I’m in Canberra and have participated in the Reposit ‘No Bill’ scheme since about June 2022, with the contract being for 5 years. I am commenting as a careful, but not overly informed, participant whose main objective using Reposit is to help reduce the use of gas- and coal-fired power.
As a general comment, I would note that the Canberra Reposit staff impressed me with their helpfulness, and I generally felt that they were after win-win outcomes and a long-term relationship rather than trying to exploit me. I haven’t had any experiences so far to downgrade this impression. To date I have never exceeded the cap for my electricity consumption, though will see what happens if there is a particularly cold winter in Canberra (looking less and less likely given climate change). The crunch will probably come at the end of the 5 years when the current contract ends (but see my comments re Localvolts at the end).
Also generally, I think a simple description of the Reposit business model is to sell the stored power of their customers at the highest prices available on the National Market, while still allowing for the usual power consumption of those customers. The accuracy of their algorithm to balance supply, demand, price etc would be crucial, and the heart of their business.
I had no problems with the amount I paid for the solar panels and batteries - I did a rough check of the component prices at the time, using an online supplier website, and I was fairly confident that I was getting a reasonably good deal for the whole package. And I didn’t have to make any decisions about what to buy! Nor look after the system except for keeping it clean. Nor worry about the abysmal amount that I was being paid per kilowatthour by my retail electricity supplier.
The quality of the system probably matches the 10 year warranty on the equipment, so my only ‘niggle’ was that Reposit might ‘flog’ the batteries more than I would as they have a 5 year horizon whereas I might have a longer one and so try to further extend the life of the batteries via conservative discharging.
I winced a bit at the quite large expenses I incurred with meterbox and electrical line upgrades, but considered this a useful investment that would eventually be needed anyway. I also paid an extra $1000 or so for a device to be able me to draw on my solar production during any grid shut-downs - another potentially useful investment but one that I hope not to need!
My electricity use is relatively small, so having 4 batteries (since I had the space and electricals) probably means that Reposit are ‘doing okay’ out of me. However I regard this as beneficial to all concerned - risk-takers deserve some return, and I am pleased to be able to provide whatever solar power I can. Plus I am happy for someone else to do the trading of power on the National Market that makes the whole setup so beneficial.
One of my main gripes was the continual delays in getting an app to monitor the system - over the year it took for the app to be developed and available to Canberra customers, Reposit wouldn’t even provide summary reports. And now the reviews of the app don’t exactly instill confidence.
Finally, Reposit have just invited Canberra customers to join Localvolts, an ‘Aussie energy retailer who provide direct access to wholesale pricing and consumer-to-consumer energy trading’. While there is a lack of information about the impacts of this on current customers, and I’d like to know more about the consequences of moving away from ActewAGL, this is an interesting development.
