Battery bonus for new home buyers

In another first for the Home Battery Scheme new home buyers in South Australia will be able to have solar and battery systems installed during the build, delivering substantial savings on their electricity bills. 

"This latest development in the $100 million Home Battery Scheme will turbo charge the take up of home solar and battery systems, delivering savings on electricity bills for new home owners and benefits to the grid," said Minister for Energy and Mining Dan van Holst Pellekaan.

"Thousands of South Australians have already slashed their electricity bills with batteries, so it's great news that the Scheme is now accessible to people purchasing a new home."

Under a change in the rules to the HBS, developers are now able to receive the subsidy to help them install the batteries on new homes. By identifying an application as a 'New Build' the subsidy is guaranteed for up to 12 months from the point of conditional approval, instead of the standard six months, allowing appropriate time for the property to be completed and the system installed. 

The solar and battery systems will be offered to new home buyers for no additional cost. 

One of Australia's leading suppliers of building products to the residential building industry - Stoddart Group -- will use the Government's subsidy to install 2000 solar and battery systems on new homes built in South Australia this year and more than 10,000 over four years. 

Stoddart's SA partners, including Metricon Homes, Rivergum Homes, Sterling Homes, Hickinbotham, SA Housing Centre, Statesmen Homes, ABC Homes and Metro Homes will offer a 6.5kW solar system with 11.6kWh SolaX Power battery. 

Using 4G technology, the batteries will form the new Stoddart Virtual Power Plant growing to 10,000 new homes over four years, which would be one of the largest Virtual Power Plants in the world. 

Minister van Holst Pellekaan said the combined storage would equate to more than 20MWh of new storage installed in the first  year and 100MWh over four years, making a significant contribution towards supporting the wider grid. 

"As well as helping to stabilise the grid, Stoddart's battery Virtual Power Plan will offer new home buyers discounted power and will provide protection during an outage," said Minister van Holst Pellekaan.

"South Australia's transition to a renewables-based economy needs commitment from industry as well as government and I applaud the Stoddart Group for this exciting new initiative."

The Group's project will join other VPPs in South Australia currently being offered, including AGL, ShineHub, Simply Energy, Energy Australia, Sonnen and Tesla.

More than 6,000 subsidies have already been approved under the State Government's $100 million Home Battery Scheme. 

According to Adam Taylor, GM Energy at the Stoddart Group, this Australian-first initiative is a significant leap forward for the company in transforming new houses into 'smart homes'.

"The Stoddart Group is proud to be joining forces with our builder partners to install more than 2,000 solar and battery systems through the State Government's Home Battery Scheme," Mr Taylor said. 

"We are committed in continuing to expand and diversify our innovation stream of solutions in the Australian construction market with our focus to 'building the future of building.'

"This initiative will also equate to sizeable savings for more new home buyers, as well as having the security of having power even when there is an unexpected outage."

Stoddart Group has partnered with energy retailer Powershop and technology provider Reposit to deliver the VPP.

Interim CEO of Powershop Australia, Catherine Anderson, believes this project is another positive step in giving Australians more control over their energy. 

"Consumers deserve to feel in control of their energy bills and also the opportunity to play a role in Australia's energy transition. "

Find out more about the Home Battery Scheme at www.homebatteryscheme.sa.gov.au