A couple of weeks ago, the Clean Energy Regulator (CER) released a report which showed that “the Cheaper Home Batteries Program is off to a strong start, with more than 55,000 applications from Australian home and business owners since the scheme commenced in July”.
Even though the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water (DCCEEW) has $2.3 billion allocated to the program, it’s probably fair to anticipate that it will be oversubscribed, and some who apply will miss out on the opportunity to get that discount of around 30 per cent on the upfront cost of installing a small-scale battery storage system.
One thing we’ll be particularly interested to see when we next get a picture of how many Australian homes have battery storage, possibly early next year, is how many households have added a battery at some point after initially installing a rooftop solar array.
Solar-inclined homeowners are doing some due diligence
Solar energy installation businesses have reported a significant increase in enquiries about home batteries over the past six to 12 months, and most are booked to capacity for the next several months.
Online forums in which people discuss solar energy topics have also seen an uptick in activity, in particular with people asking those who have a battery whether they’re happy with it and if they have any advice or insights for those considering whether to get one.
All state government websites, as well as the DCCEEW site, have dedicated pages, often with answers to frequently asked questions, and there are numerous other energy-focused sites regularly posting more information based on their own experience, feedback from customers, and research.
It appears that most battery owners are super pleased with their decision
Consumer reviews on a variety of websites suggest that most households with storage batteries are happy with them, based on the proportion of five-star reviews.
For example, Steve posted a review on one site stating: “We have been 85.4% self sufficient off the grid in a very wet and cold August”, while on another site Michael was equally enthusiastic: “Absolutely stoked with the 3x8kWh battery stack, it seems to be able to get me through the entire evening until it quickly gets recharged when the sun comes up. My grid imports have pretty much dropped to zero!”.
Meanwhile, Daniel, who lives in the Illawarra region of NSW, says: “I’ve now been running on the new battery and GloBird plan for over a week and haven’t once depleted the battery – even with a family of seven home throughout the day! Once I switch the hot water over to the Catch Power relay, I’ll be almost completely off-grid cost-wise, and at this rate I’m hoping the system will pay itself off in just 18 months.”
What if battery owners could do even better?
We appreciate Daniel giving GloBird Energy a (completely unsolicited) shout-out in his battery review. Daniel, we share the love. And we want to grow that positive vibe with the community. There are still a lot of battery owners who aren’t aware of us and our battery-friendly energy plans. We think they should be and, if they were, they’d be even happier!
That’s because GloBird Energy’s ZEROHERO energy plan was designed specifically to help you earn more from your battery system. Pay it off fast!
We thought long and hard about how to offer a plan that truly rewards customers with rooftop solar arrays and battery storage who can provide energy to the grid when it’s most needed, and the plan we came up with has been very well received.
Why you should consider the benefits of ZEROHERO
Here’s how the ZEROHERO plan works, and why we think anyone with a home battery will be even happier if they sign up for it.
With ZEROHERO, you can charge your battery from the grid for FREE every day for three hours, between 11am and 2pm. This means you can charge your battery the same way every day, even when it’s cloudy.
Then, you can get paid $1 a day for simply avoiding peak grid usage. This is a great way to offset your daily supply charge.
And when you’ve got extra energy stored, we’ll pay you 15 cents per kilowatt-hour for exports between 6 and 8pm every day. Think how much extra your battery will earn for you.
We’ve made this rewarding battery plan as simple as possible
We acknowledge that some battery plans can be confusing. We’ve seen the ones making hyped-up promises and others that are linked to unpredictable wholesale prices but promoting the best-case scenario as if that’s the norm.
With that in mind, we were determined to make ZEROHERO the simplest, most set-and-forget energy plan out there.
At the same time, we let you choose how much control you’re comfortable with. You don’t have to hand over control of your battery to your energy company.
With ZEROHERO, you’re always in the driver’s seat, and that includes the option of becoming part of the Virtual Power Plant and earning even more.
Our smart app makes it easy to manage everything, and our award-winning support team of experts is here when you need them.
That’s why we believe that ZEROHERO is the best value, most customer-friendly battery plan on the market, and the one that will make happy battery owners even happier.
Check it out via the ZEROHERO information page on the GloBird Energy website and, if you’re happy with what you see, sign up today.
*You might also be interested in our recent posts The Cheaper Home Batteries Program is coming. Are you ready to get a major rebate? and Is now a good time to get a home battery?