There is no doubt that 2018 has been a massive year for solar PV, with any number of major milestones and records notched up over the course of the year, including 2 million solar homes.
But could 2019 be the year of the home battery?
It just might be, if the popularity of the Queensland state government’s solar battery loan scheme is anything to go by – lending credence to the theory that canny consumers have been putting their purchases on hold while they wait for state and federal incentives to be put into effect.
That’s proved to be a smart move, particularly given that two of the major battery providers in the country – Tesla and LG Chem – have announced price hikes of between 10 and 20 per cent this year.
The recently launched Queensland policy – just one of a number being offered by state governments around Australia – provides eligible households with interest-free loans of up to $10,000 and grants of $3000 to buy batteries or solar-battery systems. Small businesses can also apply for the $3000 grant.
And it has been a huge hit –“all but exhausted” in just two weeks after its November release, according to Queensland energy minister Dr Anthony Lynham.
By December 3, about 1200 applications had been lodged for the original 1500 packages, and – due to the overwhelming response – another 1000 packages made available.
A further update from the energy minister’s office told One Step the total number of applications after four weeks climbed to 1830. Roughly one-third of those were for battery only, with the other two thirds applying for a combined solar loan-battery grant deal.
“This response has yet again highlighted Queenslanders’ thirst for the savings and environmental benefits of renewable energy,” Lynham said.
But does this “thirst” for home battery storage extend to Australia’s other states and territories?
Either way, 2019 will be the year to find out. As we have reported throughout the year on One Step, there are a number of similar, if not much bigger, home battery storage subsidy and loan schemes being rolled out by other state governments.
And there is even the promise of a federal incentive, if Bill Shorten’s Labor Party wins the national poll: $200 million for up to 100,000 households as a first step on a path to 1 million home battery systems by 2025.
In South Australia, the Liberal government’s $100 million Home Battery Scheme, capped at a maximum of $6,000 per battery installed, is available to 40,000 households.
As SwitchDin’s James Martin wrote here, the SA home battery scheme – one of the most generous in the country – is separate from the ambitious (and headline-grabbing) SA Virtual Power Plant project, which could include battery systems for up to 50,000 households.
So far, the SA scheme has already attracted three manufacturers to set up manufacturing and assembly plants in the state, helping to replenish the manufacturing hole created by the end of to car manufacturing.
That should lead to overall price reductions – at least that is the key plank of both the Coalition state government and the federal Labor proposals.
In Victoria, the Labor government has put in place a $40 million program providing battery incentives up to $4,838 (tapering down annually to 2026) for up to 10,000 homes who already have solar in ‘growth areas’ where there are already large amounts solar connected to the grid.
The ACT’s Next Generation Energy Storage program has lead the way on home battery incentives, and is about to enter its third round since 2016, with $3 million committed for the current tranche.
The program aims to put battery storage in 5,000 ACT households by 2020, subsidised on a ‘per kilowatt’ basis. The ACT is also running a 250-home virtual power plant pilot within the Next Generation scheme.
And in New South Wales, a $50 million smart energy for homes and businesses program offers a $1,000 incentive for customers who have batteries and/or ‘smart’ air conditioners and “agree to contribute” when called upon for a maximum of five days out of the year for at least three years.
It also has a $20 million commitment to back the installation of batteries for government buildings, under the proviso that the battery systems can function as a virtual power plant with demand response capacity of up to 13 megawatts (MW) across 900 systems.
More news is expected to follow in the lead-up to the state poll in March, with both the Coalition and Labor expected to deliver details of their household battery schemes.
As for the Queensland scheme, the website notes that the application portal will be closed over Christmas and New Year, and reopen on January 02, 2019.
Any applications received after funding has been exhausted will be placed on a waitlist, but cannot be guaranteed a loan and/or grant.
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 December 20, 2018 12:41 pm
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Home ESSs really need to reflect the cost of battery systems in EVs.
If EVs were to cost what is being charged for home ESSs very few would be sold.
All this will change but before then innovators are just going to have to accept that home ESSs don't make financial sense - even with the subsidies.
They do if you live on acreage in a rural fringe area. The cost of connecting to the grid if your house is over 100 m from the connection point makes it totally feasible from a financial sense to go off-grid entirely. But who says it has to be an entirely financial decision? The additional peace of mind from being insulated from the current mind-boggling stupidity makes the decision even easier.
I agree with off-grid applications.
However my impression is that the article is about grid connected systems.
That is what is happening to my tiny house at South River Ontario. There are power line on the road that run by my 70 acre property, but the cost of installing poles (the ground is rock four feet down and the number of poles make solar and batteries cheaper and I don't have to worry that the power line may get damaged in a storm.
There will be a shakeup in the stationary market, once the leading battery-makers are able to catch up with mobile demand. Meanwhile, you might design your system with the ability to add batteries later, or add more later if you put some in now.
I wonder what all the hype of batteries is about.
Batteries do not provide a good return of investment (even with subsidies) while in contrast solar PV is phenomenal.
This is somewhat hidden by the stupid practice of measuring solar PV and battery investment with payback, while other investments are measured in some kind of interest rate.
Solar PV can create equivalent annual interest rates (for home loans we call it comparison rate) of 25% and more, but with batteries one will be lucky to achieve bank rates.
Batteries also do not provide anything for the environment. If you consume your own solar electricity later by drawing it from your battery you will export less electrical energy into the grid during the day. It is a zero sum game!
In regard of impact it does not matter if batteries are installed by the consumer, the energy providers or the grid operator. So why should I invest (with lousy return) into something which I already pay for via the retailer to the grid operator and the electricity producer?
It may become a different situation when we will be paid fairly for the ancillary services that batteries can provide.
Hi Jo. I'm not sure about your thought on the home battery..."It is a zero sum game!" Sure charging the battery during the day reduces a home's grid exporting but then using the battery in the evening / overnight means less importing from the Grid by a home which both saves money and helps the environment as less 'baseload' / 'fair dinkum' / '24/7 power' is drawn which currently is pretty much all FF.
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