All You Need To Know About Electricity Prices, Solar And Batteries

4. How long will it take for electricity savings to pay for solar and batteries?

3. Which solar batteries are more affordable and last longer?

Here are the main things I will cover:

Despite Australia having vast reserves of coal and gas, failure to regulate domestic pricing means that producers get to sell our coal and gas back to us at the inflated overseas market price. Only Western Australia has domestic reserve policies in place and their electricity is forecast to rise by 2% next year rather than the 56% forecast for the Eastern states.

The wholesale price of electricity rose 140% in the last year. Billions of dollars are flowing from users to producers, who are free to “game the market”, forcing up energy costs through manipulation of wholesale energy prices.

Governments are helpless to derail this money train, compromised by hundreds of millions of dollars in political donations over decades. Unfortunately, it looks like this is going to get much worse before it gets better. Electricity prices rose by 18% in July 2022. The Federal budget is factoring another 56% increase in energy prices to consumers in 2023!

Solar power is produced during daylight hours and, 2/3 of the time, you will be buying power from the grid. When we could sell power back to the grid for 21 cents per kWh, you could sell twice as much as you used and break even.

Feed in Tariffs (FIT) have crashed to 5-12 cents per kWh and, with export limits restricting households to a maximum of 5 kW at any time, you can no longer make enough money to cover your usage and the daily network supply charges. Adding solar batteries to any solar system is essential to zero your electricity bill. Due to outrageously high prices, batteries are now worthwhile, with payback periods for investment in solar and batteries averaging 5-7 years for most households.

Top rated battery available in Australia in Canberra Battery Test Centre Report #11 describing its third round of battery testing and the results.
Add more batteries at any time. All new Pylontech models are backward compatible with previous versions.
Fully compatible with off grid solar upgrades – never have to replace batteries to become totally independent.
The expected design life is 15+ years
Warranty of 10 years (>6000 cycles with 60% end-of-life capacity)
Greater depth of discharge (DOD 90%)
Available in 2 models with usable capacity of 3.2kWh and 4.32kWh @ 48VDC

So, if you are investing in a long-term solar battery solution, insist on buying a Pylontech LV 48V battery. They also have one of the lowest prices per kWh of storage at $687 per kWh. (average $1186).

Solar and batteries will provide the best return on investment for larger households who use power predominantly after daylight hours.

If you have existing solar and most of the power is being sold to the grid at a low price, and you are still receiving a large bill, then you can be certain that solar batteries will be a good investment for you.

Time is on your side. Once you have paid for the batteries, every kWh of free solar energy stored will never be subject to a price rise. Consider you are buying your electricity for the next ten years in advance at a fraction of the market price. The more electricity prices escalate, the better your invest return.

When I use a calculator for my clients which simulates projected rises in electricity prices and models their electricity usage, I am finding most of the results are showing a payback period of 4-7 years for solar and batteries.

If you live in the Northern Rivers region of NSW, I can offer you a free on-site consultation to help you find the best solar and battery solution for your household. I can integrate all your existing solar into a new design, making sure that your previous investment continues to provide benefits.

I can model your existing power bill usage and solar export and work out the sweet spot for investing in solar and batteries to provide you the best ROI for your household. Some of my customers also make the leap and go completely off grid and never receive a power bill again!

Please take advantage of our 2022 special solar and battery prices. We have stock in our warehouse and can install before Christmas. Call me, Vincent Selleck, on 02 6688 4480 to make an appointment or just ask those silly questions. I always like to talk to people and help them save money with solar.