Why Your Electric Still High After Installing Solar

Use solar is a smart move — but many Malaysian customers are surprised when their electric still high even after going solar. This doesn’t mean solar isn’t working. In most cases, it means the system, tariff, or usage pattern isn’t fully optimised.

Let’s break it down in simple terms.

1. Solar Only Reduces the Energy Charge, Not Everything

Your TNB bill is made up of multiple components:

• Energy Charge (kWh used)

• Maximum Demand (MD) Charge (Medium Voltage only)

• Capacity Charge

• Rangkaian (Network) Charge

• ICPT & other surcharges

Solar panels mainly reduce energy consumption during the daytime. Charges like Maximum Demand, Capacity, and Rangkaian are not reduced unless the system is designed strategically.

👉 Result: Your bill drops, but not as much as expected.

2. Your Maximum Demand (MD) Is Still High

For Medium Voltage (MV) customers, Maximum Demand is often the biggest cost.

Even with solar:

• MD is based on the highest 30-minute peak usage in a month

• One short peak can lock in high charges for the entire billing cycle

If your peak happens:

• At night

• During cloudy/rainy periods

• When heavy machines start simultaneously

👉 Solar alone won’t reduce MD.

💡 Solution: Combine solar with Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) for peak shaving.

3. Solar Size Is Too Small (or Poorly Matched)

Some systems are installed based on roof size only, not actual load profile.

Common issues:

• Solar capacity too small vs actual consumption

• System produces power when you’re not using it

• Excess energy exported but savings limited

👉 Result: Underperforming savings.

4. Consumption Happens Outside Solar Hours

Solar works best between 9am–5pm.

If most of your usage is:

• Night shift

• Early morning

• Weekend-heavy

Then solar impact will be limited.

💡 Solution: Load shifting + battery + proper system design.

5. Tariff Structure Was Never Optimised

Many customers install solar without reviewing their TNB tariff.

Wrong tariff = reduced solar benefit.

This is especially common for:

• Factories

• Commercial buildings

• Data centres

How Maqo Solar Fixes This

At Maqo Solar, we don’t just install panels.

We:

• Analyse your full TNB bill

• Study your load profile & MD pattern

• Design solar + BESS for real savings

• Optimise system based on tariff structure

Call to Action

Still seeing high TNB bills after installing solar?

Let Maqo Solar review your system and bill.

📞 +6018 777 1095
🌐 get.maqosolar.com