The Cheaper Home Batteries Program is proving hugely popular, over 40,0000 batteries installed since July this year. Interestingly, households aren’t just choosing the expected 10 kWh batteries, the average is already 17 kWh and growing. Thanks to modular designs and low add-on costs, it’s predicted that average system sizes could soon reach 25 kWh. This trend is set to cut excess solar exports at midday, reduce curtailment, and lift wholesale prices and feed-in tariffs, creating stronger incentives for solar households.
Following the Economic Reform Roundtable, the government announced that 2025 National Construction Code updates will be released this year, and the 2028 updates will be delayed until 2029, perhaps a better outcome that was initially mooted prior to the meeting.
An updated Trajectory for Low Energy Buildings was released in mid-August. A national strategy for Commonwealth, State and Territory action across all buildings, it commits to a net zero building sector by 2050, with new emphasis on resilience, health, comfort, and affordability.
And on electric vehicles, debate continues over a road user charge (RUC) to make up for lost revenue from petrol taxes. With some advocates suggesting a RUC should apply to all vehicles now, indications are that the government is only considering applying it to EVs at this stage, a move that risks slowing EV uptake.
The 2283 postcode is one of the lucky ones in the NSW Government’s program to help homeowners access interest-free loans to install solar battery systems. These systems provide clean, renewable energy and can help you cut your energy bills.
Eligible households can get an interest-free loan of up to:
- $14,000 towards a solar PV and battery system (repayable over a range of terms up to 8 years), or
- $9000 towards retrofitting a battery system to an existing solar PV system (repayable over a range of terms up to 10 years).
For more information call Service NSW on 13 77 88 or visit the website
The Coal Point Energy Community Inc. is a group of residents of Coal Point who are exploring ways to make our electricity supply cheaper and more reliable. At the same time aiming to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and establishing ways for the community to have more direct control over our local energy source.
Have you considered installing solar panels (PV) to your home? Even if you installed solar some time ago it is now time to revisit the issue as the solar landscape has changed dramatically over the last few years.
Solar panel and related management technology efficiency has improved significantly, to the extent that, even without subsidies or guaranteed high feed in tariffs, it is still worthwhile committing to installing solar.
Recommended independent information: www.solarquotes.com.au
The solar review process involves an energy consultant viewing your property and assessing its suitability for the installation of solar panels and, with access to your power bill, designing a system which optimizes the return on your investment (ROI). That is, a system which gives you the shortest “payback time” for your investment.
However, depending on your circumstances and your property, that may not necessarily be the best economic outcome.
Consider the scenario where the optimum system for ROI takes up only a small portion of your available roof space. You could potentially produce more solar electricity than the optimum “pay back time” so a different assessment methodology needs to be applied to the extra capacity. Assuming a feed in tariff of around 12c/kWh one then needs to calculate the cost of production of 1 kWh to determine the feasibility of the investment.
Most quality solar installations come with at least a 20 year “performance” warranty so it would follow that you use up to 20 years as your pay back time on your extra capacity. If you buy Telstra shares today your payback time is 10 years, for CBA its currently 12 years and BHP 15 years.
Assuming a pay back time of 10 years (conservative) and an interest rate of 5% (generous) the cost of production of 1kwH is around 4c and you can sell it to the grid for around 12c. That generates a ROI of around 5%. And the cost of electricity is only going to increase over time.
Saving on your power bill by producing your own is only a relatively minor benefit when you consider the bigger picture benefit of a solar system including:
- Reducing greenhouse gas emissions, solar generated electricity is a totally renewable source of energy
- Improving energy security by local generation which reduces demand on the national grid and reduces the likelihood of overload and
- Enabling individuals and the community to take greater control of their energy environment.
If you would like to explore local energy options
- come along to our meeting at Progress Hall, 197 Skye Point Rd on Tuesday June 26th at 7pm
- email a message to changecoalpointelectricity@gmail.com
- join the discussion on the Nabo social media site.
