Labor’s back in power — and now the battery rebate is locked in.
From July 1, Australians will be able to knock about $4,000 off a home battery. The goal? A million new batteries by 2030. Based on the number of quote requests we’ve seen at SolarQuotes — up 5x since election night — this is going to move the needle fast.
It’s the biggest shift in household energy since the rooftop solar boom. And if solar decimated the middle of the demand curve, batteries are about to take a bite out of the evening peak.
We’ve talked about the duck curve for years. Now it might finally get roasted.
But this isn’t just about bills and load shaping. Batteries are popular because they’re useful and desirable. They save money, keep the lights on during outages, and they look cool (as long as they are well-installed). Batteries are fast becoming the home tech people really want.
It’s a kind of materialism that doesn’t hurt the environment but helps it.
Another Nail In The Coffin For V2G
The rebate doesn’t just make batteries cheaper. It kills what’s left of the argument for Vehicle To Grid (V2G), which enables electric vehicle batteries to discharge to the grid.
Think about it: with modular systems like Sigenergy or BYD, you can add extra storage later at around $400 per kilowatt-hour after the rebate. No fiddling with EV charge levels, no family drama over unplugged cars, no $4,000 bidirectional charger.
Why bother using your car as a home battery when the real thing is this cheap and this easy?
Battery installs can be complicated, but the rebate will push the industry to streamline the process.
Streamlining Battery Installs
Battery installs are going to get faster too. Just like STCs helped drive down solar installation costs, this rebate will push the industry to streamline battery installs. Fewer cables, faster commissioning. Expect most brands to follow Sigenergy with easy-add stackable systems1.
This is what happens when government policy meets good tech: things scale.
A battery in the garage used to be a niche product for off-gridders and enthusiasts. Now it’s becoming standard kit. Because it’s useful. Because it’s affordable. Because, frankly, it’s cool.
We’ve entered the second phase of the home energy shift. Not just generation, but proper, household-level storage. And if this rollout mirrors the rooftop solar boom, the impact will be massive.
Labor may have won the election.
But the real winner is the battery.
For more on the impact of Labor’s Cheaper Home Batteries Program, take a look at our explainer on the scheme, our guide on what discount it offers for the best batteries available, and our federal battery rebate calculator.
Footnotes
- Tesla also does this but only in 13.5 kWh megachunks when the DC expansion pack is released ↩
About Finn Peacock
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Thanks Finn. I had been thinking that a battery would be much of a benefit to me as my bills are significantly in credit. But your article made me do a quick calculation.
I have a bit over 9kw of solar with a 7kw 3 phase inverter on a well sited roof. I am not a big user of electricity. While good for the environment and network demand in peak times a battery hadn’t seemed to make good financial sense. However, your article prompted me to do the calcs and with the new grant, the situation has changed. And particularly once I start renting out the flat (not separately metered) on my property so use goes up, a 10kw battery really becomes attractive. It would pay for itself in 5 years or probably less, particularly if the NSW government also keeps its subsidy scheme.
This really is a dynamic shift for the network, consumers and the environment. It will also significantly help our chances of holding the next COP meeting, which should bring benefits to our solar industries.
The EV you would be using as a house battery is going to be obsolete. And if you or your superannuation fund invested in lithium mining – bad luck. The new sodium-ion technology will make charging at home as sensible as having a petrol bowser there.
Of course it may take longer than a speed rail project between Sydney and Melbourne before gas stations will have chargers capable of delivering 1 Megawatt to charge EV in 5 min to run 500-800 km. I do not expect current EV technology to disappear here for at least a decade. With so much solar energy to be harvested at home, Australia may become a dumping ground for lithium-ion EVs as it was for petrol cars.
Finn, I feel you may be wrong about V2G. Personally, I already have a 12Kw battery, but my next vehicle will be capable of V2G. I will use a (yet to be released, but predicted $1500 cost) AC bi-directional charger. Yet to see the details of the AC connection, but I guess it will be export limited to the car on-board inverter (ie usually abt 3.5Kw).
Where I can see this being used is that the vehicle will supply the grid (after personal use) between 5pm & 8pm, when my normal retailer would request grid feed & pay some premium (eg Peak power cost to me 42c/kwh, Export would be say $1.50 kwh: any less it is not worth exporting!) The vehicle would be recharged later in the evening to replace the energy used + more if required, or wait & recharge off PV next day. At 3.5Kw, there could be an export of abt 10Kw available.
I think the Energy retailers will need to accommodate energy export, paying clients a reasonable recompense. Even 1:1000 clients connecting is big Virtual Generator.
Hard agree with all of that.
I have said from the outset that this will be a very popular policy. As the household battery price per kWh comes down (before install and subsidy) batteries are going to become a no-brainer.
I hope the industry can cope with the initial surge and I hope there is a Plan B for when the ‘target’ is met.