Starting to look at battery storage for the home.

 

Have thought about it a few years anticipating battery prices would drop but that hasn't really eventuated (and not sure prices will get lower now).

 

Any members in Melbourne using battery storage and have any recommendations on battery type and suppliers/installers in the Melbourne area? 

Might be worth looking at Marc’s other site?

https://renewable.net.au/

Australian storage company :

Redearth Energy Storage 

 

Brisbane head office
1800 733 637 

or look on FB. 
 

Tindo Solar is also an Australian company. 

Still really hard to justify if you're not going to be in the same residence for ~10 years, and don't qualify for a rebate on batteries (if you've already had the rebate for panels). I've looked into it a couple of times now but just can't make the sums work

Recently got a 13kw LG battery. Best thing I’ve done in a long time. Highly recommended.

From the web site, it’s around $13.7k for a 5KW Tesla storage,  That’s a lot of money that I can’t see return quickly.   Unless  you live in an area that has frequent blackout and the grid is unreliable, then this is out of the question for most.  For a 5KW storage off grid solution will set you back starting from $10k including PV with cheaper options and it climb north from there.   To make this viable you need a power retailer to agree on feeding your storage back to the grid on peak times with peak FIT that increases viability, just remember to keep in  mind that every time you empty that storage to the grid you are wearing the pack down and that’s not on your use.  
 

The other way to do it and it’s the way of the future is to buy a EV such as the latest or any EV that support bidirectional feed, so not only you charge your EV, with this capability it’s able to feed the grid on demand from your EV when connected and that will provide some return especially if it’s fully charged.  Also take into account that in Victoria and WA you are subjected to $0.25/km to subsidies for losses in fuel excises.   

I have done solar, a house regenerator, hot water heat pump, battery and lastly reverse cycle to replace gas.  I have never bothered to do the sums.  I consider that overall, together the solar, battery and heat pump have provided a definite savings benefit.  My monthly average bill is now $50 of which supply is $39.  I went battery because it was ridiculous to give the power generated by solar away for so little return. 

 

 

Your solar capacity will determine the battery capacity.  There is no point in having a battery that you cannot charge fully in a day especially in winter.  The Redback battery that I have is 7kw.  After deducting the rebate, the cost to me installed was $6,390.  When fully charged it carries the house until 2-3 am depending on what I have been doing.  I am now very conscious of what I do when. 

 

 

I live in rural Victoria so cannot advise you on metro suppler installers. 

The Redback battery has functioned perfectly for year.  I have lights and fridge when the power is off.  Highly recommended.

 

https://redbacktech.com/how-it-works/home-battery-storage/

 

A lot of Cloud at the moment so little solar.

 This is what is a happening at the moment

 

John

Thanks for all the replies so far.
 

A 7kw battery would be sufficient for our needs if we decide on one. 
 

I lack confidence in our domestic energy grid to keep power prices reasonable so thinking longer term the figures will add up. 
 

An EV will eventually be a great solution but at this stage I consider they are still too expensive (the premium over an ICE exceeds the costs of separate, large battery storage), options are limited and we are not in the market for a new car 

35 minutes ago, Assisi said:

My monthly average bill is now $50 of which supply is $39.  I went battery because it was ridiculous to give the power generated by solar away for so little return. 

lights John

 

 

Check the market on a monthly basis, it varies considerably, I’ve change 3 retailers since I was with one of the cheapest until the Ukraine war started.   Even though it’s $40 on this bill,  I’m still not paying anything because I just signed up with this retailer,  and got a $200 credit from the the 1st retailer.   And I don’t even have a storage battery or a heat pump water service.   I’m predicting I’ll be back in credit even with these figures as we enter spring and summer.  
 

 

 

Edited September 4, 20223 yr by Addicted to music

EV as a battery supplement doesn’t work until the V2H legislation is passed.  That will be a couple of years off yet. 

1 hour ago, Addicted to music said:

Check the market on a monthly basis, it varies considerably, I’ve change 3 retailers since I was with one of the cheapest

The cost of the power is an issue for everyone including me.  I have not with any enthusiasm, pursued the absolute cheapest option for me.  The couple of times I have done a comparison, the price difference with who I was with was marginal.  I have been with just two retailers for the past 16 years.  They are both Australian owned by Snowy Hydro.  Lumo and then I swapped to Red Energy.  Some of the low cost retailers are here to day and gone tomorrow as I assume you are aware.  I am happy with my situation. 

 

 

I have been in credit this year as a consequence of compensation for several power failures.  There should be another credit coming soon for a failure last Wednesday.

 

John

49 minutes ago, frankn said:

EV as a battery supplement doesn’t work until the V2H legislation is passed.  That will be a couple of years off yet. 

 

Apparently it’s here under test via selected corporation and universities.  Hopefully it’ll be just in time for 2024.   Either way you still need to wait if you don’t have a EV that is compatible……and it’s not cheap!  
The last I saw a few month now, the wait time for a Tesla from order is anywhere from 18wks from order place,  the ioniq 5 is 6-20months depending on how successful you get onto there website when they enable allocation.  ATM EV and any new ICE are valued items as there are no stock!   There’s a 24 mth wait for any RAV4 Hybrids and there is no confirmation, it’s basically a luck of the draw if you get a email to confirmed date of production..    It’s gotten that bad with Toyota that they decided to take there vehicle production tracking off line as it’s now beyond a joke.   Word has it there JIT has fallen from 60+ days  to around 67hours.   All due to COVID and 2 semiconductor manufacturing fires.

We're off grid. I wouldn't do it by choice. Its a trade off - spend more now and less in the future or spend less now, replace the batteries/system in 5 years time. This seems to be the cycle that most off grid people go through. I'm in countless online groups where daily someone posts "put a system in 3 years ago, its dead now"

 

.....we went with the big upfront cost and a hope that we'll not have to replace it in our lifetime. I'm still of the opinion its a 6 figure game to get anything remotely close to have "on grid" performance.

 

A few years back when gas was "cheap" it was easier. Now, not so much. Solar hot water is expensive and still needs boosting.

 

We've got a stock standard electric HWS ($1200 v say $7k for a solar version, maybe more for a heat pump? dunno), but our solar/battery is big enough to run it. Plus 3 fridges, a freezer, a cool room, hifi, washing machine, dishwasher etc

 

I'm hoping we get 25 years out of the electronics, that's probably say $1k per year in depreciation at today's prices), I can live with that. Longer from the diesel generators (we have two now - different purposes). Then the battery, well, it has cycled 120 times in 6 years. They say 3,000+ cycles I think in the manual (maybe 2,000 - BAE lead acid gels)....but its enormous and cost a fortune, so.......

 

...so the gear is what, say 1/4 of your typical electricity cost per annum. The battery is a huge "it depends". I doubt there is a positive payback at today's prices.

 

For what its worth, our batteries today are 30% more expensive compared to 6 years ago - mostly exchange rate I'm guessing. They're made in Germany.

@lucmor444 I design and sell solar and battery systems as my job. If @Marc doesn’t mind, I’m happy for you to pm me and I’ll talk you out of it (for now)  

43 minutes ago, RankStranger said:

@lucmor444 I design and sell solar and battery systems as my job. If @Marc doesn’t mind, I’m happy for you to pm me and I’ll talk you out of it (for now)  

Thx Rank Stranger. Thanks for the offer:).  I think I am already convinced that now is not the time for battery storage for my needs.!