Home battery payback times: they are a’changin’ thanks to the upcoming government rebate. Discover how long simple payback can be achieved in your state/territory as part of determining if installing a solar battery is worth it for you.
Home battery simple payback (how long it takes for electricity bill savings/credits to total the installed cost) within a system’s warranty period could only be achieved under certain circumstances to this point. The federal government battery rebate — officially known as the Cheaper Home Batteries Program — will be a game-changer in many scenarios, but not all.
SolarQuotes’ Ronald Brakels has recently updated a bunch of numbers to see what’s what in this regard.
The following table shows estimated annual savings and simple payback with a 10 kilowatt-hour (kWh) battery in each Australian capital city for an installed cost of $8,500 that takes into account the federal rebate only. This is also based on having a solar power system of more than 7 kilowatts (7 kW) and overnight electricity consumption of 7 kWh, which is what approximately 60% of Australian households consume between sunset and sunrise.
Note that these figures were also based on May 2025 electricity prices, and from July 1 this year electricity prices will increase for most Australians, improving battery payback times.
| Annual Savings + Simple Payback Periods: 10kWh Battery @ $8,500 Installed After Federal Battery Rebate | ||
|---|---|---|
| Capitals | Annual Savings | Simple Payback Period |
| Adelaide | $1,350 | 6.3 years |
| Brisbane | $1,100 | 7.7 years |
| Perth | $1,120 | 7.6 years |
| Sydney | $1,030 | 8.3 years |
| Canberra | $700 | 12.1 years |
| Darwin | $620 | 13.7 years |
| Melbourne | $610 | 13.9 years |
| Hobart | $410 | 20.7 years |
Things are looking pretty good in Adelaide, Brisbane, Perth and Sydney for achieving simple payback just with the federal rebate in well under 10 years, which is usually the warranty period of a solar battery system these days.
Although home batteries won’t provide a sub-10-year payback with typical overnight consumption in the Australian Capital Territory, Victoria and Tasmania in this scenario, they can make sense in the ACT and VIC with above average overnight electricity consumption. While a battery won’t pay for itself at current electricity prices and solar feed-in tariff rates in Tasmania, it can be worthwhile if enough value is placed on backup power — and payback will improve as solar feed-in tariffs drop.
But What About …
The scenario in the table above is simple. What about payback times in situations such as:
- Where state/territory incentives are also available?
- Participating in a Virtual Power Plant (VPP)?
- A household with above average electricity consumption?
- Other factors such as capital costs, battery reserve, degradation and more?
How do these aspects impact simple payback? All this is covered in our freshly updated guide: ‘Are Solar Batteries Worth It?‘.
The Best Home Batteries — And What They Cost
A few months back, we asked the hundreds of installers in the SolarQuotes network what brand’s batteries they would use if they were installing a system on their own houses. Based on the votes received, the best home battery brands in 2025 were:
- First place: Tesla and Sungrow
- Second place: Sigenergy
- Third place: BYD
If you’re wondering about costs of popular solar batteries from these brands, here’s a rough price guide using the Tesla Powerwall 3 as a benchmark for capacity. But note these prices are before the rebate but don’t include installation, and these models all have more capacity than what the simple payback table above is based on:
- Tesla Powerwall 3 (13.5 kWh) – $13,600
- Sungrow SBR HV (12.8 kWh) – $9,500
- Sigenergy Sigenstor (13 kWh) – $11,500
- BYD HVM (13.8 kWh) – $10,600
To get an estimate how much of a discount you could receive on these and other models, try our federal battery rebate calculator. And you can see how various models’ specifications stack up side-by-side in SolarQuotes home battery guide.
If you’d like to find out exactly what it would cost to get one of these home batteries installed at your place (or another brand/model), submit for quotes via the SolarQuotes service. It’s quick and easy to do, and we’ll match your requirements with up to three pre-vetted independent installers who will compete for your business. There’s no obligation and no cost — just honest quotes from installers you can trust.
Among the other handy tools SolarQuotes offers is our Add A Battery Calculator, which uses your smart meter data to accurately calculate savings and payback, and the Solar + Battery Calculator to quickly see estimated savings and payback when you combine a battery with solar power. Both these tools factor in the federal rebate.
About Michael Bloch
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To put this in perspective, if one buys a bi-directional V2G vehicle, & goes Bi on a charger install, one could have a huge battery available at a cost of $1500 + installation (cost projected from recent Energy conf in Sydney for AC bi-EVSE.)
So, then ability to sell power to grid or yourself say 5>8PM, then recharge the vehicle 10Pm>7am ready for next day commute.
I see the need for some local battery storage, but I feel the new EVs will replace a lot of the really big batteries. Another factor is one would not need to worry about batteries ageing: Just trade the car in! Win-win all around.
Actually, one question I asked at the Energy Conf was if people might buy a damaged EV to have it parked in their garage as a fixed battery…..
Bi-directional EV chargers cost $6-10k + installation and are a dud deal. Plus they are not permitted as yet for reverse power flow by the utility networks or most of the car manufacturers.
Hi Alex,
Same could have been said for solar when it was $12/watt.
I’d we electrify transport then around 10% of vehicle battery capacity will do all the storage we need on the NEM as I understand it.
Seeing as cars are parked for over 95% of their life, what’s really needed is more daytime charging infrastructure & more home discharging… which is already here for not much more than $1000 using a HOEM device and V2L.
The new rd6 riddara supposedly coming soon with 6 kw v2l might be great with hoem how about a article around it !!
