European dishwasher – tick. Reverse cycle air-con – tick. Self-cleaning oven – tick. A ludicrous amount of down-lights in the kitchen – tick. 5kW of rooftop solar – tick. 13.5kWh battery system – tick.
Major Australian home builder Metricon says more than half of the roughly 1,000 new homes it is building a year in New South Wales alone will have rooftop solar and battery storage included.
That’s because more and more customers are opting for design packages with energy security built in – and it ends up just being a couple more standard modern appliances.
The residential developer is just the latest to reveal a new deal it is offering in partnership with solar installer CSR Bradford, where NSW and Queensland customers who choose its Designer by Metricon range will also have the option to include a Solar ChargePack.
This package includes CSR’s package of 5.4kW of rooftop solar and the latest home battery offering from Tesla, the Powerwall 2, which has a storage capacity of 13.5kWh. They’re even offering the chance to win a Tesla Model S EV – worth a cool $100k – as a sweetener for the deal.
And according to Bradford Energy, which has struck up these sorts of deals with a number of property groups across a number of states, there are now around 40-50 new home builders throughout Australia that are including solar and storage, either as a standard feature or an optional “luxury” upgrade.
Of course, the decision by new home owners to add rooftop solar is no great surprise. With electricity prices going in one direction (up), and the cost of solar going in the other (down), many would argue it is a no-brainer.
It could even become non-negotiable. A recent report published by the Australian Sustainable Built Environment Council (ASBEC) and ClimateWorks Australia, has recommended an update to the national Building Code, making solar panels or other renewables compulsory for new homes built in Australia.
But what about storage? Despite the costs of batteries coming down, too, they have not yet reached a point where they are an economic no-brainer. Particularly for new home owners with tight budgets and bloated mortgages.
So why are new home builders choosing battery storage, too? And why are property developers offering it as a package deal with solar?
“The leading new home builders, they’re just in touch with the fact that affordability is a real concern right now,” said Bradford Energy business manager Ashley O’Brien.
“They can walk into their new home, turn on their air conditioner and they don’t pay for it. It’s a lot of peace of mind for new home owners,” she told One Step in an interview last week.
“They’re working during the day, and when they come home this is when they’re using their energy. (Solar and storage) appeals to all of those families.
“Every time the (electricity) prices go up, we see demand increase,” O’Brien told One Step.
“With the speed at which electricity prices continue to increase, and as the cost of these products comes down, I would say within the five to 10-year mark, solar and batteries will become a standard feature.”
Metricon is seeing this unfold, too. Peter Ayers, Metricon’s sales manager for NSW, says that in that state, between 50 – 60 per cent of its customers are not only wanting to build “a big, new, beautiful home,” but to make it as energy efficient as possible.
On battery storage, Ayers says it had really been an unknown in the market place. But once Metricon started putting “a full fledged product” in its display homes, customers instantly became interested.
“With the cost of electricity going up, it’s just going to be the norm,” Ayers told One Step in a separate interview.
“Everyone is looking at the best. most affordable way to build a home. With the current large amount of down lights, three or four different TVs, you want to make sure that you are creating your own energy,” he said.
“Their budget is nearly up to the maximum, so to save as much as they can in the first 12 months is really important.”
Those savings, according to Metricon, should amount to something like $30,000 across 10 years, for those customers who opt for the 5.4kW Bradford Solar ChargePack.
In the first year, the company says, a household of four can enjoy $2,100 average electricity bill savings.
And they’re expecting the uptake to be big.
“In NSW we’re hoping to build around 1000 homes a year, and at the moment the uptake with the Tesla battery is probably around 50-60 per cent,” Ayers said.
Sophie is editor of One Step Off The Grid and deputy editor of its sister site, Renew Economy. Sophie has been writing about clean energy for more than a decade.
This post was published on February 14, 2018 10:47 am
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I remember saying to Bob Day (Senator who now isn't) to put solar on the roofs of all new Homestead Homes he builds, he laughed at me. If you own poles and wires, be afraid, very afraid.
The Metricon offer is laudible but I'd take it step further and make it mandatory that new build homes must have Solar PV.
I couldn't agree more Joe
And what about the ticks for:-
Appropriate orientation.
Climate appropriate insulation, construction materials, levels of internal thermal mass and cross ventilation.
White or pale roof
Eave width to exclude summer sun but allow penetration of winter sun ( varies with latitude)
External shading for Windows to the east and west, and in tropical areas, the south.
Perholas with deciduous vines to the north for natural cooling.
Ventilation of roof spaces to reduce heat build up
The list of things that go to make homes sustainable and comfortable independent of energy source goes on and on.
Yes, this is a site about efficient energy production and use, but if houses are built without regard to the things I have mentioned, we are only doing a third of the job of reducing waste. Too much of our domestic energy still comes from fossil fuel, and for a typical McMansion, a 5kw solar system wouldn't scratch the surface of energy need.
