Australian home batteries charge ahead, with VoltX recording a 500% uptake spike

Sydney-headquartered residential battery storage manufacturer VoltX Energy has reported seeing a record 500% spike in demand for solar battery storage in the past 12 months, expanding from New South Wales into Queensland and the South Australian markets, to match demand.

VoltX Energy Chief Operating Officer David Sedighi told pv magazine the accelerated growth of home batteries already seen in overseas countries will be mirrored here with the government incentives to invest in decentralised energy resilience.

“This is making home batteries as common as Wi-Fi routers,” Sedighi said.

Four million Australian households (40%) have rooftop solar panels installed, with household battery installations on the rise as batteries become more affordable.

Consumers are also wary of energy retailers applying tariffs, or a “sun tax” to feed solar back to the grid.

Over the next decade Sedighi said the company is expecting to see a shift from product to platform where energy sharing marketplaces will emerge and users will be able to sell stored power to the grid.

“We’re also expecting to see more fully stacked ecosystems where the hardware, software and services are entirely owned companies,” Sedighi said.

“VoltX platform is virtual power plant (VPP) ready, and we believe energy self-sufficiency will become the norm as the aging energy grid struggles to meet the growing energy demands of the population.”

Sedighi added that in Australia 160,000 new batteries are expected across households and forecasts this as the beginning of an energy disruption similar to Airbnb’s disruption of real estate.

“The market for household battery systems is rapidly growing, with a 66% increase expected this quarter alone in Australia,” Sedighi said.

Describing home battery storage as the next frontier following the rapid uptake of rooftop solar, Sedighi said consumers have experienced the economic benefits.

“VoltX are anticipating an eight-fold increase from around 1,500 households per year to over 12,000 … and households are often opting for two batteries to retain more of the solar power they are generating during the day, to use at night and reducing reliance on the grid with many of our clients no longer paying an electricity bill at all,” Sedighi said.

Figures from the non-profit Climate Council show adding a 4 kWh battery to a 5 kW residential solar system can double the amount of self-generated solar electricity a household consumes from 30% to 60%, leading to the investment paying for itself within 3-7 years, depending on household energy usage, tariff plans and local electricity rates.

A typical 10 kWh home battery system can power a 1 kW appliance for 10 hours, meaning it can keep essential devices like lights, Wi-Fi, and a fridge running comfortably through the night or during a power outage.

Sedighi said as energy conservation increases, energy-efficient homes are also becoming more desirable in the real estate market.

“We also know energy-efficient homes, or “green homes” can often sell for a premium compared to traditional homes due to the lower operating costs, so homes with energy-efficient upgrades, especially those with solar and home battery systems are more likely to attract buyers and can garner up to 5% more than similar homes without those features because of the significant electricity savings,” Sedighi said.

From pv magazine Australia