Australians installed 22,661 home battery systems in 2019

Australian households invested in almost two-and-a-half “Big Batteries” worth of home energy storage in 2019, installing 22,661 systems over the course of the year with a total capacity of 233MWh, and taking further control over their energy supply.

The numbers were published this week as part of the 2020 Australia Battery Market Report, the latest annual market estimates from solar analytics group SunWiz, based on figures reported by leading manufacturers. (You can purchase a copy here).

SunWiz, which has been tracking battery numbers in Australia since 2015, said 2019 home battery uptake was actually slightly down on 2018 numbers, but that an increase in non-residential installations had delivered a new annual record.

Read the story from One Step Off the Grid by Sophie Vorrath - “Australians installed 22,661 home battery systems in 2019.”

Elon Musk wants Australia to shake up its power grid

Elon Musk wants Australia to change its power grid to get ready for more big batteries.

Construction workers at the launch of Tesla's 100 megawatt
 lithium-ion battery at Jamestown, north of Adelaide.

Having deployed the world's largest battery in South Australia and shot a Tesla Roadster into space, the US billionaire's company now wants to change the face of Australia’s National Electricity Market.

Tesla has called for the nation's outdated electricity network to evolve and prepare for a transition to a new power system as part of the Australian Energy Market Commission’s review into the grid’s reliability.

In its submission, the electric car and solar battery maker outlined how when coal-fired power stations have failed – for example during Loy Yang power station generator's recent outages –  batteries were able to put power back into the grid and return it to normal operation in less than 200 milliseconds.

Read Cole Latimer’s story in The Age - “Elon Musk wants Australia to shake up its power grid.”