Many people who have been through the process of a house renovation say to “expect the unexpected”.

True to say, often budgets and timeframes get blown out the window when the work starts. But there is a way to help keep a lid on the costs.

Most home renovators are all over the obvious processes of plans, council approvals, building quotes and contracts but what about the unknown?

How old is the wiring system? Will it require new circuits to accommodate the demands of a renovated living area? The same goes for plumbing and solar.

With the solar boom now over 10 years old, there are a large number of under performing systems limping along on their last legs. A renovation may be in order.

“There can be huge dividends in upgrading to the latest solar technology,” says David Sharpe, of Energy Rating Systems.

The first step towards this is the Energy Rating Systems’ Energy Analyser, which assesses a household’s current and future energy needs. It is important to match the system to future needs.

ERS is one of Adelaide’s oldest solar specialists and its technicians have been involved in several upgrades of systems they originally installed.

A recent ERS upgrade involved a 4.2kW system installed in 2012.

“After the original 16c/kWh solar feed-in tariff ended our customer decided to take a firm grip of the future and start actually owning the rooftop energy being produced,” says Mr Sharpe.

“Having an all-electric household, with no reliance on costly gas for either cooking or heating, made a good foundation for this decision.”

ERS technicians enlarged the solar system by adding another 10 panels (or 2.7kW) to the existing 16. Battery storage was then installed from the large range of brands and models ERS can supply. As well as off-setting daily energy use, the Tesla 2 battery storage chosen powers all systems in the house, except the air-conditioning, during an electrical blackout.

This new technology also comes with smart-phone monitoring, giving 24/7 access to information on the solar and storage power flow.

A successful renovation is much more than just bricks and mortar.