Australia’s Chief Scientist: Financial equation for home PV storage is simple and compelling

July 9, 2018
Facebook
Twitter
LinkedIn
Reddit
Email
Australia's Chief Scientist, Dr Alan Finkel. Image: Wikimedia user Danimation.

Australia’s energy and environment minister has hailed the country’s accelerating residential energy storage sales as a report has emerged from Chief Scientist Dr Alan Finkel which says the “financial equation is straightforward” for adding batteries to home PV systems.

Finkel’s office produced reports during 2017 which advised the government on the power market, opportunities and challenges for renewables and decarbonisation and the role of clean energy technologies in boosting the resiliency of energy networks across Australia. At the tail end of the year, he also published a report on the “transformative role” of energy storage.    

This article requires Premium SubscriptionBasic (FREE) Subscription

Try Premium for just $1

  • Full premium access for the first month at only $1
  • Converts to an annual rate after 30 days unless cancelled
  • Cancel anytime during the trial period

Premium Benefits

  • Expert industry analysis and interviews
  • Digital access to PV Tech Power journal
  • Exclusive event discounts

Or get the full Premium subscription right away

Or continue reading this article for free

Finkel had said that there should be better market designs to incentivise peak shifting of solar and other forms of generation, which could be done with battery energy storage in those reports. Nonetheless, in an Occasional Paper on energy storage which he has just put his name to, the Chief Scientist has said that it already makes financial sense for home PV system owners to combine them with energy storage systems.

To read the full version of this story, visit Energy-Storage.news.

Read Next

April 1, 2026
South Australia could see its peak load double from 3.3GW today to 6.5-7GW by 2040, driven by data centres, green steel and hydrogen demand.
March 27, 2026
New system-level modelling from the Australian Centre for Advanced Photovoltaics (ACAP) has revealed that achieving ultra-low-cost solar targets could create a 2,000GW-scale solar PV market in Australia.
March 27, 2026
Australia's DCCEEW has launched an approach-to-market seeking an administrator to deliver the National Solar Panel Recycling Pilot.
March 26, 2026
Australia's national science agency, CSIRO, has successfully completed trials of autonomous robots designed to revolutionise maintenance operations at large-scale solar installations.
March 25, 2026
Enervest has commenced construction of a 500kW floating solar array at Wannon Water's Brierly Basin in Warrnambool, Victoria.
March 18, 2026
Danish independent power producer (IPP) European Energy has inaugurated the 108MW Lancaster Solar Farm in northern Victoria.

Upcoming Events

Solar Media Events
April 15, 2026
Milan, Italy
Solar Media Events
June 16, 2026
Napa, USA
Solar Media Events
October 13, 2026
San Francisco Bay Area, USA
Solar Media Events
November 3, 2026
Málaga, Spain
Solar Media Events
November 24, 2026
Warsaw, Poland