Buying Home Batteries In Australia In 2024: What You Need To Know

In south australia, we've had a Powerwall 2 for two years this august, and already had 10kw of solar. We rarely draw from the grid and have a bill in credit of around $960 as of today. It will pay for itself by this november.

Great and very detailed video. Thank you. I like that you mention the use of a bollard in the garage - something that meant a battery wouldn't fit in mine. The problem with using the integrated solar battery for power when the mains is unavailable is that the battery may have already dishcarged from daily use. I was quoted with having the battery provide power to one circuit only for critical devices such as my fridge and freezer. I was also told that once the battery was discharged fully, it wouldn't recharge from the solar until mains power resumed, which meant best case, it would only provide backup power for half a day. I ended up buying a camping battery for $2k which means I always have a 2kw battery on standby that can power my fridges for 12 hours. I bought some portable solar panels and can charge up the battery during the day in case of a prolonged outage. This means all my rooftop solar goes to covering my normal daily usage - and charging my backup battery. So far I've used the battery twice during blackouts and it enabled me to not only keep the fridges going, but using a powerboard I was able to watch dvds on my tv (no internet during power blackouts) and cook my dinner. If I wish I can also use the battery during high power cost periods to reduce my bill (although I would have to do this daily, and would risk not having backup power if I did this). I am on a time usage power plan, and until battery prices are halved and aren't a fire risk, I cannot see any advantage in buying one.

Excellent video. Who wouldn't go to this guy to install a battery, when he gives you so much upfront honesty and facts about batteries.

And my LG is turned off again for another widespread factory recall due to house fires. Definitely do your market research before choosing a unit.

Given that the price of EV batteries are now around AUD250 per Kwh , why is it that the same batteries used in home batteries are so ridiculously more expensive. I understand the need for a battery management system but they can't be more complicated than in an EV?

Lots of really useful info in here. Thanks 🙏

One of the best informative videos I have seen. Thank you from New Zealand.

Seriously awesome video. Thanks. 🙏.

In America, Insurance is much more expensive annually for homes with solar on the roof, because they have now included the cost of replacement. Another offset that will need to be estimated.

I am in WA and currently feed my surplus solar generated power back into the grid, and so pay virtually no electricity bills. If you really do want a battery, wait a little while for sodium batteries to become readily available. They cannot catch fire, can be recharged many times without degrading, plus are none polluting to the environment. Either that or wait even longer to see if and when diamond batteries become available.

I love your no-BS approach to this topic - well done mate

What a legend, very informative lots of information there to consider.

Great video and website! Would be cool if your battery comparison table included Blackout protection (Battery backup) as a separate feature row instead of being in Pros and Cons.

Interesting video thanks. Yes my brother in law had one on the side of his house and it went up in flames. Not good. He's been told to put away from the house and spend the money to cable it back to the metre box.

I live in far north Queensland and along with a number of friends,have had solar power since the '90s. We all have lead acid batteries, some secondhand, which last about six years. Some larger ones last much longer. Their price has increased about 60% in 33 years. It seems this video is aimed at very wealthy homeowners. The local dealer has confirmed that.

Queensland currently has a rebate of $3,000 to $4,000 depending on income (this will not last long). I just installed a battery because of it, which cost $10,000 before the rebate (I'm told prices have gone up). I have an EV plan, which gives free power from 11am to 2pm, so I get to charge the EV, the battery, heat up the hot water, run the dishwasher, etc... at this time. Power between 4:00pm and 9:00pm (time of use) is very expensive, but I have a battery! Combine this with solar power on the roof (13.2kw) purchased a few years ago. My power bill is finally $0. We have gone from about $1,500 average a quarter to $0. All up it has cost about $16,500 (after all rebates). Worth it? for us, absolutely. If i didn't have an EV, payback may have taken much longer. Of note the battery was expensive, and this component only saves us about $4 to $5 a day on average - or about $1,460 to $1,825 a year (which is a pay off time of 3.8 to 4.7 years). We deplete our 13.6kw batter each night, but we use a lot of electricity. if you do not use a lot of electricity, it will take much longer for it to pay it way. We now even seem to be getting a return on our feed in tariff again - Which I have not added to the payback time, but is about $1 a day despite the poor weather we have been having since the install 2 weeks ago. Prior to the rebate, much higher feed in tariffs, and the lack of battery competition, it was not worth it. The math did not add up. Now, because of the increase in power costs, huge decrease in feed in tariffs, the rebate, and better deals to be had with batteries, Things have changed. For us, it was finally time to make the purchase.

$15000 for a 10kw battery installed, no thanks.

This was great, thank you.

Disturbing to read in SMH that AusGrid intend to penalise people who generate excess solar energy during day UNLESS they have installed a battery. In WA, we have two (govt) Big Batteries to soak up excess daily solar to put back into the grid in the busy evening period. I hope AusGrid's dodgy policy will not deter people from installing Solar in the first instance. I would love to get a battery, but a bit out of my range at the moment, but having solar panels has been such a great experience. Your videos have helped, thanks Finn.

excellent information ... thank you.