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At some point in time I think we will end up in a situation where the pricing models need a thorough rethink.
A lot of the network costs are recovered through c/kWh charges (often you don't see this on the bill but a cut of the charge is passed through the retailers). So as distributed renewables start to penetrate further into the market, we may end up in a situation where there isn't enough revenue flowing back to the networks to cover opex.
So either they jack up the c/kWh rates, so you have non-solar customers subsidising those with solar, or they reach a point where you pay $x,000 p.a. to have the security of the grid connection. I suspect consumers won't like either scenario.
Re kettles and irons. Yes their power rating is high but because utilisation is low, energy consumption is also low. In the average home, hot water and heating/cooling are the big users.
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