Hi Peter,
I think the F150 Lightning is 9kW V2L so if you’d like to buy me one I’ll write that up 😉
Some of the Kia’s also have more than 4.5kW I’m told but I don’t know about duty cycle.
Yes but, as you say, only if you can charge while you’re at work. But right here, right now, the federal government is giving cash for VPP batteries.
By reports the rd6 is gunna be heaps cheaper than the lightning but we’ll see !!
It might have 15 kw of v2l but 6 in 1 outlet but I’m not expert you are check it out I’m probably wrong !!
I am astounded at the ‘average’ household energy use in Australian homes. 7kWh overnight?
Granted we have solar hot water and a sunroom that does a decent job in the shoulder seasons and are now child free but we use 3kWh – 4kWh per day.
I didn’t give much thought to payback times when I installed 1kWp of solar way back in 2000. The decision was at least partly along altruistic lines but the generous FiT back then ensured payback, eventually.
Consumers should also consider the other advantages of batteries.
Helping the grid transition from fossil fuels.
Security of riding through outages.
What Tony Seba calls ‘Super Power’. Having so much spare energy that you don’t need to worry about using it. Turn that AC up (or down).
Can confirm this is realistic. Family of 4 and we buy around 8kWh per day in south east queensland. Literally just cooking dinner and then TV, lights and standby each evening. Have a CATCH relay installed so that all of our hot water is free.
Have you taken into account 12c feed in tarrif? Not sure how it all works but I only use about 4Kw hrs outside of daylight. So plenty of excess to charge a 10Kw battery.
So if I’m missing out on the feed in tariff that blows out you pay back cost.
We are still on the SA PFiT so behooves us to export as much as possible.
I can see a time when FiTs head to 4c or lower for all States.
I’ve got a green catch diverter for hot water and a 9 kw system so only use around 8 kw a day so the battery would dead long before payback as my friend was quoted 17000$from one of your preferred installers for the byd battery, that’s before 4736 $ installation rebates but still leaving nearly 13000 to pay !! Go figure !!
Wht a novel idea, buying a battery on the basis of how soon it will pay for itself instead of buying it because “stuff those greedy power company ar$holes, they are not getting a brass razoo out of me if i can avoid it”
And the number 1 home battery for 3 phase powered homes goes to……Sigenergy.
From my Clean Energy web page , the below is applicable to single phase grid connections –
“On every other electricty grid in Australia, including the other electricity grid in Western Australia, people will be able to get and use up to 50kW of battery storage, for use with household rooftop photovoltaic systems, assisted by the federal government subsidy. And, they will be allowed to fully charge those battery systems, using household rooftop photovoltaic systems. But, that is outlawed on on the Shonky Westralian Inadequate Stuffup electricity grid. The Western Australian state government, through the Shonky Westralian Inadequate Stuffup electricity grid, prohibits us from being able to fully charge the up to 50kW of battery storage, that is legal in every other electricity grid in Australia, but, outlawed on the Shonky Westralian Inadequate Stuffup electricity grid.”
This relates to the 5kW single phase maximum inverter capacity oppression.
State government coercive control.
Hi Bret,
You’re upset about the SWIS and WAGov, we get it, but repeating incantations three times wont make it better.
Have a look at how the grid works in South Africa and perhaps be thankful ours isn’t that bad.
5kW x 10 hours = 50kWh so i can’t see how the SWIS “prohibits” you charging a battery.
Get a Fronius GEN24 Primo and you can have a 10kW inverter in WA now.
But a simple payback (number of years to return the initial investment) is an inadequate and misleading metric. The opportunity value of that investment will vary, but if it’s put into super for example, expect it to earn at least 5% after tax and fees. That’s the value down the track that the sum of all those power bill savings needs to beat. And I think it’s fair to say, even in the most attractive locations, the battery will struggle to get there before it has reached its end of life. Please do a Net Present Value comparison.
Hi Michael,
You’re welcome to expand on the concept and post here or send it to us via email. We sometimes find people assume they’ll make better money on a crypto scheme with 20:20 foresight. Others place great store in keeping their freezer frozen and the comfort brought by having backup power.
Personally I wonder if the beancounters do a cost-benefit analysis on their dog or their new lounge chair.
We’re always keen to hear how people are going with their systems, so please let us know.
I used to feel the same way you do, that the value equation just didn’t add up, especially when it looked like it would take 15 years to pay off a battery. But with electricity prices in New South Wales continuing to rise (and set to jump another 10%), combined with falling battery prices, the federal rebate, the ability to join a VPP, and access to better energy plans because I now have a battery, the equation has changed. Based on my current calculations, I should be able to pay off the battery in just five years.
Hi Anthony, I notice no-one from Solar Quotes has taken up my request in the previous comments section of “Official Home Battery Rebate Rules Revealed” to have a decent go at explaining the huge differential in battery prices between house and car batteries and also between the wholesale cost of house batteries and the apparent rip-off retail cost.
Example 1: BYD Dolphin Premium version with a 60.5kWh battery which in Canberra is $38K driveaway. That’s $628/kWh of battery, plus you are getting a car on top of that! Your article today has a Powerwall 3 at $13,600 plus installation. To equal the Dolphin you’d have to have almost 4 ½ powerwalls installed which would be $61,200. Lets conservatively add just $2k for installation of the whole lot and we’re at $63,200, or $1,040/KWh. WHAT GIVES? How can it possibly cost almost 70% more to buy a standalone battery system rather than a car?