In five months, the North Shore has installed over 2000 home batteries. The Federal Government wants us to buy even more.

The Federal Government announced on Saturday it will extend Australia’s home battery subsidy, with nearly $5 billion in additional funding. On the North Shore, more than 2000 homes have already installed home batteries.

What is it: The Cheaper Home Batteries subsidy means Australian households and businesses can get a discount of around 30 percent on the upfront cost of installing a home battery system.

• The scheme has seen rapid uptake of home battery systems, with 175,000 expected to be installed nationwide in its first six months.

North Shore uptake: Across the thirty odd postcodes that make up the North Shore, more than 2,200 home batteries have been installed in the past five months. The bulk of these installations has been in upper North Shore suburbs. 

• Hornsby and Asquith saw the most installations across the region with 178, followed closely by Turramurra with 176. 

Local businesses: The Lorikeet spoke to a local electrician and installer, Tim Zietsch, who estimated the rebates had resulted in a 300 percent increase in business. 

• “It took us from being a month booked out to about three or four months”, he told the Lorikeet. “A lot of people think it finally makes financial sense, especially with the rise of virtual power plants, customers being able to buy and sell their electricity”.

What are home batteries? Australia leads the world in rooftop solar energy, maintaining for years now the highest per capita generation. 

However, while solar can generate an excess of energy in daylight hours, when the sun goes down it needs somewhere to store that energy. This is where home batteries come in: pairing a home battery with rooftop solar can further increase savings on energy bills.

• According to Smart Energy Council chief executive John Grimes, around 2 million homes are expected to have batteries by 2030.

• The Australian Energy Market Commission says faster battery uptake can reduce peak demand and help lower electricity prices for all consumers.

Thumbnail: New Wave Energy Group