$17 Billion Solar Battery Plan Offered For Greens 2022 Election Pitch

$17 Billion Renewable Energy plan for 2022 election made public by The Greens and is aimed at increasing solar battery installations.

The Greens want Australia to be greener, and to do that they’re willing to offer grants up to $10,000 and loans of $50,000 to install solar batteries for Australian home owners.

This bold $17 billion plan is to help homeowners and businesses transition from electricity to clean energy, to ease cost of living as we move forward in 2022.

The Greens revealed this plan to the public during the second week of Australia’s 2022 election campaign in Brisbane to win inner city seats currently held by the Coalition and Labour.

Rewiring the Nation

Labor’s 2022 Election plan includes “Re-Wiring the Nation” as an attempt to combat the stress on the Australian energy grid.

There’s been debates over the cost of electricity which has been featured early on in the campaign, with Coalition stating Labor’s “Re-Wiring the Nation” policy would force electricity prices to to sky rocket.

The plan written out by labour would upgrade the electrical infrastructure of our current grid to withstand the influx of renewable energy sent back to the grid during mid day when the sun is at it’s peak.

Labour proposes to use a $20 billion investment from the Commonwealth and $50 billion from the energy sector to carry out this upgrade.

The Greens plan, is to get home and business owners less reliant on they grid and allow them to apply for grants of up to $25,000 and loans of up to $100,000.

So that home owners can use solar batteries to store their excess electricity generated in the day time to use for the night time.

Economy For Industry

The Greens 2022 election pitch takes aim at improving the Australian economy for industries in the renewable energy sector.

The party mentions that these subsidies would not only ease cost of living for Australian home owners but also invest in local battery manufacturers and electricians to install the batteries.

Rooftop Solar Panels

One in five homes across Australia has solar panels on their roof with battery usage slightly increasing.

Batteries at the moment cost a lot to manufacture and can be quite expensive with the average 13kw battery costing $10,000 or more,

With this grant available, most Australian home owners will be able to afford solar so they can save on electricity costs whilst providing work to the local electricians and battery manufacturers.

At the same time, many Australian states are trying to gain more control over solar systems feeding energy back to the grid,

Australian States now have authority to shut down home owner solar systems

Back in February, Western and Australia joined up with South Australia in having the jurisdiction to turn off home owners solar systems at times when the grid is under severe stress.

With more and more home owners going solar, this isn’t going to get easier on the grid.

Revisiting The Greens 2022 Election Plan

Instead of spending billions to upgrade the grid, the Greens want to put the power back in the everyday Australians lives and give them easy opportunity to get a solar battery with their solar system.

Doing it this way means instead of sending their energy back to the grid, home owners can store their energy in a battery so they don’t have to buy electricity at night.

This would ease the grid as it will not be as overwhelmed during the peak of the day from solar systems feeding electricity back to the network.

The Greens mention that the plan has been looked over budget wise by the Parliamentary Budget Office to deem financially feasible before the 2022 election.

Health issues found with gas cooking

The party also brought to light a report by the Climate Council, published in 2021 that cooking with gas was is comparable to second cigarette smoke and increases the symptoms of up to 12% of children with asthma.

There have been no reports with kids with asthma suffering from electrical cooking appliances.

Adam Bandt who is the current leader of the Greens mentions that this plan is aimed at reducing power bills for the everyday Australian whilst reducing pollution at the same time.

Solar Power Rebates

Federal Solar Power Rebates for homeowners that install solar panels are still available however there is no current government incentive for solar batteries.

“Just as we’ve seen solar panels go on so many roofs around the country because government support makes them affordable, we want to do the same with batteries”

  • Adam Bandt, Leader of the Greens

The federal incentive to install solar panels for a standard 6.6kw which most homes opt for are eligible of up to $3,000 in STC rebates

There is no federal incentive to install solar batteries at this time which can make them harder to afford.

Cheap Energy Prices

Making the Australian energy industry more competitive with the aim to deliver cheap energy prices for home owners and businesses should be considered in the 2022 election.

The Greens addressed concerns that electricity is an essential service, and shouldn’t be sold to Australians for profit so they have proposed to buy out publicly owned electricity retailers that will sell electricity to Australian businesses at cost prices – this company behind this would be Power Australia.

By pulling this off, it will promote competition in the energy industry which will drive down the prices of energy providers.

Whilst being able to ease the cost of living with Australisn with solar, this battery scheme will help with climate change.

With over 29% of Australians saying that climate change is the most important issue than any other topic – this battery grant will be able to help home owners use their own renewable energy instead of buying energy from the grid.

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