Federal Energy Minister Chris Bowen announces big changes to the government's battery subsidy scheme amid claims most of its $2.3 billion budget has been spent in just six months.
The misinformation is being spread on purpose. The more people adopt solar and their own batteries the less they rely on the power companies and the less money the power companies can make
The power companies primarily provide a grid, high availability and secondarily charge for power (which should be rapidly headed towards zero given renewable uptake). FWIW, I think the grid is a natural monopoly and should never have been privatized, and certainly the power companies are doing the the bare minimum of maintenance and bugger all expansion to cope with solar input and EV output. If they leave it get bad enough the Government will have to step in and do it for them, pure profit.
The real threat to power companies is people with a big battery have the option to go fuck it, I’m getting a genset and some diesel and disconnecting, which means they no longer have the entire population over a barrel and might have to provide some value. The real solution is to cut the Gordian knot and re-nationailze the whole grid (instead of statewide as it was), which will also be easier with the weaker bargaining position they have with a large battery population.
Even a 4kw with solar will do >50% of your daily power needs and added bonus you don’t have all the noise and fumes that come with a diesel generator, save that for emergencies
Isn’t that just a portable battery with a solar charger (MPPT) integrated ? We were talking about solar roof setups combined with large fixed batteries, which will largely cover all your needs most days. The diesel genset I used as a placeholder for reliable personal electricity generation from some other mechanism for the rare other / high usage days. Biodiesel is a good option, but there’s hydrogen (or LPG) fuel cells and a number of other options, you don’t have to put them in the same room as you either.
Also kW is power, kWh is (stored) energy (kW you can deliver for an hour), units matter.
Service fee will just go up. And like water you can’t go “off the grid” if poles run past your house
We (m and f couple) lived off grid for 10 years with a 2kW solar and a 5/7kW inverter easily in Northern NSW.
Now back on grid with a solar sysyem (no battery) in Tassie. Hard being off grid here with solar, shitty winter sun. Were frugal anyway, so can’t be fucked getting a battery. (and remote, getting anyone to do anything is problematic). I also hope to relocate OS in Q2 2026.
The misinformation is being spread on purpose. The more people adopt solar and their own batteries the less they rely on the power companies and the less money the power companies can make
The power companies primarily provide a grid, high availability and secondarily charge for power (which should be rapidly headed towards zero given renewable uptake). FWIW, I think the grid is a natural monopoly and should never have been privatized, and certainly the power companies are doing the the bare minimum of maintenance and bugger all expansion to cope with solar input and EV output. If they leave it get bad enough the Government will have to step in and do it for them, pure profit.
The real threat to power companies is people with a big battery have the option to go fuck it, I’m getting a genset and some diesel and disconnecting, which means they no longer have the entire population over a barrel and might have to provide some value. The real solution is to cut the Gordian knot and re-nationailze the whole grid (instead of statewide as it was), which will also be easier with the weaker bargaining position they have with a large battery population.
Worth looking into Ecoflows, I know they use them in Ukraine for portable power
https://au.ecoflow.com/collections/portable-power-stations/products/ecoflow-delta-pro-3-portable-power-station-400wsp
Even a 4kw with solar will do >50% of your daily power needs and added bonus you don’t have all the noise and fumes that come with a diesel generator, save that for emergencies
https://au.ecoflow.com/collections/portable-power-stations
Isn’t that just a portable battery with a solar charger (MPPT) integrated ? We were talking about solar roof setups combined with large fixed batteries, which will largely cover all your needs most days. The diesel genset I used as a placeholder for reliable personal electricity generation from some other mechanism for the rare other / high usage days. Biodiesel is a good option, but there’s hydrogen (or LPG) fuel cells and a number of other options, you don’t have to put them in the same room as you either.
Also kW is power, kWh is (stored) energy (kW you can deliver for an hour), units matter.
Service fee will just go up. And like water you can’t go “off the grid” if poles run past your house
We (m and f couple) lived off grid for 10 years with a 2kW solar and a 5/7kW inverter easily in Northern NSW.
Now back on grid with a solar sysyem (no battery) in Tassie. Hard being off grid here with solar, shitty winter sun. Were frugal anyway, so can’t be fucked getting a battery. (and remote, getting anyone to do anything is problematic). I also hope to relocate OS in Q2 2026.