Amping up rooftop solar with batteries for burbs

Anyone who thinks Australians don’t want to act on climate change should look no further than the rooftops on their street. Over the past two decades, people have embraced solar power in their millions, with one in five homes now generating its own power through solar panels.

But of these households, only one in 13 has taken the next step and installed batteries in the home to store power generated during the day for use at night.

That is unfortunate but understandable, because home battery systems can cost between $8000 and $15,000.

A Labor government would invest $200m in community batteries, which are about the size of a four-wheel-drive vehicle and can store energy produced by dozens or even hundreds of households.

Community batteries will allow those with solar panels to extract full benefit for their investment without the upfront cost of installing their own battery system.

They will be able to store excess power generated during the day and sell it back into the grid at night, when the prices are high. By using solar-generated power more efficiently, community batteries will help stabilise the grid and put downward pressure on power prices, which will also benefit people with no solar panels, such as renters and unit dwellers.

Labor’s funding commitment would deliver at least 400 community batteries around the nation. But this figure could grow as the cost of batteries falls over coming years.

We’ll identify some of these locations based on data about household take-up of solar and batteries, and the rest through an application process.

The batteries will be funded by the commonwealth, installed by licensed electricians and operated by electricity networks. Households will pay a small fee to participate, but this will be substantially outweighed by power savings.

Beyond removing the need for home-based battery storage, it is difficult to calculate the net benefit of community batteries for consumers. The broader savings will depend on how many homes are connected to a particular battery.

Trials of community batteries are under way across the nation. Current research cited in a report by the McKell Institute suggests community batteries of 500kWh, supporting up to 250 households, are most feasible at this stage. That report, and a separate study from the Australian National University, suggest each community battery would cost about $500,000.

Community batteries have two immediate benefits — lower power prices and reduced carbon emissions. But there is an important third potential benefit — new secure jobs in mining and manufacturing.

I have often said I want Australia to be a renewable energy superpower.

Achieving this will involve exploiting our vast reserves of lithium, nickel and copper, key ingredients in the production of batteries. We already export these natural resources around the world. But if we are really smart, we’ll capitalise on the growing global demand for batteries by value-adding through the development of our own battery manufacturing capacity.

As I announced at last week’s ALP national conference, a Labor government would back manufacturing in areas like battery production through the $15bn National Reconstruction Fund, which would provide finance to assist business.

Labor’s overall aim is to use the post-pandemic economic recovery to rebuild manufacturing. Greater use of renewable energy is critical to that effort because it is the cheapest new source. It will reduce power prices for consumers, but also for businesses that want to invest in manufacturing ventures.

More investment equals more jobs. It’s that simple.

Anthony Albanese is the leader of the Australian Labor Party.