Solar Powered systems are gaining popularity across Australia as a larger population is beginning to realize its benefits. Installing a solar powered system in Australia not only helps the environment as it takes our dependence away from non-renewable sources of energy but it also helps you save big and is considered a very wise financial investment. Many homes across Australia have realized these benefits of this renewable energy source and have been encouraged by these advantages to even upgrade their existing systems.
One of the most impressive upgrades which has been observed by homeowners in Australia is the savings made with the installation of solar batteries along with the solar power system. Having a solar battery connected to the inverter in Australia gives the homeowner the ability to store the electricity generated throughout the day and to use it when the sun goes down or when there are power outages. This helps you to gain independence from the grid completely and to rely completely on the energy your own system produces during the day.
Since the technology for solar batteries is a lot newer as compared to solar panels, the question then arises of whether or not installing a battery for your solar powered system is worth it.
When talking about solar batteries, it is apparent the freedom they provide the potential customers from relying on the grid for their energy needs. Generally, homes that use a solar powered system in Australia use the electricity that is generated during the day and feed all the excess power back into the grid to receive a credit through the Feed in Tariff scheme set up by the government to encourage more people to switch to this renewable power source.
This practice of sending the extra power back to the grid in a way helps the homeowner to balance out their bills in regard to the power used at night. The addition of a solar battery to an existing solar powered system helps the homeowner to completely get rid of any reliance on the grid for their energy needs and can even help with going completely “off grid”. When a battery is installed to an existing system, it enables the homeowner to use almost every kW of energy generated by the solar powered system. This can mean an even larger reduction in energy costs, on good days making the reliance on the grid completely zero.
With On- grid solar powered systems, the feed-in tariff set up with the respective energy provider helps the homeowner to get paid a fixed FIT rate for every kWh that is exported back to them. It is important to note that this rate doesn’t always give you the most value for the solar energy produced by your system. Also to keep in mind, there is a limit on how much power you can export back to the grid on a single phase connection. The export is limited to 5kW in most areas across Australia for single phase connections which means that on days your consumption is low and the production of your system is high, you won’t be able to experience all the gains from the production of your system. In such cases, installing a battery makes the most sense to maximise on the benefits of having your own system. Installing a solar battery means that you use your own energy, produced by your own system and there is no need to sell it at a discounted rate.
However, knowing all these benefits is not enough. The cost of solar batteries in Australia is still extremely high and is unaffordable for a large population. Solar batteries cost anywhere between $8000 and $12,000 and the payback period for you to experience any kind of return on your investment could take over 10 years – which is the average warranty length of the batteries available in the market at the moment in Australia. So although it is likely that installing a battery could be beneficial, the cost of it is too high to make it reachable and accessible for a large population. The solar powered system will give you a much faster return on your investment than the batteries just because of the larger investment they require.
There are no rebates on batteries at the moment in Australia. Contact Sunmate solar for expert advice on whether or not investing this large amount would be the right choice for you – this depends largely on your budget and whether or not you qualify for a rebate on solar batteries. If your main aim is to get the highest savings possible, a solar battery might not be the right call this year – especially if you have a decent feed-in tariff set up already with your energy provider. As the price of solar batteries decreases over the next few years as the technology develops and more government incentives are set up to encourage this initiative the shift to adding a battery can be made more easily for the larger population.
Contact Sunmate Solar today for a free quote on a solar system and for expert advice on whether installing a solar battery is the right choice for you.
