AUSTRALIA could become the number one market for home battery storage allowing households to store energy they capture from rooftop solar panels keeping electricity costs down, a new Climate Council report has revealed.

As two of the world’s biggest home battery manufacturers announce Australia will be their first market, Powerful Potential: Battery Storage for Renewable Energy and Electric Cars found battery storage costs for households will continue to fall dramatically.

“It could be a game changer allowing households to control their energy and energy bills” Climate Council CEO Amanda McKenzie said.

“Already 1.4 million Australian households power their homes with solar. Household batteries will mean that households can store the power they make and have the flexibility to use it later on.”

Solar PV systems with added battery storage will become the most economical solution to providing electricity as feed-in tariffs are phased out and grid electricity becomes more expensive, the report found.

“Australians are forging a people-led renewables revolution. Australia leads the world in rooftop solar with more than twice the solar PV penetration rates of the next country (Belgium) and more than three times the penetration of Germany, the US and the UK.

“Now we have the opportunity to lead the world in household battery storage with major companies choosing Australia as their first market.

“This kind of competition is likely to cause battery storage costs to fall even more dramatically.

“In fact, going off-grid by installing battery storage could be cost-competitive with staying connected as early as 2018 as the price of battery storage falls.”

The report also found:

• Half of all households in Australia are predicted to adopt solar systems with battery storage, with the market potentially growing to $24 billion.
• Home battery systems can reduce household electricity costs. A household can store electricity from the grid when prices are lowest and then rely on their battery for power during the most expensive peak time, thereby minimising their overall electricity costs.
• Solar PV systems with added battery storage will become the most economical solution to provide electricity.
• The rapidly falling cost of batteries is expected to make electric cars cost-competitive with conventional cars within the next twenty years, leading to much greater uptake.

The Climate Council’s Andrew Stock said some of the biggest savings for households with solar PV would come from being able to store the energy they make from their solar panels but don’t use during the day.

“Currently, those householders are forced to export that energy at very low prices. With battery storage, they’ll instead be able to use it later, thereby saving themselves from having to purchase electricity during the expensive peak demand periods,” he said.

“Significantly, by enabling an increase in the uptake of renewable energy and electric vehicle use, battery storage can support efforts to reduce global greenhouse gas emissions and help tackle climate change.”

The Climate Council is an independent, crowd-funded organisation providing quality information to climate change to the Australian public.

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