Solar changes which plan wins
For a solar household the feed-in rate is a real revenue line, and it interacts with the usage rate rather than sitting beside it. A generous feed-in rate attached to an expensive usage rate can easily lose you money overall, and the reverse is just as common.
Both sides are costed together against your actual export and import volumes, which is the only way the interaction shows up.
Time-varying feed-in
Some plans now pay a premium for exports during the evening peak and very little at midday, when the grid is saturated with solar. Crediting those exports at a single blended rate would flatter a plan that pays well only at a time you are almost certainly not exporting.
Where a plan states feed-in by time band, exports are credited band by band, so midday generation is never paid at the evening rate.
Batteries
A declared battery is modelled two ways: storing generation you would otherwise export and using it yourself, and charging off-peak to displace peak consumption. Both are priced on your real rates rather than a generic assumption.
Battery capacity is treated as nameplate capacity. Usable capacity is lower, and a model that quietly assumed full usable depth would overstate the benefit of every battery on the market.
Where the modelling stops
Virtual power plant rebates are shown as information, never folded into the ranking. Their value depends on how often you are called on, which nobody can promise in advance — so a program with a guaranteed payment is shown with a figure, and one that merely "varies" is shown without one rather than with an invented estimate.
The same restraint applies to solar output forecasts: they are stated as forecasts of generation, not as guaranteed dollars.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need to connect my inverter?
No, but it helps. Connecting one replaces estimated generation with metered generation, which also enables fault detection when output drops against expectation.
Why is my battery saving lower than a retailer quoted?
Most likely nameplate versus usable capacity, and whether the quote assumed a full daily cycle at peak rates all year.
Are VPP payments included in the ranking?
No, deliberately. They are shown alongside it as information.