“No up-front cost” community battery and solar initiative wins $10,000 prize

South Australia’s City of Mitcham has been recognised for its “pioneering” Community Renewable Energy Program which provides solar panels and homer batteries to households and businesses with no up-front costs. Located in the foothills of southern Adelaide, the City of Mitcham’s Community Renewable Energy Program was last week recognised as winner of the government category and overall winner of the Premier’s Climate Change Committee 2024 SA Climate Leaders Awards, awarding the City a $10,000 prize. First launched in 2021, the Program has so far provided over 900 systems, adding up to a total of 4MW of solar PV generation and 10MWh of battery storage. The Program was designed to ease the cost-of-living pressures for residents while also reducing carbon emissions and is being managed by New South Wales based solar energy supplier ShineHub. Since the launch of the Program, the City of Mitcham has run three community bulk buys that included a $0 down option for residents that provided immediate cost savings. The majority of participants in the Program also signed up to be a part of a virtual power plant (VPP). According to a June council briefing, the Program had seen a total of 932 systems installed across the City and a return on investment of 4.5 years. Remarkably, according to the City of Mitcham, the total annual electricity bill for residents participating in the Program was over $3 million before installation of the solar and batteries. After installation, however, the total collective annual electricity bill for these same residents plummeted to only $231,000. “We are proud of what we have achieved so far and we’re looking forward to helping achieve equitable access to cheap renewable power for the whole community,” said Dr Heather Holmes-Ross, City of Mitcham mayor. Future plans for the Community Renewable Energy Program include the rollout of large community batteries in local parks to support those residents unable to install solar and batteries, and electric vehicle (EV) charging points paired with solar panel installations and integrated with the VPP.