + GST
Three Phase Meters 636 + GST

At time of site assessment COREnergy will inspect the meter board and roof to ensure suitability of installation. If any meter board up-grades etc. are required they will be brought to the customer attention before proceeding further

You can select from 2 to 5 years. The longer the term the cheaper the cost of electricity! After the first term the agreement is open ended with three months notice required before terminating – No penalties or pay-out figure.

The meters are remotely read each day by an Accredited Metering Provider that is registered with AEMO (Australian Energy Market Operator).

If a FIT is generated by the system for excess power generated but not consumed the customer is able to claim back that power that was not consumed from COREnergy.

The EEP Agreement clearly stipulates that COREnergy will only charge for power consumed.

Making a claim is easy through the COREnergy Customer log in page.

If the system generates more than what is used the excess power goes back to the grid. Energy Retailers will pay a tariff normally for this about 6 Cents/kWHr, but more importantly the customer can also claim back the excess power from COREnergy by submitting a “Feed In Claim” form on the COREnergy web-page.

COREnergy will pay back in full any power that is feed back to the grid on the next bill cycle once it receives a Feed In Claim form. A claim form must be submitted within 120 Days of the bill been received or the claim expires.

No, any market energy retailer is acceptable, but choosing a Retailer who pays a feed in tariff is recommended as any feed in tariff is retained by the customer.

The EEP Agreement includes a rate saving GUARANTEE! If the price of electricity falls the EEP rate must be at least 20% below the price of electricity at any time.

Effectively the customer now has two energy providers: one is the “normal” energy provider and the second is the “solar” energy provider, COREnergy. The solar energy provider will have the inverter read monthly and only charge for the power the system generated that the customer used at the agreed EEP rate. The balance of power used outside of solar generation the normal energy provider will charge as normal.

The primary saving is from the lower cost of power used that the solar system generates and off-sets. This will vary depending on the usage and the normal rate of power previously charged.
Money is also saved from the fact that no capital outlay or finance is required for the system and no maintenance or up-keep costs are associated with the system.

For Example:
Company X currently uses 3,800kWHrs per month of peak power and is paying approximately 31Cents/kWHr. With the EEP a 20kW solar system is installed off-setting approximately 70% of the power consumed at an agreed rate of 12Cents/kWHr. The solar system generates 2,660kWHrs per month and 1,440kWHrs per month is still provided by the energy Retailer.
Company X will receive one account from the Retailer for 1,440kWHrs at 31Cents/kWHr equalling $446.40 and a second bill from COREnergy for 2,660kWHrs at 12Cents/kWHr equalling $319.20 instead of $824.60 from the Retailer. Saving $505.40.

The system can be purchased in one of two ways. The EEP will stipulate a market value for the system at today’s market price and as per agreement the price will remain the same for the first three years and diminish 5% per year for every year after that.
Or
An “EEP Hybrid” can be adopted at the beginning which will allow the system to be paid out between 6 to 10 years. With a Hybrid EEP the solar discount rate will be higher but the rate will be made up of two components: the first is the price of electricity per kWHr and the second a per kWHr payment towards the principal cost of the system.

For Example:
From the example above, Company X would have an agreed rate of 25Cents/kWHr, which is still cheaper than the Retailers cost, where 10Cents per kWHr would come of the principle cost of the system and 15Cents per kWHr would represent the price of electricity. The market price of a 20kW system is $26,000 and it would produce approximately 30,660kWHrs/Year or at 10Cents/kWHr, $3,066.00 would be contributed towards the system cost meaning the system would be paid for in 8 years and 3 months.

If the customer is leasing the building a EEP can be established. COREnergy does not require approval form the landlord as in most cases the Tenancy Lease allows a tenant to install a fixture, like a solar system, on the roof. If the tenant vacates the premises COREnergy will discuss with the Landlord the opportunity of providing the same benefits to the next tenant, making the property more leasable.

As the landlord you may want to improve your property and its leasing potential for your tenant current or future. If the power account is paid by the tenant then the tenant has to be agreeable to entering the EEP. COREnergy may also pay the landlord a license fee for the roof space, creating another income stream from the property.

If a tenant is vacating the premises COREnergy requires three (3) month written notice from the tenant. COREnergy will then discuss with the landlord the possibility of the new tenant taking on the EEP as an ongoing agreement.

If the premise is being sold, the solar system is NOT owned by the landlord, and therefore does not make up part of the sale. COREnergy would like the opportunity to discuss with the potential new owners the possibility of retaining the EEP and utilise it for future tenants.

If this is not an option COREnergy will remove the system and make good the roof, with no penalties or charges to landlord or tenants.

COREnergy has appointed First Nova to design, install and maintain the system in accordance to all Australian Standard requirements.

COREnergy has selected a Tier One panel manufacturer CSun combined with Solis inverters. The panels and inverter have a 10 year structural warranty and the panels have a 25 year performance warranty. However, given the fact that COREnergy is the owner of the system and must maintain the system for the period of the agreement you can be assured that only high quality equipment is used and installed in the most professional manner possible.

If at any stage the system is no longer required or wanted for whatever reason the only stipulation in the EEP agreement is that COREnergy is given three (3) month written notice to remove the system. However, the request to remove the system can only be done after the first 12 month of billing. For unusual circumstances COREnergy would review this requirement.

Demand Billing is often adopted by large scale energy users, over 1MW per year consumption. In simple terms it is buying power at a fixed cost for a period of 5 years (time frame can vary). The confusing part is that the bills reflect kWHrs used which varies and kVA Annual Demand Blocks which are fixed.
The bill generally comprises of Energy Charges, Network Charges – charged in kWHrs and Annual Demand in kVA blocks, other incidental charges are also included which are charged in kWHrs.

So the question is “How does a solar system affect the bill?”

The Energy Charges and Network Charges are directly affected by the number of kWHrs consumed in a period, normally 31 days. Therefore, as a solar system reduces power consumed off the grid these charges are affected. The actual kWHr charge for these are generally very low, around 8.6Cents for Network Charges and 4.4Cents for Network Charges.

It is fair to say that the charges which are charged by kWHrs is approximately 13Cents/kWHr.

The Annual Demand is NOT directly affected as it is a FIXED price agreement with the energy retailer. However, if energy reduction solutions are adopted i.e.: The customer can request a review of their energy consumption and have the Annual Demand lowered creating substantial savings.

It is recommended that the energy saving solutions be adopted first then reviewed so that SA Power Networks can review actual data and not estimate. The review can occur at any time, at the customer’s request, and whilst a review can be done many times it is best to keep them to once a year if possible.

With this in mind and the cost of energy saving solutions an Evergreen Energy Plan is the perfect place to start because the capital outlay is “ZERO” and the savings can be attained from the on-set. Then with an Evergreen Energy Saving Solution Plan (EESSP) put into place the savings can increase substantially over a short period of time. The savings can be in the thousands…

An EESSP includes the energy saving solutions listed above plus monitoring and review windows.

You pay COREnergy for your energy usage generated from the solar system monthly. Eventually COREnergy breaks even and generates a profit.