Building a more sustainable home with a solar battery

Many Australians have started realising the actions we take today can make a huge difference to the health of our planet. One couple from Adelaide, John and Christina, are keeping an eye on their environmental impact today – and what it means for their children and grandchildren’s future.

“As a family, we can’t overcome climate change by ourselves, but we’re able to help the environment by doing our bit for it,” John says. “We’re never going to be perfect, but I feel like we’re doing our part.”

John, Christina, their daughters and their dog “Mocha” feel at home in the great outdoors, from taking daily walks together through their neighbourhood and going on remote camping trips to spending time gardening in the backyard.

They’ve on a sustainability journey for years, constantly looking for ways to reduce their energy usage and become less reliant on the electricity grid. So when they learned about solar batteries  and AGL’s Virtual Power Plant, it just made sense to see what they were all about. 

“Having our own home, we like living sustainably,” he says.

A solar battery solution

Solar panels are a great way to help power the home with renewable energy. However, they can only generate energy when the sun is shining. That’s where a solar battery can help. It stores energy from solar panels to then use at night or on a cloudy day, so that you can use your own energy to help self-power your home. 

A solar battery has made a huge difference to how much John and Christina pay for electricity – and how they feel about their carbon footprint.

“Having solar panels is great, but having a solar battery has really changed our electricity bill,” John says.

“It’s made us more financially secure because we don’t have to worry about our power bills.”

“Any credit we do have on our electricity bill, we roll over to the next month.”

What is the Virtual Power Plant (VPP)? 

The VPP is a pop-up power plant of sorts, allowing those with a solar battery to do even more for the environment – while also reducing their electricity bill. 

Excess power captured by solar panels and stored in these solar batteries can then be drawn into the electricity grid and used by others when the grid is under pressure, lowering reliance on fossil fuel-generated electricity.

Those who purchase a solar battery or solar battery bundle from AGL – like John and Christina – get money off their hardware in exchange for sharing the power from their solar battery back to the grid. Others can bring their own solar battery to our VPP and get regular credits in exchange for sharing their power. 

“When AGL needs some extra power, they can take a little out of our solar battery, which is fine with us,” John says.

“The Virtual Power Plant network lets us share our power with the community.”

We’ll manage your solar battery remotely based on the best way we think we can help take pressure off the grid. You can rest easy knowing you’ll always have enough energy for your home either from your solar panels, your battery or the grid, and you’ll be helping to support the energy needs of your community when you can.

Self-reliant and in control 

In addition to storing energy in a solar battery, any excess energy you generate goes back to the grid, and you may be eligible for credit through a ‘feed-in tariff’ (FiT). This means you could get paid for it in cents per kWh which will appear as a credit on your bill. 

While many governments have implemented substantial feed-in tariffs to incentivise installations in previous years, the popularity of solar across Australia today means in the future feed-in tariff rates might reduce over time. Many solar battery owners want more control and want to rely less on energy companies.

John and Christina’s solar battery has provided a more reliable source of energy at home. 

“During the day, our solar panels capture electricity that when unused, is stored in our solar battery,” Christina says. “So then at night, we still have plenty of power to use without having to spend money buying it from the electricity grid.”

John says the solar battery empowers his family to be more self-sufficient and not worry about power outages – or bill shock that can come with using power from the state-wide grid, especially in times of increased usage.

“It helps us to be less dependent on the electricity network,” John says. “Our solar got us through winter and most of spring.” 

An effortless experience that pays off

John says signing up to join the VPP was painless with the help of AGL.

“It was the cheapest way for us to get a solar battery,” he says. “AGL provided us with a phenomenally good deal, and the process of buying the solar battery through AGL was very easy.”

While the benefit they get from paying less for electricity is certainly nice, it’s the other impacts that are priceless.

“In life, we most value our family,” Christina says.

“Having the solar panels and solar battery helps lower our carbon footprint and teaches our children about the importance of renewable energy. Living sustainably is important for our family and our children’s children – and the environment as a whole.”