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Rank 1
February 7, 2025
Solved

Is there an Australian OVO forum group on here?

  • February 7, 2025
  • 18 replies
  • 180 views

I’ve been searching through a few questions regarding solar with batteries and power company integration, however many answers seem to be UK-based, whish obviously wouldn’t be useful for my questions here in Queensland.

 

Is there a forum with/for Australian customers and power users to ask and converse on here?

Best answer by BPLightlog

Hi ​@Mikeymike0710 but as I mentioned on your other thread, this forum is UK based so won’t be able to answer OZ specifics. 
In general here (and a few other places) a battery together with solar is a great addition. That helps to make best use of your solar generation - as you never get as much from a feed in tariff as you are charged for supply - a battery ‘fills in the gaps’ when your home electricity demand is greater than your generation. 
There is (over here) a standard cost for a ‘connection’ so what ‘free’ means for those suggesting free electricity is often not quite correct. Then there are those days (less in QLD) where it’s not that sunny. 
Although I’ve visited power companies in OZ, plans and tariffs change all the time so it’s best to check yourself but a plan dedicated to solar and battery might be available. 

(from the OVO Australia website)
Hope you find what you’re looking for. 

18 replies

Blastoise186
Super User
Super User
February 7, 2025

Yeah, it’s a tricky one really! We get folks from Australia stopping by from time to time, maybe around once every six months or so? The biggest complication is that while both OVO UK and OVO AU are definitely part of the same OVO Group, they have to run things in a massively different way - and on totally different time zones!

We’re mostly equipped for OVO UK here (and that’s also the one which “owns” the Forum) and the way things work in other countries is often pretty different compared to the UK. One of the biggest challenges I can think of, would be the extra workload of figuring out how to handle the split between the two sides - and also how to run the show when someone comes here to ask a question about the other OVO that’s currently asleep.

If we get more folks stopping by, I might think about raising the discussion further in terms of what we can do as Forum Volunteers but at the moment we don’t seem to get many of our Australian friends stopping by so we tend to handle them on a case-by-case basis.

Securing energy by zapping security bugs... For that is The Blastoise Way! Remember, I'm just like you - AI Powered Evil Geniuses aren't Staff!
BPLightlog
Super User
Super User
February 7, 2025

So, I assume, it would be good for the forum to place some kind of information which would be related to the Australian customers.

I’ve only seen a couple of requests from OZ over several years


 Also, with “there is the link” would be helpful to put the actual link.

I actually said “there is a link” in response to your suggestion that British sources don’t mention OVO Australia

Sorry if the image isn’t clear enough for you 

 

Bring me Sunshine ~ E&E {Solar PV, Battery Storage, Hybrid EV, ASHP and Home Assistant automation}
Rank 2
February 7, 2025

If there is any Energy Forum in Australia? Doesn’t have to be related to OVO. The place where people discuss energy related questions which are specifically for Australia. 

Seeing that OVO is slowly expanding to other countries, I could guess the number of visitors from outside of the UK would grow. 

Blastoise186
Super User
Super User
February 7, 2025

Not one that I know of, but it could be that some form of one exists on social media platforms (which I don’t monitor).

Personally… My suspicion is that if OVO AU was to have a Forum like this one, it’d probably be on a dedicated instance so that things don’t get tangled up as much. IIRC they already use Zendesk Suite so they could probably just turn on the Forum functionality.

Securing energy by zapping security bugs... For that is The Blastoise Way! Remember, I'm just like you - AI Powered Evil Geniuses aren't Staff!
Rank 2
February 7, 2025

So, I assume, it would be good for the forum to place some kind of information which would be related to the Australian customers.

I’ve only seen a couple of requests from OZ over several years


 Also, with “there is the link” would be helpful to put the actual link.

I actually said “there is a link” 

Sorry if the image isn’t clear enough for you 

 

Not funny. Customer friendly approach would include the actual link. It is ways easier than creating an image with the giant arrows. 

BPLightlog
Super User
Super User
February 7, 2025

I’ve no idea what a link to the OVO Australia website would help with ..

I was merely commenting on your suggestion that British sources don’t mention it 

Bring me Sunshine ~ E&E {Solar PV, Battery Storage, Hybrid EV, ASHP and Home Assistant automation}
Peter E
Super User
Super User
February 7, 2025

I don't want to add fuel to the fire here but I thought that ​@BPLightlog  ‘s big yellow arrow was actually humourous in a way in that it reminded me that I had seen that link before but forgotten that it was there. I think it's related to the fact that I'm not on the app so much since I defected but I still use it to check my relative's power consumption to see that she is ok.

Reducing my yearly fossil fuel usage with an EV (-900 litres petrol), A2AHP (-8,700 kWh gas) and Timed Immersion heater (-1,500 kWh gas)
Chris_OVO
Community Manager
Community Manager
February 10, 2025

Morning everyone, 

 

Just to add to the conversation that a lot of our content, community members experience and specialisation is within the UK and the energy infrastructure. There’s a risk that anyone from outside the UK coming to our Forum could receive the wrong advice leading to issues that could’ve been mitigated. 

Renewable energy jokes never get old.