Adelaide family hopes to “zero bills” with solar and storage

One Step Off The Grid

A South Australian family has installed the state’s first residential Fronius battery storage system, adding a 6kWh Fronius Solar Battery to a massive 10kW rooftop solar system.

The battery storage system, which includes a Fronius Symo Hybrid inverter and Fronius Smart Meter  was installed at the North Adelaide house by locally-based company National Renewable Group (NRG), along with 5.7kW of solar panels to boost the existing 4.2kW PV system.

As we have noted in our battery storage round-up, Fronius was formerly best known for its PV inverter technology – it’s another partner with Tesla’s Powerwall in Australia.

Recently, however, it has branched into the battery storage space with a product that uses lithium-iron phosphate (LiFePO4) chemistry and ranges in capacity from 4.5kWh to 12kWh – the size of the system can be increased by adding 1.5kWh modules.

Coupled with Fronius’ hybrid inverter technology, and the smart meter – a bidirectional meter which optimises self-consumption and records the household’s load curve – the system is designed to deliver a high degree of flexibility in applications.

“This is the first instance of an SA home being able to store solar energy using Fronius battery storage technology,” said NRG managing director Eddy May.

“We chose Fronius for this project because they are a proven provider of high-performance battery systems… and they’ve been producing high-quality battery chargers and transformers for over 70 years,” May said.

Homeowners Scott Matthews and Kelly Nestor, with their two young children, said the main aim of adding more solar and battery storage was to get a close as possible to “zero-ing” their electricity bills.

“Seeing how much we were spending on power and seeing the bills increase over time and having no control over it really worried me,” Nestor said.

“Having solar panels has made a huge difference to our bills and our household budget, and having battery storage means that we’ll make even bigger savings. …Plus we love that we’re impacting the environment less and teaching our kids about sustainability.”

Of course, being residents of North Adelaide means the family also got a generous grant form the Adelaide City Council to install the low-carbon technology.

As we have reported, Adelaide City Council was the first government in Australia to offer grants for energy storage systems coupled with an onsite solar photovoltaic system. The incentive qualified Matthews and Nestor for a rebate of around $6000.

According to May, uptake of battery storage around the country is set to boom and it’s important for customers to know what they’re buying – and why.

“By 2025, we estimate that around 55,000 solar storage systems will be installed into Australian households and businesses every year,” he said.

“There is now a wide selection of high quality, affordable batteries on the market. It’s important that homeowners select the right solution based on their energy needs and that they deal with a reputable, experienced company.”

This article was originally published on RE sister site One Step Off The Grid. To sign up for the weekly newsletter, click here.