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The dreaded task of receiving an electricity bill is now a source of excitement as it can show you how much you have saved and how little you would have to pay for electricity in comparison to the past.
So, when will you see the savings reflected in your Tenaga Nasional Berhad (TNB) bill?
Here is a guide on how to read the electricity bill of your solar-powered home located in Malaysia.
TNB Bill No. 1: Pre Solar Installation
Ms. H’s TNB Bill – August 2020
Here is an actual TNB bill from one of our customers at SOLS Energy. This customer has not installed a solar PV system, and is still completely dependent on TNB for electricity needs.
The bill reflects the amount of electricity imported from the TNB electrical grid.
Under the billing period (Tempoh Bil) section we can see their billing summary.
(A) – Shows the energy consumption (Kegunaan (kWh/kW) for the whole of that month, in this case, the customer imported 1,360 kWh to power their home for the month of August 2020.
(B) – Shows the prices set by the TNB (blok tarif) prices and how much the energy consumption amounts to.
(C) – The final calculation for how much a home-owner is being charged. TNB (blok tarif) prices + service charge (6%) + KTWBB (1.6%). In this case, RM 680.49 is the total bill for energy consumption of that month (Caj Semasa).
Difference between Pre and Post Solar PV Installation Bill
The TNB bill of a solar-powered home-owner will have additional components. This is because of the Net-Metering system (NEM).
The concept of NEM is that energy produced from the installed solar PV system will be consumed first (directly powering your home), and any excess energy will be exported to TNB on a “one-to-one” basis. Usually, it is during the day where most of the residents are not at home and there is low consumption at home.
When the sun rises, the PV system begins generating power and saving it. As energy is needed less during the day-time, it is exported to the TNB grid, which proceeds to offset this customer’s bill. Once the sun sets, the energy consumption increases and electricity is imported from the TNB grid.
This process will now be reflected on the customer’s electricity bill.
The excess energy offsets your bill, thus, the amount of energy exported will be deducted from the amount of energy imported. The amount that is left will then be the only amount due for payment.
To put it simply:
- Energy produced by Solar Panels = used first by the house.
- Any extra energy not used by the house before night = exported/sold to TNB (1-to-1 basis)
- Energy used at night from TNB grid = Charged to home-owner
Every month, energy used by HomeOwner (+service charge + KTWBB) – Extra energy exported to TNB = Caj Semasa
Let’s see how it looks on a real TNB bill:
TNB Bill No. 2: Post Solar Installation
Ms. H’s TNB Bill – April 2021
TNB Bill No. 2 was charged to the same customer after the Solar PV System had been installed. The NEM system is now applicable to this customer.
As you can see, there are now two rows of billing summaries in comparison to TNB bill No. 1.
The first row shows how much kWh was imported from the TNB grid into the house.
The second row shows the amount of energy exported from the customer’s house to the TNB grid.
In the month of April 2021:
(A) – Customer imported/used 1,073 kWh (Blok Prorata). Adding service tax charge (6%) and KWTHBB (1.6%), their energy consumption would have cost them RM 496.02 (Jumlah Import).
(B) – Customer exported 748 kWh of electricity to the TNB grid. TNB offset their bill by RM 404.48.
(C) – The customer has to pay TNB RM 91.54 (Jumlah Caj Bersih) for their bill this month.
RM 496.02 – RM 404.48 = RM 91.54
The customer saved 86.55% for the month of April 2021 alone.
Baki Nem
In addition to this, if the amount of energy exported is more than the amount of energy imported from the TNB grid, the excess credit will be applied to the next month. For example:
Located at the bottom right corner of the TNB Bill is Baki Nem. According to this bill, the excess energy exported is 214 kWh. It does not amount to anything in this bill, however, will be used to reduce the total in the next month. This applies to every solar-powered homeowner.
And there you go! That is how you can read your TNB monthly electricity bill to see the progress of NEM and how much money it is saving you in accordance with how much energy you are exporting into the TNB grid.
If you have installed solar with SOLS Energy, then we thank you for becoming one of our #SolarHeroes.
If you have any further questions on how to read your TNB bill, kindly contact our Customer Success Department and we will be happy to help.
Thank you and take care.
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