The Albanese Labor Government is helping households, small businesses and community groups bring down their energy bills with the roll out of the Cheaper Home Batteries program beginning today.
The government's Cheaper Home Batteries program will help bring down the cost of a typical battery discounted by around 30 per cent. This will save households with existing rooftop solar up to $1,100 off their power bill every year, and those installing a new solar and battery system could save up to $2,300 a year - up to 90 per cent of a typical family electricity bill.
One in three Australian households have rooftop solar - but only one in 40 have a battery.
The Albanese Labor Government is fixing that, by giving all Australians a proper leg up towards the cost of a battery - around 30 per cent, or around $4,000 - off the cost of a typical home battery.
This will help Australians take control of their own power bill while reducing reliance on the grid, helping to drive down prices for everyone, and slashing bills for good. The support could drive over 1 million battery installations to 2030.
The Clean Energy Regulator (CER) is delivering the program through the existing Small-scale Renewable Energy Scheme that has safely and successfully delivered solar subsidies since 2011, making Australia a world leader when it comes to rooftop solar.
The subsidy is proportionate to the size of the battery installed - ensuring people are able to pick an affordable battery that is right for their needs. This works out to 30% off a typically sized home battery - around $4,000 off a 11.5 kilowatt hour battery, which usually costs around $14,000.
A smaller 5 kilowatt hour battery would often cost around half as much, and will now be discounted by around $1,800 under the scheme.
The Cheaper Home Batteries Program is part of our plan to create a fairer, cleaner, and more reliable energy system for all Australians, with an additional $150 in direct bill relief for households and businesses also commencing today.
And we're making sure no one gets left behind with our historic investments to improve 100,000 social housing properties with upgrades such as thermal shell improvements, efficient electric appliances, solar and batteries.
We're also making solar more accessible to apartments and renters through our Solar Banks program - including Commonwealth investment of $100 million to reach 25,000 households in partnership with States and Territories. And community-led projects will help bring everyone on the journey - from suburb-wide electrification pilots through ARENA to programs like our Community Energy Upgrades Fund.
Quotes attributable to Minister for Climate Change and Energy, Chris Bowen:
"Australia is a solar nation - with the highest rate of rooftop solar anywhere in the world. Household batteries are the next step in building on this success.
"This will be a game changer for energy bills - slashing up to 90 per cent off your energy bill from day one. And with those savings on bills people will be able to pay down the cost of their battery faster.
"Batteries are good for bills and good for the grid because it means getting more cheap, fast, safe solar energy available in our homes night or day, when and where it's needed."
