PLN bill doubled for no feasible reason...

It's the K factor that determines the difference. the base rate is the same, that's correct. But peak rates will have a multiplier, I've seen a lot of 1.5x multiplier, a few 1.7.

Well given that the K factor is decided by the PLN Board of Directors it's hardly what we, outside of RI, would consider a peak/off-peak system. Probably decided by how much the Directors got in kick-backs.
 
Well given that the K factor is decided by the PLN Board of Directors it's hardly what we, outside of RI, would consider a peak/off-peak system. Probably decided by how much the Directors got in kick-backs.

I think there's a minimum multiplier, so it's not like it's 1.0 for people who are "well liked". :D

The other issue is that many industrial consumers have been OFFERED cheaper rates than published if they promise to increase consumption. In Java, there's often an oversupply of electricity. Not just in power, but in energy. PLN's power plant agreements have too many power plants that are on a take-or-pay term. Which is whether PLN uses the energy from the power plant or not, there's a minimum purchase they have to meet. So... to resolve this issue, PLN simply asks its customers to use more energy in exchange for a cheaper tariff. This means PLN can reduce the losses due to these take-or-pay Power Purchase Agreement terms.
 
You bring up a good point....

Originally Posted by jstar
This is very interesting in combination with solar panels:
https://www.tesla.com/en_AU/powerwall?redirect=no

This "technology" have been available for the last 15 years or so. Not just for homes but for communities/villages. Not that interesting, except that Tesla has good branding.

...and so do they:

https://techcrunch.com/2016/10/31/w...f-tiles-and-home-battery-are-such-a-big-deal/


Of course it's very much a hyping*. And I believe you when you say others are available and probably better. (And yes, Betamax and Video2000 were better than VHS.) But sometimes that 'hype' is what is needed to get the general public to make the jump.


*NB: Look at the stock price of Tesla compared to end 2013. But no dividends and Elon probably goes bankrupt if the model 3 fails. Still, it is a game changer.
 
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In Java, there's often an oversupply of electricity. Not just in power, but in energy.

Is that the reason they won't allow private consumers to feed back into the grid? Or is that more a technical matter?
 
Is that the reason they won't allow private consumers to feed back into the grid? Or is that more a technical matter?


They do, there is a net metering scheme in place already since 2013. Unless I misunderstood your comment ?
 
...and so do they:

https://techcrunch.com/2016/10/31/w...f-tiles-and-home-battery-are-such-a-big-deal/


Of course it's very much a hyping*. And I believe you when you say others are available and probably better. (And yes, Betamax and Video2000 were better than VHS.) But sometimes that 'hype' is what is needed to get the general public to make the jump.


*NB: Look at the stock price of Tesla compared to end 2013. But no dividends and Elon probably goes bankrupt if the model 3 fails. Still, it is a game changer.


Yeah... Unfortunately absolutely right. We end up with something mediocre (but looks great) all due to marketing. Sigh....
 
Yeah... Unfortunately absolutely right. We end up with something mediocre (but looks great) all due to marketing. Sigh....

To be honest, the powerwall battery is priced very competitively. Li-ion battery that packs that much energy at that price can be had if you are willing to take a risk with third rate manufacturer in China. Certainly Tesla's brand carries some better QA than those.
 
Thank you Rabbit_39 for your posts in this thread, they answer my questions about why solar panels are still not very popular here in Indonesia. What a shame.
Since this thread is over a year old, I'm wondering if since then there are any forum users who have installed solar panels on their house. My sister in law wants to install solar panels on her roof and she asked me for advise. Back home many people have them, but here?
Why not? If you're not using a lot of electricity, a 2kW system is about US$3000. It will produce about 7kWh/day, which is about $0.77 per day. which is about $281/year. So around 11 year payback IF PLN rates don't go up. If it keeps going up at the same annual rate since 2004 then:
(...)
So about 8.5 years payback if PLN rates continue going up like it has been the last 13 years.
I asked a quote from a company based in Jakarta and they quoted me for around Rp80jt for a 2kW system. US$3.000 sounds a lot better!
 
I don’t believe in metering schemes etc. at all by the PLN for individuals and wouldn’t be surprised there will be a huge waiting queue or technical issues.

The reason why I say that is that they even refuse to switch us to a prepaid meter. PLN helpdesk states they don’t do that anymore since July there are technical issues. Topping up fails a lot. Electricians say though, there are fraud issues and PLN wants a fool proof solution first. So we are stuck.
 
I don’t believe in metering schemes etc. at all by the PLN for individuals and wouldn’t be surprised there will be a huge waiting queue or technical issues.

The reason why I say that is that they even refuse to switch us to a prepaid meter. PLN helpdesk states they don’t do that anymore since July there are technical issues. Topping up fails a lot. Electricians say though, there are fraud issues and PLN wants a fool proof solution first. So we are stuck.
I wouldn't be surprised if some smart kids managed to decipher the algorithm that turns your 20-digit code into a certain amount of pulsa on your meteran.
 
I had the same problem in the past, and when I called 123 from landline (or 021123 from mobile phone) they explained the usage and also informed me the charge for every kwh. And because they sometimes couldn't take a note on the meter, then they did average calculation, and it became make sense.. Since it was not the exact meter (number) so I got the disadvantage of this average calculation. But now, they have given contact number, so I can photo the meter every month to send to them, maybe you can ask for this facility too.
 
I wouldn't be surprised if some smart kids managed to decipher the algorithm that turns your 20-digit code into a certain amount of pulsa on your meteran.

Yeah that was quite a big deal two years ago but it seemed (most of) the methods explained were hoaxes. Perhaps someone did find the holy grail, who knows?
 
Most scoff laws simply wire in a bypass of the meter. That is one reason large swashes of Jakarta burn to the ground periodically.
 
When buying (or renting) a property; check the lead seal on the meter very thoroughly. The PLN will screw you big time if there has been tampering. (First hand experience.)
 
The reason why I say that is that they even refuse to switch us to a prepaid meter. PLN helpdesk states they don’t do that anymore since July there are technical issues. Topping up fails a lot. Electricians say though, there are fraud issues and PLN wants a fool proof solution first. So we are stuck.

Ah, a PLN technician who comes by to record our meter (well it was annoying so every end of the month we send him a picture via WhatsApp now), contacted us and said he could 'arrange' the pre-paid meter. But we should not contact PLN directly but have to do it via him....
:nono:
 
Better postpaid than prepaid, unless the house is vacant. And I don't think big wattage (>6600) can be prepaid.
 
The price of minimum kWh, also goes up with more power (VA). And you talk about a minimum fixed cost which is more than 360K IDR per month when you have a 6.600 Watt installation. Which really adds up, if you're gone 6 months per year. (Almost 2 juta.) Not to speak about vacation homes which are even visited less frequently.

I'm not sure if there is a maximum for prepaid?
 
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Better postpaid than prepaid, unless the house is vacant. And I don't think big wattage (>6600) can be prepaid.

I have prepaid and like 13000w. I don't really see and advantage of either system except for the drawback of a minimum fixed cost for postpaid. Something that doesn't really come up if you don't leave your house empty for many weeks at a time.
 
I'm not sure if there is a maximum for prepaid.

There is a maximum prepaid amount you can load. I think it is equal to 1 month maximum usage. So if you have 6600VA, the the maximum you can preload is something like 4,752 kWh
 
I haven’t been able to add more than 1 juta credit to our prepaid system. I think we have 2.3kw system.
 

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