Battery Storage Uptake By Households Surges As Grid Costs Soar

Source: altwire.utne.com --- Wednesday, October 11, 2017
October 11th, 2017 by Guest Contributor Originally published on One Step Off The Grid by Sophie Vorrath Battery storage system installations in Australia look set to confirm predictions they will treble in 2017, driven by a growing uptake of home battery systems. New data shows more than 7000 were installed across the nation in the first six month of the year – surpassing the 6500 sales recorded for all of 2016 – and are headed for a total of more than 20,000 by the year’s end. According to the SunWiz 2017 Mid-Year Battery Report, published on Wednesday, the market predicts the second half of 2017 to grow by 50% on 2017-H1 figures, leading to total 2017 installations of 17,500. SunWiz, however, believes the figure could exceed 20,000. Leading the charge to home batteries is New South Wales, which is home to 21% of installations so far this year. Queensland comes a close second with 18%, followed by Victoria, at 12%. According to the report, the boom in home battery storage installations – most are being sold in combination with a rooftop solar system, it says, rather than to existing solar households – is being driven mainly by major power price hikes, as homes and small businesses seek to minimise the electricity they import from the grid, by maximising the consumption of their rooftop solar. It is also happening despite the costs of battery storage barely shifting – according to the report, they have dropped by just around 5% ...

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