My thoughts exactly. When I read "big new home" I thought, well there's ya problem.
I'd much prefer a small efficient house without 5kW and a battery.
Great checklist Hettie, but add 6mm low-e glass to the list. To retrofit an existing house you can get window film that does almost the same job. Also include split system airconditioners with R32 gas (2.5kW in the bedrooms, 3.5 to 7kW in the living areas) and Aerotron fans with DC motors. We live in a new off-grid house just outside Brisbane and have included all the items listed above. It was 39 degrees outside and 23 degrees inside and we used 52 kWh. We planned for this situation and invested up-front so we could manage our operating costs in our retirement.
There are those who say that in tropical climates, double glazing is inappropriate. I have my doubts, because well shaded double glazing restricts heat movement in either direction.
And I did say the list goes on.
My experience as a two times owner builder in one of Australia's coldest cities, showed that at least until late 2011, low e glass was more expensive than double glazing, and does not do the same job. Certainly argon filled d.g. is vastly better than air filled. A factor of 8, if memory serves.
In My own house, with no air con, when outside temps reach 37, the historical maximum, inside at 5.00 pm it was 25. We have a big diurnal temp difference, so in summer I hAve the house wide open overnight, and ceiling fans (cheap Bunnings ones!) drive the cool night air down onto the exposed concrete floor.
7.00 am, I close everything, including block out blinds, to trap the coolth.
Now that I have solar, I will get air con, more for winter heating than cooling, although I expect to use it in the early afternoons of the hottest days to bring the temp down a bit. The savings on gas will pay for the air con unit in about 3 years.
Clearly we are on the same page here.
Building regs are hopeless, and most home builders/buyers hopelessly ignorant about what makes for a comfortable home that doesn't cost a bomb to run.
So sad.
Hettie, you need not worry about the side walls and back wall shading issues in modern suburbs because these houses are jammed together so tightly that one house shades the next etcetera.
Agreed. It would make a great deal of sense to mandate that the access streets in new subdivisions run east/west, and that houses return to the old terrace format, with narrow rear lanes to allow for access to back gardens, and a communal green area for every block. East and west walls would be are shared. Construction to be heavily soundproofed, of course.
If people are consenting to live in the current horrible developments, a pattern that reduces constructon costs and improves thermal performance just might become acceptable, especially if combined with community space.
When will the building industry learn they are designing and flogging off energy inefficient shit boxes and need to do far better.
Metricon are no better than any other builder, just adding solar ain't gonna cut it. As far as energy efficient homes go their a bloody joke.
While Australia resolutely refuses to legislate for as many environmental and energy conserving standards as the US refuses to ratify international covenants on human rights, we'll never get anywhere.
Blaming the builders for building stupid, uncomfortable energy guzzling houses is a bit like blaming the aborigines for their poverty and marginal lifestyles.
And the building industry refuse to change, but not all. Sure the Building code needs to change and that's the fault of the government for sure, including not demanding better appliances standards.
I do agree with you. I designed a passive solar house nearly 30 years ago, with all the stuff that Hettie mentions, plus a ventilated roof space with thermostatically controlled vents, and a roof pitch designed for solar panels. The heating and cooling bills were minimal, yet the extra design features added very little to the original cost of construction.
But getting a builder to install insulation in the walls and ceiling proved to be a major battle. 'You got sarking under the iron, what do ya need them prickly pink things for?"
Too many Australian home buyers simply take what's on offer and never think about how much more pleasant their home would be with a little bit of forethought in the placement of various design elements.
I've never understood why so few builders 'create a point of difference' by offering environmentally responsive house designs. "But where would you fit the multi-media room?"
Or for that matter the big f%#k off ducted A/C that they will run 24/7 and that it will chew the energy output of a super massive black hole. And don't forget the pool and the heated swim spa, plus double up on the heating with an underfloor heat pump powered hydronic system, more fridges than can you can ever imagine owning yourself over the last 5 decades. Big unshaded west windows, but won't invest in outdoor blinds, use the clothes dryer and never the clothes line............... awe, the list is f%#ken endless.
The cry comes, save us from these $2.5k/q power bills, not to mention the gas!
Give them the price for solar and it's....................oh F%$k that much...... it's not worth it.
And you guessed right, most of these morons are Lib voters too.
Very late in the day to be replying to you, but I just want to say that those of us who have designed built, and lived in sustainable houses, and also suffered the discomforts of the shit boxes, can never understand the apathy and ignorance of your average Aussie Joe (sorry, Joe), who can't be bothered to learn what makes for comfortable living in a challenging climate.
Tears hair out in handfuls.
I shan't invest in anything that leads to this nation's exorbitantly expensive electricity distribution system becoming stranded.
Wot???