Mr Viral
Australian homeowners are set to receive a significant boost in their transition to energy independence with the introduction of the Federal Home Battery Storage Rebate.
The Australian Labor Party won the Federal Election yesterday by some margin and with that win, comes the execution of their policies.
The $2.3 billion Cheaper Home Batteries Program is scheduled to start soon, in less than 2 months, on July 1st, 2025.
With the price of Home Batteries remaining stubbornly high, this policy promises to make home battery systems more affordable, which is likely to lead to many more homes adding battery storage to their rooftop solar systems. By adding a battery, it allows homes to capture energy from the sun during the day and time shift, drawing energy stored in the battery after dark, rather than drawing from the grid at its peak price of the day.
The core of the rebate is a direct discount on the upfront cost of purchasing and installing a home battery system. Households will be able to purchase a typical battery with a 30% discount, saving around $4000 on a typical battery.
Analysis by the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water shows a household with existing rooftop solar could save up to $1,100 off their power bill every year, and a household installing a new solar and a battery system could save up to $2,300 a year – up to 90% of a typical family electricity bill.
One of the most popular home batteries is the Tesla Powerwall and their 3rd generation model offers 13.5 kWh of capacity and costs A$11,900 for the product plus A$1,950 for the Gateway. The combined price of A$13,850 does include a solar inverter, however after installation, you’re looking around A$15,000.
This is the first time we’ve seen a federal battery incentive and the good news is, this is stackable with state-based incentives.
For instance, in Victoria, the Solar Homes Program offers an interest-free loan of up to $8,800.
If we take the example above for a Victorian customer, the economics work like this.
Initial Cost (inc install): A$15,000
Federal Discount: A$4,000
VIC interest-free loan: A$8,800
Total up-front, of pocket expense: A$2,200
While the loan would certainly need to be paid back, the vastly lower cost to get a battery in your home and start recognising energy savings, is a compelling offering.
While not mandatory, it’s possible to also enrol a compatible battery into a Virtual Power Plant (VPP) to recognise more savings, if you allow the VPP provider to send some of the power in your battery to your neighbours. This is often a much cheaper source of power, rather than generate more power at a large-scale energy generation point and deal with the transmission losses in distributing over longer distances.
Home storage batteries work in conjunction with with Community Batteries to contribute to grid stability and smooth out energy supply and demand.
There are other great reasons to add home battery storage outside the economics, including resilience, enabling homes to run electronics off the battery during grid outages.
Expect the scheme to be popular, with 1 in 3 homes in Australia already featuring a solar system, many of which are already in positive territory from that investment. Feed-in-tarrifs have all but disappeared, meaning the best use of your solar is to power your home energy uses, rather than sending excess back to the grid.
“This rebate is a game-changer for Australian households wanting to take control of their energy use and reduce their bills. Combining this with solar power creates a powerful pathway towards a cleaner and more affordable energy future.”
Sarah Jones, Energy Analyst at GreenTech Solutions.
For more information, head to ALP.org.au
