The Rebate that Changed Australia

In 2009, Australia released the well-known solar subsidy, often referred to as the 'Solar Rebate' which was a part of the Federal Government's Renewable Energy Target (RET) scheme.

With the success of the solar rebate, many wonder if the NSW Government will release some sort of battery storage rebate scheme for homes, allowing homeowners to store solar energy.

The Small-scale Renewable Energy Scheme (SRES) provided incentives for the installation of small-scale solar panel systems, wind turbines, and solar hot water systems. It was introduced to encourage the uptake of solar power and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The subsidy is administered by the Clean Energy Regulator.

The current solar rebate has will expire in January 2030, and is reduced by 7% each year until then.

It has been this solar subsidy which has supercharged the uptake of solar in Australia to being the world leader in areas like rooftop solar and helped the price of solar panels decrease from when they were out of reach financially for most Australians.

Interestingly the solar subsidy caused no negative impacts on the Australian economy. In fact, you could argue that the subsidy rebate initiated the solar installation industry which saw that start of thousands of brand-new solar businesses providing lots of jobs in the renewable industry - an industry that could be further boosted by the widespread adoption of battery storage - would a battery rebate do the same?

Why Should There be a Battery Rebate?

Fast-forward to 2024. Batteries are still relatively expensive, even with the electric vehicle industry helping innovation and price decreases, but we still see a strong need for battery storage rebates in Australia.

A very easy case can be made for grid distribution and how battery storage can help stabilise the energy grid by providing the excess solar produced through the day for use at night during on-peak periods, reducing the overall demand.

With the already available solar energy production, these two technologies emerge as a uniquely perfect solution by absorbing the excess solar and using it for battery arbitrage or what the industry calls 'load shifting'.

Why are Batteries the Perfect Energy Solution?

In addition to batteries complimentary nature to solar, rooftop solar and storage is the ultimate solution when it comes to efficiencies because the energy that is generated and stored locally experiences much lower transportation costs in terms of electrical losses than remotely generated and stored energy.

There is a place for all renewable energy sources and storage, but rooftop has its unique place in the scheme of things. A bonus of course is the double function of the rooftop itself.

A battery rebate would incentivise homes and businesses to invest in battery storage, and join a Virtual Power Plant (VPP).

We need the RET Heroes desperately to construct a version of the rebate for solar battery storage in Australia. Importantly we need the leadership at the political level to be the architects of a scheme to propel Australia to continue once more to be the world leader in renewable energy, not only in Solar, but also Energy Storage for both residential and commercial properties.

Not touched on here, is another technology which adds its own element of synergy; a grid with the intelligence to know how to coordinate the energy flows to maintain harmony within the grid. The conduit to allow this intelligence to do its magic is the Internet - it would essentially change the way that energy is generated, stored, and distributed.

We have high hopes that something similar to the RET scheme will be released for battery storage for at least residential properties, and that it will be a successful follow-up to the Solar rebate.

What about the other Australian States?

Both the Australian Capital Territory  and Northern Territory have battery storage rebates, with ACT having a Next Generation Storage Program which offers a rebate of $3,500 (exc. GST) or 50% of the battery price (exc. GST). The Northern Territory's battery rebate allows a rebate through their Home and Business Battery Scheme which offers a $6000 maximum grant for battery storage and inverters.

We would love to see NSW receive a generous battery rebate to help accelerate the widespread adoption of storage throughout the state, specifically the Hunter.