With the new Battery Rebate, there has never been a better opportunity to set your home or business up for life and even lock in a $0 power bill. Also, you receive all the benefits of Battery Back Up for the next cyclone!
Below is the estimated rebate per battery size. The rebate is calculated on STC value which will move up and down weekly. However, it will reduce significantly on January 1st each year.
So go now and go big!
| Battery Size | 10kWh | 15kWH | 20kWH | 30kWH | 50kWh |
| Gov Rebate | $3,400 | $5,100 | $6,800 | $10,200 | $17,000 |
Let’s Start Here
Go to your energy bill and see what your current daily usage is right now. It will be right beside your bill summary. Once you have it we need to check if you have solar or don’t have solar yet.
What If I Have a 6.6kW Solar System Already?
Like many of us with a 6.6kW Solar System we are still using anywhere from 20 – 50 kWh of energy per day due to still having a lot of daytime usage on weekends, but mainly due to our nighttime usage. Further to this we need to factor in removing all the load from Tariff 33 altogether and putting it on Tariff 11.
A typical family home is cranking up 20 – 30 kWh’s in Airconditioning and Hot water Usage every night. Further to this, most of us are running these A/C’s all year round now. Add in a pool pump, Electrical Vehicle Charger and running your large lounge room A/C every evening and on weekends, bills start to get big, and I mean really big!
For example, this summer with my adult kids still living at home we ran up a $700 bill for the month of January alone and we have a 6.6kW solar system and a 13.5KWh Battery. (So yes, absolutely I will be taking advantage of this rebate to double the size of my solar and battery system)
The good news is that if you have enough solar power your battery will help reduce both your day and night-time usage.
Let’s Run The Numbers:
The table below shows an example of what can be achieved with what your current daily usage is right now. Please note that the numbers are an estimate only and will come down to each individual usage pattern. However, as you can see it is amazing when you compare the monthly savings verses the estimate monthly costs to get a battery and more solar.
Table 1 – Based on you have an existing 6.6KW Solar System
| Ave Daily Usage | Day | Night | Options | Est Costs P/M | Est Savings P/M | Savings Per Year |
| kWh’s | 30% | 70% | From | |||
| 15 | 4.5 | 10.5 | 15 kWh Battery | $80.00 | $153.00 | $2,250.00 |
| 20 | 6 | 14 | 15 kWh Battery | $80.00 | $153.00 | $2,250.00 |
| 30 | 9 | 21 | Extra 6.6kW Solar + 15kWh Battery | $120.00 | $255.00 | $3,060.00 |
| 40 | 12 | 28 | Extra 6.6kW Solar + 20kWh Battery | $160.00 | $327.00 | $3,924.00 |
| 50 | 15 | 35 | Extra 6.6kW Solar + 30kWh Battery | $180.00 | $460.00 | $5,520.00 |
| 60 | 18 | 42 | Extra 6.6kW Solar + 30kWh Battery | $180.00 | $460.00 | $5,520.00 |
*NOTE: This is an estimate of monthly repayments only and is based on a 12-year Green Loan. Costs are subject to site visit.
So, if you are still currently using 50 kWh a day and still paying approximately $450 to $500 per month to your energy provider it is possible to remove that with an extra 6.6kW Solar System and 30kWh Battery. This system could cost you as little as $180 p/m on a 12-year Green Loan (use these savings to pay your rates and insurance bill or take a holiday).
What If I Don’t Have Solar Yet?
If you don’t have solar yet this makes it even easier.
Table 2 – Based on no solar yet
| Ave Daily Usage | Day | Night | Options | Est Costs P/M | Est Savings P/M | Savings Per Year |
| kWh’s | 50% | 50% | From | |||
| 20 | 10 | 10 | 6.6kW Solar + 10kWh Battery | $120.00 | $204.00 | $2,448.00 |
| 30 | 15 | 15 | 6.6kW Solar + 15kWh Battery | $125.00 | $255.00 | $3,060.00 |
| 40 | 20 | 20 | 9.68kW Solar + 20kWh Battery | $145.00 | $409.00 | $4,910.00 |
| 50 | 25 | 25 | 9.68kW Solar + 25kWh Battery | $160.00 | $460.00 | $5,520.00 |
| 60 – 80 | 40 | 40 | 13kW Solar + 30kWh Battery | $195.00 | $710.00 | $8,500.00 |
*NOTE: Savings are an estimate and for illustration purposes and are subject to site visit. Note this is an estimate of monthly repayments only and is based on a 12-year Green Loan.
Remove Tariff 33
It is important to remove all loads from tariff 33 and connect everything to tariff 11 to achieve the maximum savings.
Tariff 12 C – Solar Soaker
Once you have a large battery in place to take most of your night-time load Ergon Tariff 12 C is an excellent option to switch over to. From 9am to 4pm each day you will only be charged 14.69 cents a kWh for any surplus power you need to use from the grid.
When you add your battery to our Virtual Power Plant you can get up to 50% more returns on your battery as you get paid $1 a kWh when your battery is used to support the grid.
In Summary
There will never be a better time to get a battery for your solar system or to upgrade your existing system.
Founder of Horan & Bird. Director of Master Electricians Australia and Board Member of Solar Accreditation Australia. John has played a key entrepreneurial role in the transformation of the Energy Landscape in Queensland.
