Households considering the installation of a solar system may be offered the option of adding battery storage.
The presented analysis considers if the extra cost of adding battery storage to the solar system is justified.
Total Annual Cost of Electricity
The total annual cost of electricity is calculated for 300 Sydney households using
• Current electricity tariffs
• Installed cost of current solar with battery systems
• Installed cost of solar systems only
On average the installation of a solar system increases the annual cost of electricity by $137.
On average the installation of a solar and battery storage system increases the annual cost of electricity by $660.
Comparing System Cost to Total Savings
Comparing total savings from the installation of each system to the cost of the system reveals.
The average household recovers 73% the installed cost of the solar system.
Adding battery storage increases the system cost but
Total savings only recover 49% the installed cost of a solar system with battery storage.
Comparing Cost Differences
Further insight is provided by comparing the cost per kWh of electricity. This reveals:
12% of households reduce electricity costs by installing a solar system.
No households reduce their electricity costs by adding battery storage to the solar system
Citation
Copyright of this article remains with Dr Martin Gill. All references to this article should include the author’s name and website www.drmartingill.com.au.
Comments or Questions?
The author is happy to receive comments or questions about this article. He can be contacted here