New South Wales residents and businesses installing solar and battery systems can look forward a faster process – and significant savings.
Ausgrid, which distributes electricity supply to nearly 1.7 million homes and businesses across Sydney, the Central Coast and Hunter regions, has announced it is streamlining its application process for solar and storage installations up to 30kW capacity.
“These changes will make it easier and cheaper for our customers to become more energy efficient,” said Ausgrid Acting CEO Trevor Armstrong.
“By cutting red tape, fees and processing times, we can help more homes and businesses across our network install solar and battery systems.”
Mr. Armstrong stated the changes will save customers about $200 in fees per application fees and reduce processing times to approximately ten working days.
Ausgrid says it is receiving around 10,000 applications a year for solar power systems up to 30kW.
“Up to one in ten are for larger micro-generation systems, which previously required a more detailed technical assessment,” said Mr. Armstrong.
“We no longer see a need for this assessment based on the lower risk associated with these systems.”
New South Wales has certainly embraced the solar revolution. According to the latest data from Australia’s Clean Energy Regulator, nearly 338,000 solar power systems are installed throughout the state.
Interest in solar energy storage has spiked in New South Wales and across Australia this year; triggered by the availability of solutions such as Tesla Powerwall, Sonnen battery systems, Enphase energy storage and the Fronius Solar Battery.
According to Energy Matters, a properly sized and installed energy storage solution combined with solar panels can reduce mains grid electricity consumption by up to 80%; depending on electricity consumption profile and other factors. A solar panel system alone can reduce mains grid power reliance by up to 50%.
Energy Matters, one of Australia’s most experienced installers of solar and battery systems, offers a free online solar + battery calculator that can help determine energy storage needs and generates useful estimated performance information and graphs. For personalised advice, the company can be contacted on 1800-EMATTERS.
Top Right Image Credit: BigStock
