With solar panels growing in popularity, so too is the demand for solar battery storage.

Growth is being driven by higher prices from the grid, expiring feed-in tariffs (FITs), subsidies, and concerns over resilience. Better technology, more storage capacity and a decrease in the price of solar energy from 2010 are also major drivers.

Here’s a breakdown of how solar storage works and five benefits you get along the way:

1. Get more value from your solar panels

With battery storage, you can power your home from the excess electricity that solar panels produce. This way there is no need to draw on energy supplied from the grid when production falls short from your panels. You just use the power stored in your solar batteries.

The excess power comes from sunny days when your panels meet the base energy needs of your home and direct excess capacity to your batteries. Storage helps offset a deficit of energy production at night or on overcast days.

2. Enjoy greater energy security

Solar battery systems allow your home to be more energy resilient.

Suppose you live in an area where the grid is a bit unstable, or you want to provide a greater level of certainty for your home’s power. In that case, a battery system might be capable of powering critical parts of your home for a short period of time, even if the grid goes down.

But there’s a lot to be said for being self-sufficient no matter where you live. Australia is prone to major fire, flood and storms. Generating your own electricity could mean less exposure to price hikes and outages caused by natural disasters.

Being able to rely on battery storage for home back up power does require a special type of inverter, so make sure to seek advice from an accredited installer.

3. Reduce your home’s carbon footprint

Today, solar energy systems create much less pollution than energy from fossil fuels and there is a big drive toward renewable energy from government. Millions of Australian households have already installed rooftop solar to drive the transition to renewable energy.

Installing solar batteries may allow you to reduce your home’s carbon footprint even further than if you just had rooftop solar panels.

4. Reduce noise and air pollution from generators

Unlike generators, solar panels and battery storage systems don’t create noise or air pollution that annoys your neighbours. For people who already own backup generators, converting to solar battery storage is an excellent way to update their system.

A good example is the Daintree Rainforest region in North Queensland which is currently reliant on about 4 million litres of diesel fuel each year for power generation. The Australian Government has recently approved a project to construct a solar farm and battery storage for the region which will remove their reliance on fossil fuel powered generators.

5. Reduce your electricity bills with solar battery storage

One of the most significant benefits of energy storage is you’re the potential for savings in electricity costs. Back up your home with a battery system and you could:

• reduce fees from electricity retailers
• become more self-sufficient and
• save some of the electricity you generate.

All these are huge bonuses. Just imagine saying goodbye to electricity bills altogether!

Need help financing your new solar battery storage?

If you’re thinking about making some green home upgrades like installing a solar battery system, then now is a good time to be a Suncorp Bank customer. 

Eligible Suncorp Bank home loan customers may be able to finance eco-friendly home improvements with our Green Upgrades Equity Home Loan Offer^{^^}. Want to know more?
 

Talk to a Suncorp Bank home loan specialist

Published 15 July 2022