Key Points
- The Climate Council says solar energy saves Australians collectively $3 billion on their electricity bills each year.
- More than 300,000 systems are installed in Australian homes each year.
- But high upfront costs pose a major barrier for many, especially those facing the rising cost of living.
When Mamoon Reza installed solar panels on his roof five years ago, his electricity bill dropped significantly.
“For us, it was more about not knowing – having surprise bills. Sometimes they were big, sometimes they weren’t as big,” he said.
“The peace of mind of no longer receiving surprise bills. Not receiving a bill that you didn’t expect to be such a large sum of money.”
By adding solar batteries, Reza went even further: he now makes money.
“Once the batteries were installed, we actually didn’t have an electric bill this year,” he said.
“We actually have a little credit. We have about $400 in credits so far because we’re selling some of the excess battery back to the grid.”
The Climate Council says Australia’s solar energy industry has grown significantly over the past decade, with more than 300,000 systems installed each year.
The average household saves around $1,500 a year on electricity bills, and Australia’s 23 gigawatts of rooftop solar capacity represents around 25% of national electricity capacity.
“Opportunity in progress”
However, the Climate Council found that wealthier households are less likely to install solar panels despite their resources.
Amanda McKenzie, CEO of the Climate Council, sees this as an area of untapped potential.
“We found in our research that it’s the outer suburbs that have really embraced solar power to reduce their household bills as well as to reduce climate pollution,” she said.
“There are still plenty of opportunities in wealthy suburbs, as well as others, like apartment dwellers, who may want to install solar but may not have had the opportunity yet opportunity.”
McKenzie said there are ongoing opportunities for solar energy in Australia and “we’re only at the beginning”.
With Australia being one of the sunniest countries in the world, the Climate Council said it would be a waste not to harness its full potential.
The next step for households is to invest in solar batteries, which store excess energy for later use.
Dani Alexander, CEO of the University of New South Wales’ Energy Institute, said it could help stabilize energy supplies, particularly where renewable energy sources do not produce electricity. electricity.
“The advantage of a battery is not to generate new energy, but to store energy generated from other sources and use it at different times of the day. In the context of energies renewables, it’s variable,” she said.
“We often hear this story that ‘the wind doesn’t blow’ or ‘the sun doesn’t shine.’ Any type of energy storage and any battery included is capable of storing this energy when there is a surplus, so that we can use it when there is a shortage. deficit,” Alexander said.
But Alexander said the high upfront cost of batteries poses a major barrier for many, especially those already struggling with the rising cost of living.
“If we were to see widespread deployment of battery storage at the household level, there would need to be some sort of government support for that.
“We saw this on the solar production side, where from the early stages of solar PV development, government incentives supported their deployment.”
