Battery rebate in action: homeowner case studies

Gus Goswell gets to know two homeowners who have recently taken up the Federal Government’s battery rebate.

Carina McNaughton, Hoppers Crossing VIC

A solar inverter reaching the end of its operating life was the catalyst for Carina McNaughton to have a serious think about the future of her home energy system. And the federal government’s rebate made investing in her family’s first battery the obvious next step.

“I had been umming and ahhing a bit about getting a battery, and I thought now there’s the rebate we might as well get one this time,” Carina says. “So we now have a battery and I am obsessed. It’s fascinating to me. I look at the app all the time to see how much power we are generating.”

Part-time nurse Carina, her school gardener husband and their two teenage sons live in a four-bedroom house in the south-west Melbourne suburb of Hoppers Crossing. They installed a 2.2kW solar system a few years after purchasing their home in 2010.

“Our initial motivation was definitely climate, and I think it’s still climate,” Carina says.

Their battery—a 13.5kWh Tesla Powerwall 3—wasn’t the only new technology they installed recently in August as part of a home energy system upgrade organised through Pure Electric. Along with a new inverter, the family’s solar panel array has expanded significantly from the original 2.2kW to 19.8kW. They also purchased four reverse-cycle split-system air conditioners so they could stop using the old gas ducted heating system. An induction cooktop was installed in the kitchen at the same time, so the home is now gas-free, which Carina is thrilled about.

“We are not breathing in gas fumes any more, and we’re more comfortable with this way of heating the house.”

The total cost of the family’s electrification project, including the battery, was just under $35,000. Carina says they received a battery Small-scale Technology Certificate rebate of $4750, along with other rebates for the solar panels, but they still needed to take out a significant loan. For Carina, the investment is about improving their quality of life now and future-proofing their lifestyle.

“We plan on staying in this house for a long time, and when we are older and retired we are going to have less money. So if we can make changes now to improve the performance of the house and use less electricity, that’s part of the end game for us.

“At the moment we don’t have an electric car, but the way of the future is going to be electric cars. Eventually my husband and I will get an electric car, and our boys will get electric cars, so we are going to need power for those.

“I think the rebate is a really good idea. It encourages people to take things up and it builds momentum with new technology.”

Andrew Sweatman, Northcote VIC

For someone who loves to crunch the numbers, Andrew Sweatman’s decision to add more battery storage to his home’s energy system was driven by something a bit harder to quantify—a spirit of independence.

“I really don’t want to give power companies anything,” Andrew says. “Even though we are with a renewable power company, I would love to not take anything from the grid.”

Andrew and his family have had solar panels on their roof since 2007, but as part of a home renovation project, they installed a new 10.5kW rooftop solar array on their three-bedroom Edwardian weatherboard house in the inner-north Melbourne suburb of Northcote in 2024. Two 5kWh Enphase batteries were part of that project.

Andrew maintains detailed records of his home’s energy use, solar exports and carbon impact. So he was quick to realise that while the home’s solar panels and initial 10kWh of battery storage was enough for conditions in spring, summer and autumn, the system was insufficient for Melbourne’s cloudy, cold winters.

“What I really wanted to know was that we are not drawing energy from gas and coal,” Andrew says. “I wanted to know that even in our cold evenings in Melbourne we are not drawing from fossil fuels. It was quite a personal thing, we just wanted to make a statement.

“The 10kWh of batteries was absolutely fine for three of the four seasons, but it wasn’t really enough to be independent in winter. So that confirmed our decision to get another battery.”

In July 2025, with the federal government rebate, Andrew added another two 5kWh Enphase batteries to create a total of 20kWh of battery capacity. The second 10kWh of batteries were priced at just over $18,400, with the rebate bringing the cost down to $14,900, saving Andrew around $3500. The batteries were purchased through energy company 1komma5.

“The rebate allowed us to add 10kWh extra, rather than 5kWh. For us, the money is good but really what I am doing is participating in the program so that the program is successful.

“I think the rebate is really important. It shows a commitment by the government as a statement of policy that they believe in the technology. If I participate and everyone else does, it will show that we agree and are giving our vote of confidence.”

Andrew calculates that in the first year after their renovation, compared to a typical two-person home, his household is $2500 better off in energy bills, with one-third the carbon footprint and six times the solar electricity exports. He’s now exploring options for replacing their petrol car with an EV, and participating in Virtual Power Plant programs.

“I just really like the idea that we can say we have minimal interaction with the grid,” Andrew says.