South Australian Home Battery Scheme Updates and Customer Access!
New updates on the South Australian Home Battery Scheme have been released! Although we’re still unsure of the official commencement date for applications (rumoured to be mid-October) we’ve been provided with information on how customers will be able to access the Home Battery Scheme and the optional finance loans.
Quick recap of the South Australian Home Battery Scheme
If you don’t already know about the Home Battery Scheme lets get you up to speed! The Home Battery Scheme will allow households with Solar PV Systems to be able to purchase a battery storage system at a reduced cost, using Government subsidies. Having a battery storage system will enable households to store excess energy generated from their Solar PV System. Subsidies will only be available for the battery storage component of a Solar PV System.
Homes that do not have a Solar PV System installed will be able to apply for Finance Loans through Clean Energy Finance Corporation (CEFC) and RateSetter to assist in purchasing the system and then will be able to apply for the Home Battery Scheme subsidies for the battery storage component. The loans will be flexible and competitive in comparison to other financing options.
Purpose
- Directly reduce power prices for 40,000 households
- Reduce demand on the network especially during peak periods
- Lower power prices for all South Australians
Who is eligible to receive the subsidy?
- Anyone who owns or occupies a home in South Australia (includes renters who have permission from the property owner)
- SA Energy Concession Holders to receive a higher subsidy
- One subsidy per home
How much is the subsidy?
- Scaled in line with the size of the battery – the bigger the battery the bigger the subsidy
- Capped at $6000 per system installed
- Subsidy and cap to reduce over time to ensure 40,000 households can participate
- Energy Concession Holders receive $600.00 per kilowatt-hour (kWh)
- Other households $500.00 per kilowatt-hour (kWh)
Example:
What does this mean for households?
Households could be looking at a payback period of around 6 years and saving thousands on energy bills over the life of the battery.
How will households access the Scheme?
A dedicated website (joint SA Government and RateSetter Platform) will be available in October to help households:
- consider their suitability
- identify qualified system providers and eligible systems
- access the subsidy and finance (if required) through RateSetter
What finance is available?
- In addition to the subsidy, households will be able to access finance to assist with the upfront cost of paying for the battery and new solar if required
- Competitive Loans through the RateSetter Platform funded by an initial investment of $100 million from CEFC
- Households will be able to choose the amount they borrow
- Expected term of the loan to be between 3-7 years to ensure households achieve the greatest benefit from the system
RateSetter has been appointed by the South Australian Government to administer its subsidy program and deliver CEFC finance to residents
Customer Journey For Accessing the Home Battery Scheme Subsidies and/or Loan
Once the Home Battery Scheme commences sometime this October the Customer Journey for accessing the subsidies and finance are as followed.
Step 1
The customer requests a quote from a system provider.
- Quote must be for eligible equipment
- Quote must be with a qualified System Provider
- Can include solar panels
Step 2
System Provider will enter details of the quote on the Home Battery Scheme website (website is still yet to be released) and RateSetter will provide a unique quote reference to the System Provider and Customer.
Quote reference:
- Allows customers to apply for a subsidy
- System Providers can track the progress of a subsidy application and finance
Step 3
The customer will then apply for subsidy and/or finance and wait to receive the result of the finance application.
- Subsidy application can be conditionally approved within minutes
- Finance application can be processed within minutes if all information is provided and the customer has a clean credit file
Subsidy Checks:
- One subsidy per home
- No commercial properties
- Power bill (Every application must upload a photo of their most recent power bill)
Finance Checks:
- Income and expenses
- Bank statements and payslips
- Credit check
Step 4
Once all approved the system can be installed!
Information sourced from Energy Mining SA
What Now?
If you’re interested in applying for the Home Battery Scheme or Finance, follow the below link and register your email under the Home Battery Scheme drop down and we’ll send you notifications and updates as we hear more! You can also view information here.
