One of the biggest questions people have when changing to solar energy is what feed-in tariffs (FITs) are and how they affect your energy bill.

Never fear though - we're here to tell you that this issue is not as hard or scary as it looks!

Read on to find out more.

Tell me about tariffs

So, let's start with the basics.

What exactly are tariffs?

Easy peasy to answer: it's your home's electricity meter type, which assists your energy provider to figure out your usage information and in turn, your bills.

Depending on your provider, tariff charges and details can also change during the day which is why you might hear about off-peak tariffs, time-of-use tariffs and single-rate tariffs.

Feed into good news

Depending on which state you live in, FITs are often referred to as a buyback rate or solar bonus scheme (NB: the national solar rebate or subsidy is a different thing altogether so don't confuse the two).

But the result remains the same: FITs are essentially a nice little energy credit, or rebate, from electricity providers to solar customers.

Here's how FITs work.

Solar power energy must be used ASAP but if you don't need or use all your solar power for whatever reason, it is then handed back - or sold - to the national electricity grid.

In other words, every single kilowatt-hour (kWh) of your solar system's unused clean energy is sent to the national grid, meaning no energy is wasted - and you essentially don't waste cash when you don't use all your solar power.

Not bad, hey!

Details to bear in mind

Saying this, there are several points to remember when it comes to FITs, including:

1. They obviously apply only to solar panels connected to the national grid, rather than personal solar battery power
2. They're very different and highly varied depending on which state you live in and which energy supplier you choose
3. You may have the choice of single-rate or time-varying feed-in tariffs

One final point too:

As with most energy rates and concessions, FITs won't be handed over to you in a big slice of cash but rather, be added to your energy account as a credit detail on your bill.

We're here to help

If you're still not sure where you stand with FITs or solar power in general, rest assured the Moving Loop team loves nothing more than comparing solar energy plans, rates and deals.

This goes for gas, electricity and internet details too.

Energy comparison is our bread and butter, after all, and we can truthfully boast that we're BFFs with a range of Australia's leading energy providers.

We also love taking care of all your removalist stresses from finding and co-ordinating the ideal removalist, to helping you pack up.

And we've saved the best news to last - all our services are free!

Visit Moving Loop to compare, switch and start saving.