The first government subsidies to flow through to households and businesses in the energy sector were solar panels, and they have been successful.

In NSW, data from the Clean Energy Regulator showed that there were over 1.04 million small-scale solar systems installed in NSW to late 2024. That represents about 31.5% of households in the state. However, 1 household in 60 has a solar battery.

Following the 2025 Federal Election won by the Albanese Labor Government, those subsidies have shifted focus to solar batteries.

Australians can receive 30% off an installed solar battery, which means batteries are now worth the average household seriously considering the investment. That is on top of an average $1,600 rebate from the state government.

Mike Haydon, from Off The Grid, recorded a Talking Lismore podcast outlining his thoughts on energy use, battery effectiveness and brands, as well as how you can sell your excess electricity to local businesses, keeping our money in the Northern Rivers.

"With the two rebates combined, if you're in the situation where you're allowed to get both rebates, and there are some complications around it all, but a $10,000 battery installed could end up costing the end user $4,500 less. So, they're paying like $6,500 for something that would have cost $10 grand 12 months ago."

While the savings are attractive to families, does it make financial sense? After all, the upfront cost of solar panels took 5-6 years to pay off.

"The reason solar always took so long was because everyone was paid the feedback tariff, whereas now people are getting charged to send energy back to the grid. So, most people put a big solar system up, go to work all day, and then they feed back for three cents or six cents. Now, it's dropped, and you start getting charged to feed back to the grid. That's why it took such a long time to pay back.

"Where, if a commercial customer would put solar up, and you'd use all that solar of a day. Solar was about an 18-month payback period, or for a really good quality system, or less than three years. You put solar in, you've got your money back in three years, and everything after that is a free sandwich."

"With batteries, though, most people use all their energy of a night. So this is where batteries now really make sense, because people can, instead of getting charged to feed it back to the grid, they can put it in their battery, and save it for later on. Energy prices are actually continuing to go up, and they will get more expensive just for that nighttime usage. That's when people could really save money on a battery."

"People who have a high energy demand between the hours of five and seven o'clock at night will be the people who benefit the most from having batteries installed."

Mike said the average NSW household uses 22 kilowatt hours over a 24-hour period. Coming into winter, solar production starts to fall from 3pm, so people should start to think about their electricity usage from 3pm to 10pm.

"If you want to be self-sufficient, you're going to require enough batteries from sort of three in the afternoon all the way through to about 10 in the morning. And what we recommend for most people, as a minimum, is to put 16 kilowatt hours in, and generally that is two batteries as they come in eight kilowatt sets, if you like. The size depends. Most of the cheaper batteries will sell five kilowatt-hour modules.

"When they get bigger than that, they're just too heavy for the guys to move around and install. So five does make sense. They're a lot lighter and easier to install. But also, the bigger the battery, the more cost-effective those batteries are to get in. So we get a quality battery at a better price."

As with everything in life, you can buy a cheaper solar battery or a top-of-the-range one. Mike mentioned he received a mail-out from a solar company addressed to the Essential Energy Connected Homeowner, in which you could get one battery fully installed for $2,950, 50% off.

What does Mike recommend you look at?

"Warranty is only as good as the company that's providing that warranty. It's one of the biggest things we've had issues with over the years, with getting companies to actually pay and cough up the warranty. So it's really important that you choose a company, not just on the price.

"The smaller the battery, the longer the payback period, because it's going to run out at some stage during the night. Most people will use that in the first hour they get home. So they get home at six o'clock, when the energy prices are expensive, they're going to use that up. That one five-kilowatt battery won't get people through the peak period.

Mike explained that, on average, households are charged about 50 cents a kilowatt during peak hours, which in winter are 3pm to 8pm.

As for brands to look out for, Mike recommends Sigen and Noark.

"Signenergy is a new player on the market. They're a really high advanced battery, just state-of-the-art technology. You can actually plug your car into the Sigenergy stuff. So if you're someone that's thinking about getting an EV, then in the future, you can take that car battery and run your house off it, power your house, and sell the energy back to the grid.

"The other product I like to use is a product called Noark. The thing with Noark, it's got a lot of smarts. A lot of the companies, when you sign up for energy trading and wholesale energy prices, that want to charge you a subscription fee. What I love about the Noark range of products is that it allows you to choose batteries. In Brisbane, there's a company called Volta, they make their batteries up in Brisbane, and then we've also got Power Plus, which is an Australian-made battery down in Victoria.

"Using a product like Noark allows you to choose to support some Australian-made products and buy the batteries from Power Plus in Victoria, or want to buy my batteries from Noark. The other really good thing about using a separate inverter and separate batteries is that they don't look as good, but what that allows you to do is that if one part of that inverter fails or that company goes out of business, you've still got half your system."

If you can afford an extra battery, you can sell excess energy to businesses in the Northern Rivers, which will earn you money and save them money, making it a win/win for everyone involved. Mike explained that everyone needs to be with an electricity retail provider called Local Volts. Local Volts allows Mike and his team to set prices and buy and sell energy.

"We've got some really great results for businesses around town. Some of the local companies are paying less than 20 cents a kilowatt hour for their energy prices by buying and selling from local mums and dads. That is one thing I love showing our business owners on their bill. It's to say, hey, look, this money here is actually going to a mum and dad within the Northern Rivers community.'

"Miller's Bakery down on Molesworth Street, we've got them probably the best results out of anyone, because they shut and go home at three o'clock. So we get them the cheapest energy in the middle of the day.

"Fair Dinkum Motel, down there across from the PCYC on Dawson Street, those guys pay about 27 cents a kilowatt hour because they have a lot more nighttime usage than the daytime stuff. So that's where we're buying our customers at night with batteries and selling it more expensive to the motel. And then there's also Chicken Mania.

"Chicken Mania has been a really good supporter of us. They've let us do a lot of experiments with what they're doing. They've got four stores, and they have solar on some, not on the others. We share that solar from one store to another. And they've been a really big supporter of local energy. They're willing to pay more for the cost of energy if they're buying it from a local person than buying it on the wholesale open market, which is great, because, look, sometimes we get the energy cheaper on the wholesale market. And Chicken Mania have been like, I'd rather pay that little bit extra if it means that money is going to a local, someone that lives in the local community.

"Their rough savings are about 20%. So this year already, we've saved Chicken Mania $20,000 on their energy bills through peer-to-peer energy that we get these guys. What we've been doing this year, we're probably on track to save them about $30,000 on their energy bills. So, from $100,000 we knocked their bill down to $70,000."

A recent arrangement is with the Living School. Mike explained that the Living School is selling cheap electricity to its student's families.

As you can read, there is a lot to learn about energy and how to best utilise your energy usage to have zero energy bills, and perhaps, make money by keeping the money in the Northern Rivers.

You can contact Mike Haydon through the Off-Grid website https://www.theoffgridshop.com.au/ and fill out an enquiry. Mike says there is a questionnaire, but that is to help them understand your situation so they can give you the best advice.

There was more covered in the Talking Lismore podcast, so click on the link to hear the full chat, or click here for the website version.