Demand for rooftop solar batteries spikes as eastern Australian energy prices soar

Demand for batteries linked to rooftop solar panels has soared in the past month amid energy price rices and the coldest start to winter in decades.

According to Solar Victoria chief executive, Stan Krpan, inquiries into battery rebates in Victoria have spiked in the past two weeks.

The Andrews government, which expanded its solar rebate scheme in the March budget, offers up to $3,500 for households to install a solar battery, as well as rebates for solar panels and solar hot water systems.

About 30% of Australian homes have rooftop solar, the highest rate in the world.

Battery systems provide power for use at night, on cloudy days or, in some cases, in blackouts.

Other states and territories offering similar battery schemes including South Australia and the ACT said their strong investment in renewables had softened the blow of the energy price hike.

The ACT was the first state or territory to introduce a battery rebate incentive scheme in 2016, offering households a rebate of $3,500 or 50% of the cost to install a solar battery.

As of 1 June, 2,990 battery install rebates have been issued.

Under the scheme, households can borrow between $2,000 and $15,000 to invest in energy efficient products including rooftop solar, battery and hot water heat pumps.

Households who have taken up the scheme reported annual electricity bill reductions between $300 and $2,000.

A spokesperson for the department of energy and mining said inquiries into the SA scheme had increased in the past month, but that could be because it announced last month that the applications would close on 1 September, or earlier if grant money ran out.

Household power bills in the ACT are expected to be about $800 lower than those in NSW next financial year, after the territory cut electricity prices due to securing a long-term supply of cheap renewable energy.

While battery rebates are relatively new, rebates for solar panels have been available for more than five years and growth in the installation of new rooftop solar systems has started to slow.

Clean Energy Regulator chair, David Parker, said it was always anticipated the trend would eventually slow.

The report also cited cost of living pressures and feed in tariffs decreasing over the past year as possible factors in the downturn.