Songbird, Oxley is located 25 minutes out of Brisbane’s CBD and this new area is being targeted as one of the most environmentally friendly in Australia.
Under a new scheme, each house (up to 80x) will receive a $5,000 rebate if they purchase the heavily discounted solar and Tesla Powerwall packages from Natural Solar – Australia’s largest battery installer.
The rebate comes as part of a new landmark deal by Economic Development Queensland (EDQ).
If you’ve wanted to install a solar and battery storage system, then you’ll understand the cost is significant, with a Powerwall 2 costs A$10,800, plus $1,700 for supporting hardware, bringing the total before installation to A$12,500k. After the rebate, the cost would be just A$7k, which starts to make much more sense when it comes to a return on investment.
If you can roll this and the solar package into the mortgage then it definitely starts to look attractive, given you’re ongoing cost for power would be incredibly low.
I’d love to see the battery rebate program increased in scope to cover those from other locations and those existing homeowners that already have solar.
“Natural Solar is proud to be an integral player in the Queensland Government’s solar energy future.
This signifies its firm support of clean, green energy and its trust in Tesla Powerwall home batteries assisting Queensland’s energy requirements. Homeowners can expect to save up to $2100 per annum, delivering a return on investment under 5 years all while using clean, green energy.
On top of this there is the added benefit of backup power in the event of grid outages, which adds additional peace of mind with how, when and why the households use electricity. These truly are homes of the future and Natural Solar is delighted to be partnering with Economic Development Queensland to roll out this project.”
Chris Williams CEO of Natural Solar.
Tesla Powerwall rechargeable solar battery will allow Queenslanders the ability to power their home (and their electric vehicle if they have one) with renewable energy they control, which will reduce their reliance on the grid.
“With solar, you typically generate more clean energy than you need. By combining with Tesla Powerwall, you can store excess energy from your solar panels for use anytime—even during a power outage. This beautiful system also allows you to monitor what energy you produce and control your self powered system with 24/7 access using the Tesla app.”
Chris Williams CEO of Natural Solar.
The Oxley development features smart net-zero energy emission homes, showcasing innovation and sustainability while supporting economic recovery and job creation.
Songbird, Oxley, is leading the nation being a 100% solar and battery neighbourhood, saving homebuyers thousands of dollars in electricity.
Deputy Premier and Minister for State Development, Local Government, Infrastructure and Planning Steven Miles said Songbird, Oxley features smart net zero energy emission homes, showcasing innovation and sustainability, while supporting economic recovery and job creation.
“Songbird, Oxley, is leading the nation being a 100% solar and battery neighbourhood, saving homebuyers thousands of dollars in electricity.
We are partnering with Energex, Natural Solar and Tesla, to build a comprehensive, sustainable, next-generation community at Oxley, with the aim of sharing these learnings with the development industry, so that today’s innovation becomes tomorrow’s standard.”
Deputy Premier and Minister for State Development, Local Government, Infrastructure and Planning Steven Miles
The subsidised solar offering for each household includes seventeen 365w solar panels and one Tesla Powerwall, a state of the art battery with 13.5kWh storage capacity.
The solar system will on average produce 9,000kWh per annum which equates to an estimated $2100 of savings per household – assuming all solar produced directly or from battery storage is used.
Participating Australian households will be able to contribute to Australia’s Virtual Power Plants (VPP’s) thanks to Tesla Powerwall’s outstanding capabilities.
Together, the Queensland Government and Natural Solar are invested in developing homes that will become a part of the natural setting, emphasising green eco-living thanks to solar power.
My electricity is free now because I’m getting 15 cents per kWh for excess un-used solar power fed into the grid. Actually AGL is paying me $800 to $1000 per year since I sell to them much more power than I use. If I had a battery and didn’t feed anything into the grid, I would still pay nothing for my electricity but I would lose that solar rebate. So I would be worse off if I buy a battery. I consider the solar rebate to be like a virtual battery that costs nothing. Don’t need a real battery.
But the idea of the battery is for power backup in the event of a grid failure in addition to storing excess energy for later use.
Your comment: “If I had a battery and didn’t feed anything into the grid, I would still pay nothing for my electricity but I would lose that solar rebate.”
No, you don’t lose that solar rebate (no such thing, it’s a feed in), what will happen is that you self consumed the energy which is valued at grid import rate, so you actually gain more value self-consuming. So, if you lose 15c/kWh because your didn’t export but you saved 25-30c/kWh by self consuming. The house consumption remains the same either way. You would still have low or zero power bills but it improves the financials side of payback of the system. The wider the margin is between feed-in and grid import, the greater it improves battery financials.
What happens when solar feed in drops? How will you get your $800 to $1000 per year. At the rate of renewables being installed each year, it has an impact of reducing wholesale prices. Wholesales prices determine solar Feed in values.
Plus the battery keeps the solar going during the day when there’s no grid. (subject to the battery state of charge and house usage).
And, it probably happens a bit, food spoilage in the fridge which can be up to $400 worth plus your excess on insurance claim. There’s an instant benefit already. let alone any essential equipment that one would like to keep running in the event of a blackout. I see the immense value of battery systems for those who rely on medical equipment to be functioning at all times.
So, there’s a lot of hidden benefits of a house battery regardless of brand of battery. We should get too hung up on pure financial payback figures. It’s an appliance to use with great benefits. After all, we don’t buy cars for financial reasons, we buy cars for the convenience of transport. We can save money on transport by using pushbikes or catch public transport… but the inconvenience and time lost…. no thanks. I rather something that adds value to one’s life and time more than financials of payback times. Plus the benefits of reducing one’s reliance on dirty power from fossil fuels. There’s a utilitarian benefit in solar systems and batteries which ultimately serves the community in the long run. Now, if only EV cars get to a good price point! Yes, it’s a rich person’s toy but hey, at least they’re burning less fossil fuels.
My last paragraph, second sentence should read “We shouldn’t get too hung up on pure financial payback figures”.
Great, I’m looking to go completely offgrid.
I currently get a feed in tariff from the Qld govt of .45c per kwh. I also get around 10c from our energy provider. That means I get back around $1000 a year and pay 0 for electricity. The Qld Scheme is set to run for a further 10 years. We always planned to get a battery system after that but is it worth doing before hand? Wouldn’t I lose the .45c kwh feed in if I was storing it instead of using it given I only pay.22ckwh from the supplier when the panels aren’t collecting?