Good news, folks. NSW has a new home battery incentive coming in, set to save homeowners thousands of dollars on the cost of a battery system (which in turn would save thousands on energy costs with an appropriate solar setup in place). However, there’s just once catch – it’s not being introduced until November.
Let us explain.
From November 1, homeowners will be able to access the incentive through approved suppliers. From the get-go, it includes between $1,600 and $2,400 off the cost of installing a home battery or business that has existing solar panels.
However, for households that are yet to install solar panels, the savings will count towards the installation of a full system.
You might want to consider adding a home battery to your solar system, because it essentially gives you access to excess power generated by your solar panels, for use when your solar panels can’t harness anything from the sun (such as at night, in storms, or in particularly cloudy weather). It’s an upfront cost, sure, but it unlocks savings down the road that you otherwise wouldn’t have access to.
On top of these two things, an incentive of between $250 and $400 is being offered when connecting to a ‘Virtual Power Plant’. Three years later, homeowners will be able to claim the incentive a second time around. The amount offered to homeowners goes up depending on the capacity they’re looking to install.
That name, a Virtual Power Plant, may be foreign to you; it’s essentially what the NSW Government refers to as a collective of households and businesses that can share capacity across the grid between their premises.
“This is a targeted action to support those with solar to take the next step to lowering their bills by using renewable energy. It also supports the state’s transition to renewable energy,” NSW Minister for Climate Change and Energy Penny Sharpe said.
The wait until November for savings on a solar battery does have solar companies left in a bit of an unfortunate position. Stakeholders would like the incentive to be brought forward, less the sales of batteries grind to a halt.
“People aren’t really interested in buying a battery now when they could wait five or six months and save up to two and a half grand,” chief executive of comparison site Solar Choice Jeff Sykes told the SMH in a really great article on the incentive. “I can’t blame them – I would do exactly the same if I were in their shoes.”
It’s an unfortunately long lead time that the NSW government has offered up with the incentive. Still, it might be enough for you to start planning your home solar system. However, we’re obviously prepared for such an initiative to move forward earlier to alleviate pain for small businesses.
“Whatever interest there was in batteries has been iced for the duration. Even people who’ve paid deposits and booked installs will now be asking for delays when really expensive stock is already on hand,” Solar Quotes’ Anthony Bennett said.
We’ll update this article if that’s the case.
Image: Stock, Disney