Aussie homeowners are set to drop $800 million into making their homes more eco-friendly over the next year.
The Federal Government’s 30 per cent rebate on solar home batteries has seen up to 400 per cent more interest from buyers across accredited battery installers around the country.
The rebate began on July 1, where residents could shear off nearly a third of the price when buying the battery, which can store solar energy to use in the evenings and take pressure of the local power grids.
Leading Australian energy company VoltX has reported spiking sales for the technology within the past three weeks, with four times their usual sales numbers from interested parties.
Australian’s are anticipated to spend $800 million on solar home batteries over the next year, according to research from leading energy company VoltX. Picture: Mark Cranitch.
Chief operating officer David Sedighi said key states had seen growth in unit sales of up to ten times across several states, and estimated the country would see “a conservative estimate” of 160,000 home battery installations over the next 12 months.
With an estimated lower value of around $5,000 per unit (including rebate), this would account to $800 million being added to home values across the country.
“The cost of electricity has been rising year on year,” he said. “Consumers can feel that.”
The federal government has introduced a 30 per cent rebate on the price of many standardised home batteries, reducing the price to a more affordable fee at $5-6,000.
VoltX COO David Sedighi said the country could see at least 160,000 installations of the technology over the next year, thanks to the new federal government rebate on price.
While homeowners used to be able to save money with solar energy – or even make some money with solar feed-in tariffs – Mr Sedighi said rising strain on the infrastructure has diminished or eliminated the money people were once saving.
“Whatever benefit consumers used to get by exporting to the grid has been diminished, and consumers are angry,” he said. “The federal rebate has sort of changed that atmosphere, slightly.”
Three separate energy companies reported a spike in interest and/or sales for their home batteries after the federal government announced the change. Picture: Dan Peled / NewsWire
Power Cap CEO Dane El Safty said his company had seen hundreds of more inquiries than they used to get earlier in the year.
“We’ve been doing batteries now for close to 6 years, and we’ve only just launched the sodium [ion] battery; we would typically get around 5 or 10 inquiries a fortnight,” he said. “In the last couple of months, we’ve had well over 1000 inquiries, and we’re now starting to make sales.”
Mr El Safty said the Federal Government took “a step in the right direction” with the rebate, in order to match international trends towards energy efficiency.
“We’re pretty pleased about it — it’s given us some buoyancy, and our inquiries are not just limited to Australia,” he said. “If you look at the various modelling globally for grids, you’ll see that distributing battery technology is integral for that … the whole market is expanding.”
With many Australia-produced home batteries being shipped overseas, the market locally is primed to meet growing demand. Picture: Mark Wilson
Solar Battery Group CEO James Hetherington said installing a home battery the right way was as important as the battery itself.
CEO of Solar Battery Group James Hetherington said the government rebate would be a big help for reaching Australia’s sustainability goal in the Paris Climate Agreement.
“There are approximately around 11 million homes in Australia,” he said. “Of that, 4 million have solar panels on their roof. Of the 4 million homes that have solar, only 200k actually have a battery connected to their solar system.”
“The technology has been getting better and better over the years, [but] a solar battery is an expensive thing to buy.”
Mr Hetherington said Solar Battery Group’s analysis found the $5,000-6,000 range was the “sweet spot” people believed a home battery was worth.
The rebate is part of ongoing methods to meet Australia’s sustainability goal as decided on in the 2015 Paris Climate Agreement. Picture: Thibaud Moritz / AFP)
In recent months, his company saw a 60 per cent sales increase, and a 400 per cent increase in website traffic.
Mr Hetherington said Australia’s small population meant companies would exporting the majority of batteries they made, so would be prepared to handle a spike in local demand.
However, the real problem would be in the number of accredited installers, who are able to attach a home battery safely and responsibly.
“There are currently only 2,000 accredited battery installers,” he said. “There are a lot of electricians who wouldn’t want to get into solar, because it’s roof work … now with the rebate and the huge demand, you’ll see people saying ‘You know what, it’s time for me to get an apprentice, gain my battery accreditation’.”
“It’s a lot of money, they’re not cheap, and so you need to make sure you’re doing it right.”
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