Rooftop solar is now supplying more than 10 per cent of Australia’s electricity, and last year a record 57,000 households installed a storage battery to beat soaring electricity bills.
It comes as the Clean Energy Council, using SunWiz, on Tuesday reports that total rooftop solar capacity is now 20 gigawatts, or 11.2 per cent of the nation’s total power supply. Rooftop solar generates electricity only while the sun is shining. If the residents are not there to consume the power during the day, it either goes back to the grid or a battery can capture it and store it for later.The Clean Energy Council estimates a battery can save a household with solar $900 a year or more, while an “orchestrated battery” – which can feed in electricity to the grid at optimum times – can save $1150 a year.
Johnston said the national average length of payback was 4.8 years for solar panels alone, or 8.4 years for solar panels plus a battery. He said batteries would take off once the payback period fell to seven years. The federal government’s target of 82 per cent renewable electricity by 2030 includes funding to help households install battery-ready solar panel systems and upgrade insulation, windows and appliances. There are also state programs to subsidise household solar.
“We’re world leaders, per capita, for solar, and if we tie that with batteries, we can use that cheap, clean power at night as well, when we’re most beholden to the high prices from coal and gas,” Douglas said.