Big Appetite For Solar Batteries In Australia, But …

A recent survey indicates the majority of Australian solar owners are keen on getting a home battery – but there’s a common issue continuing to stand in the way of many doing so.

The survey by community group Solar Citizens revealed 84% of solar owners without a home battery were interested in buying one in the next 3 years. 20% of solar owners surveyed already had one.

That’s a huge amount of interest, but the cost of home batteries is still seen as a major barrier to acquisition. Subsidies could get many of these folks over the line – but how much would the subsidy need to be? When asked this:

• 26% said $3-4,000 or more
• 20% said $5-6,000 or more
• 10% said the entire cost
• 24% were unsure
• ~ 7% said $1,000 – $2,000
• ~ 7% said above $7,000

Solar Battery Subsidies In Australia

Currently, government subsidies for solar batteries in Australia are confined to state government (and in some cases, local government) schemes. Unlike the “solar rebate“, there is no national scheme financially supporting home batteries. State/territory programs at this point are:

• ACT’s Next Gen Battery rebate ($3,500)
• Up to $2,950 in Victoria
• Up to $6,000 in NT

South Australia did have a subsidy until recently, but the SA Home Battery Scheme closed to new applications late last month.

“We’d like to see the Federal Government implement a Renewable Energy Storage Target to help more households utilise their cheap solar energy around the clock,” said  Solar Citizens’ Deputy Director, Stephanie Gray.  “This would be good news for the grid and help bring down prices for everyone.”

If you’re eyeing solar batteries, check out SQ Founder Finn’s comprehensive guides to understanding, buying and owning home battery storage. It’s also worth reading Ronald’s article from yesterday summarising the results of extensive home battery testing.

Australian Solar Owners Seeing Big Savings

The Solar Citizens survey also revealed the impact of having panels installed on electricity bills. 42 per cent of solar owners said they save more than 70 per cent, or are usually in credit. A further 20 per cent say they’re saving more than 50 per cent on their bills.

What wasn’t noted was solar power system sizes in relation to savings. There are hundreds of thousands of solar systems out there (perhaps more) that would be tiny by today’s standards.

These days an entry level system is 6.6kW capacity – and 10kW solar systems are becoming far more common. A 6.6kW system can put a huge dent in electricity bills, or averaged out over a year blow them away altogether depending on energy consumption profile. You can use SQ’s solar calculator to get a good idea of the benefit of such a system (or larger, or smaller) in your circumstances.

Solar isn’t just bringing savings, but some peace of mind – and we could all do with a bit more of that in these crazy times. The survey found 49% of solar owners were moderately to extremely concerned about electricity costs; compared to 72% of those without solar.

Many Australians Keen To Get Off Gas

Full household electrification is one of The Next Big Things for energy in Australia. Survey says:

“A staggering 41 per cent of those surveyed who had gas in their households said they would definitely switch to electric alternatives with a government subsidy.”

On a related note, we recently reported on an initiative seeking to create Australia’s first fully electric community (and that includes electric vehicles).

Original Source: https://www.solarquotes.com.au/blog/solar-batteries-survey-mb2595/