EnergyAustralia’s partnership with Brisbane-based company Redback Technologies has born fruit this week, with the launch of a smart solar energy management system that promises to save the retailer’s customers as much as $1,500 a year on their electricity bills.
The Redback Smart Hybrid System – which will be offered to Energy Australia customers off the back of a $9.3 million investment in Redback Technologies in October last year – combines a solar inverter, battery enclosure and market energy management software.
Added to a rooftop solar panels and compatible battery storage, Redback founder and managing director Phillip Livingston says the system provides solar homes and businesses with a “seamless” plug and play platform that maximises solar self-consumption, and minimises reliance on increasingly costly grid power.
Including solar and battery storage, prices for the system start at around $9,000, the companies said on Wednesday, and based on annual household consumption of 8,000kWh could save customers about $1,500 annually, meaning pay-back after around seven years.
In automatic mode, the system works by storing excess solar generation in the battery and then discharging that stored power when there is not enough solar available. But the system can also be monitored and controlled by customers through the Redback app, and connected to pool pumps and other smart appliances in the home, to further maximise solar self-consumption at times when the sun is shining.
According to Redback, the Smart Hybrid Inverter has a 5kW power output, which means that – when combined with compatible batteries – the system can store up to 13.2kWh of electricity, enough to meet 75 per cent of the average home’s daily energy needs.
Customers can also choose to have their system installed to provide power to their home during a network blackout.
“The Redback system is the next generation in energy storage and management with a sharp ability to learn and respond to how people consume their energy, based on their preferences,” said Andrew Perry, EnergyAustralia Executive – NextGen.
“This is the future of energy technology, created with one aim: to put the customer in the driving seat so they can decide how they use, store and even sell their solar energy,” Perry said.
“In the past 12 months we’ve seen energy prices surge while in some states the lights have gone out. It’s no surprise there’s growing appetite for new technologies with the potential to shake-up the energy sector. There’s a revolution happening right now in energy and customers will say it’s about time,” he said.
Sophie is editor of One Step Off The Grid and editor of its sister site, Renew Economy. Sophie has been writing about clean energy for more than a decade.
