“I just don’t know that the next-door neighbour, who can’t afford to pay for that battery, is going to subsidise the battery for me or for you on higher incomes,” he said.
Dutton has previously indicated the opposition would also promise a battery scheme. However, with four weeks to go in the campaign, the Coalition is yet reveal any plans.
The Tesla Powerwall 2 can retail for more than $15,000.Credit: Pat Scala
While some household batteries, such as the Tesla Powerwall 2, can retail for more than $15,000, many other batteries are far cheaper, said John Grimes, chief executive of the Smart Energy Council, an industry group.
There are 77 solar batteries on the Australian market at present, starting at about $4000 for a five-kilowatt-hour battery. At least nine larger 10-kilowatt systems range from $6000 to $10,000.
Grimes said this meant the government’s 30 per cent discount could go much further, potentially making “a massive difference in bridging the gap between people who couldn’t previously contemplate getting a solar battery”.
Loading
It would help drive down prices across the grid, not just for those who could afford a battery, he added, by helping avoid spikes in wholesale electricity prices during times of high demand on the grid, and reducing the flow-on effect to consumer bills.
“Less demand on the energy grid means fewer price peaks, a win-win for all,” he said.
Bryn Foletta, the head of SolarGain, a major solar and battery storage provider with 23 stores nationally, said the discount would lower the out-of-pocket purchase and installation cost for one of its most popular batteries from $4900 to just over $3000.
With an estimated savings of $1100 a year for homes with solar plus batteries, a system could pay for itself in as little as three years, he said.
“It’s going to make it far more reachable for the consumer – especially if you’ve got an existing solar system and you’re adding a battery to it,” Foletta said.
“Obviously, it does depend on the battery, but it’s quite a significant amount of money.”
More than 3 million homes – or one in three – are now fitted with solar panels, the highest per capita take-up rate of any nation globally. Just one in 40, however, has a battery too.
Climate and Energy Minister Chris Bowen held a briefing with about 500 battery installers on Sunday to field questions about the program’s rollout.
Installers, who are now bracing for a significant increase in demand if Labor is re-elected, anticipated there may be a sharp drop-off in bookings until July 1, when the program would begin, as potential customers held off for the subsidies to kick in.
Bowen advised the industry to continue taking on customers and performing installations but not to turn the batteries on until July, allowing customers to claim the discount then.
Energy consultancy Green Energy Markets’ head of analysis, Tristan Edis, described Labor’s policy as an important initiative that could boost uptake, ignite competition and drive down prices for batteries in the future.
“Hopefully, they will get the industry to go down the cost curve such that it becomes a mainstream option that’s affordable for mums and dads in the mortgage belt, much like [rooftop] solar is now,” he said.
“If you look at where we are installing solar now, it’s in the mortgage belt where people are sensitive to electricity bills – it’s not in Hawthorn or Toorak or Double Bay.”
The Business Briefing newsletter delivers major stories, exclusive coverage and expert opinion. Sign up to get it every weekday morning.
