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Household battery storage surges as plunging solar tariffs improve the economics (www.abc.net.au)

submitted 4 months ago by zero_gravitas@aussie.zone to c/austech@aussie.zone

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In short:

Around 75,000 battery storage systems were installed last year, up 47 per cent from 2023.

Current modelling estimates the payback time on a battery system at around eight years for a typical household.

What's next?

A wide range of experts, including a former RBA deputy governor, are calling for the federal government to introduce household battery subsidies to encourage uptake.

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[–] Mountaineer@aussie.zone 0 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago) (6 children)

A wide range of experts, including a former RBA deputy governor, are calling for the federal government to introduce household battery subsidies to encourage uptake.

This is suggesting that we use taxpayer funds to offset the installation costs of people who own a house and likely a solar setup already - further reducing their running costs.
But as battery uptake increases, there will be less demand on the grid, so the per kW/h and daily connection fees are going to increase. So any tax paying renter gets to benefit from this by... paying more for their electricity?

To paraphrase Joe Hockey (and the broader Liberal party), I guess "Poor people don't use much electricity."

Ooh, to quote that ~~ball of shit~~ honourable former MP again, maybe they should "Get a good job and buy a house".

Crisis Averted \s

[–] zero_gravitas@aussie.zone 2 points 4 months ago (2 children)

But as battery uptake increases, there will be less demand on the grid, so the per kW/h and daily connection fees are going to increase. So any tax paying renter gets to benefit from this by… paying more for their electricity?

Are connection fees going to increase? It's not like most households with solar + battery storage are going to disconnect, right? And the peak demand will decrease with uptake of solar + battery storage, so households without solar will benefit from lower peak prices.

[–] Mountaineer@aussie.zone 1 points 4 months ago

Lower peak prices will have corresponding higher peak prices.
Part of the reason we have the current extreme lows is because the coal that we currently need cannot be turned off and on easily.
In the long term, when we have sufficient storage to time+geo-shift the required cheap renewables to where they are needed, yes, everyone will benefit.
In the next 10-15 years, I predict massive problems as the existing coal infrastructure is run way past end of life, regardless of our eventual goal being Nuclear or Firmed-Renewables.
The only certainty is that coal is a shambling zombie.

I do predict the connection fee going up, and if enough people disconnect (which they will at a certain price point), I see the connection fee being rolled into people rates like the local bin collection - you'll pay whether you use it or not, just because it goes past.

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