Household Solar Power and Battery Survey 2016€¦ · solar power and battery systems. The project was funded from the Demand Management and Innovation Allowance (DMIA) and results

221742-09-Kick-Off meeting-16 January-rev1.pptx

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Household Solar Power and Battery Survey

Interim report March 2017


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Introduction

The results presented in this interim report were gathered from a recent survey of

Ausgrid residential customers and covered questions about household solar power and

battery systems.

The purpose of this research is to better understand the likely uptake of household solar

and battery systems for consideration in the development of demand management

options and deferral of network investment. As part of the survey we aimed to better

understand customers’ levels of knowledge, usage and motivation drivers for installing

solar power and battery systems.

The project was funded from the Demand Management and Innovation Allowance

(DMIA) and results from the research will help to inform the development of future

innovation projects that have the potential to reduce long term network costs.


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Customers in the Ausgrid network

Ausgrid distributes electricity to over 1.7 million customers in the Eastern Sydney, Central Coast and

Hunter regions of NSW. The focus for this research was on customers in our network area who live in

separate houses as they are more likely to own a solar or battery system or to have one installed in the

future.

Customer type breakdown Ausgrid’s Network Area

Customer type Total

customers*

Solar

customers*

Residential: separate

houses ~840,000 ~105,000

Residential: apartments,

townhouses, other ~680,000 ~<100

Non-residential: –

businesses, government ~180,000 ~2,500

Total ~1,700,000 ~108,000

*Customer numbers estimated as at March 2017

https://www.ausgrid.com.au/~/media/Images/Network/About Our Area/Ausgrid_boundary_map_LRG.jpg


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Survey Development

The survey and questions were designed to take into consideration participation from existing

solar and/or battery owners as well as non-solar customers.

The following topic areas were included in the survey:

• the demographic characteristics of solar, non-solar and battery owners;

• motivations for purchasing solar and home storage batteries;

• experience during the application, connection and installation;

• opinions about their system performance and benefits; and

• attitudes towards participation and incentives in demand management trials

Feedback on the survey and questions was sought from a range of stakeholders during the

development phase and this was incorporated into the survey design. The final survey was

loaded into Survey Monkey and went through several rounds of user acceptance testing

before being launched in November 2016.


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Customer Communication and Response

Survey Communications:

A random sample of residential customers residing in separate houses was selected

including approximately 10,000 solar and 5,000 to 6,000 non-solar customers. These

customers were sent a letter invitation, inviting them to participate in the online survey in

early November 2016.

Participants were also offered the opportunity to enter into a prize draw competition where

ten entrants were randomly selected to each win a $500 Coles Myer voucher. The online

survey and competition ran during 1-28 November 2016 and the competition winners

were notified by 7 December 16.

Survey Response:

Overall a pleasing response rate of 10% was achieved with 1,461 completed online

responses. A further 86 customers completed a hard copy survey.

The online respondents comprised of 1,075 solar customers and 386 non-solar

customers. Of the solar customers, 86 owned a battery in their home. The interim results

in this report are from the online respondents.

If you have any questions regarding the survey or would like to provide feedback into

further research please email us at: [email protected]

mailto:[email protected]


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Contents

1. Ownership of Solar and Batteries

2. Solar respondent profile

3. Non-Solar respondent profile

4. Key demographic differences between Solar/Non-Solar/Battery respondents

5. Solar ownership

6. Motivations for purchasing solar

7. Solar installation experience

8. Solar system performance and benefits gained

9. Future intentions to purchase a battery

10. Battery respondent profile

11. Battery ownership

12. Motivations for purchasing batteries

13. Battery installation experience

14. Battery system performance and benefits

15. Demand management for batteries

16. Next steps, your feedback and further information


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Intending to

buy Battery

Solar

Ownership of Solar and Batteries

Total online completed respondents = 1,461

(100%)

Solar customers

= 1,075 (74%) Non-Solar customers

= 386 (26%)

Solar owners

+ Intending to purchase Battery

= 509 (35%)

Base = 1,461, total completed online responses, excluding those who do not know if they have purchased a solar system for their home

Battery

Non-Solar owners

not intending to

purchase solar

or battery system

= 236 (16%)

Intending to

buy Solar

Non-Solar owners intending to

purchase solar system, not

intending to purchase a battery

system = 44 (3%)

Non-Solar owners intending to

buy solar system and a battery

system = 106 (7.3%)

Solar + Battery owners

= 86 (6%)

Solar

respondents

Non-Solar

respondents

28% of non-solar respondents intend to

purchase a battery sometime in the future


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Solar Respondent Profile

Ausgrid solar respondents are more likely to be:

• Significantly skewed to being male (79%)

• Between 54-72 years old

• Living as a couple without children

• Twice as many solar respondents own their home

outright (62%) than non-solar respondents

Owned outright,

62%

Owned with a mortgage,

37%

Being rented, 1%

0% 20% 40% 60% 80%

Do

yo

u o

wn

yo

ur

ho

me

or

ren

tit

?

Tenure

Base = 1,075, total completed online responses, answered ‘yes’ to having purchased a solar power system in their current household

Household Type

0

10

20

30

40

50

18 22 26 30 34 38 42 46 50 54 58 62 66 70 74 78 82 86 90 94 98

Age

Age Distribution of Solar Owners


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9

2%

8% 9%

17% 64%

How long lived at address

Ausgrid solar respondents are more likely to:

• have lived in their current home for more than 10 years

• have an annual household income between $78-$155k (25%)

• be more likely to be living in 4 bedroom house

• have an average quarterly electricity bill $201-$400

1%

2%

14%

15%

25%

10%

3%

31%

0% 10% 20% 30% 40%

Nil income

$1-$20,799 per year

$20,800-$41,599 per year

$41,600-$77,999 per year

$78,000-$155,999 per year

$156,000-$311,999 per year

$312,000 or more per year

Prefer not to sayTotal Household Income Distribution


25% 37%

21% 9%

3% 2%

3%

Qu

arte

rly

Co

st

Quarterly Electricity Costs

Solar Respondent Profile


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Non-Solar Respondent Profile

Ausgrid non- solar respondents are more likely to:

• be more evenly spread between males and females (59%/41%)

• have a wider spread of ages between 36-70

• be paying off their home mortgage (45%)

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

18

21

24

27

30

33

36

39

42

45

48

51

54

57

60

63

66

69

72

75

78

81

84

87

90

93

96

99

Age

Age distribution of non-solar customers

Single Person

, 10%

Couple

without children, 31%

Couple with

children, 42%

One parent

family, 5%

Other family

household , 7%

Group

household, 3%

Other, 2%

Household Type

Base = 386, total completed online responses, answered ‘no’ to having purchased a solar power system in their current household

Owned outright 37%

Owned with a mortgage 45%

Being rented, 16%

Being occupied rent free, 1%

Other, 1%

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50%Do

yo

u o

wn

yo

ur

ow

n h

om

e o

r re

nt

it?

Tenure


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11

12%

24%

11% 12%

41%

How long lived at address

1 year of less

Greater than 1 to 3years



Greater than 10 years

1%

3%

10%

12%

29%

10%

3%

31%

0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35%

Nil

$1-$20,799 per year

$20,800-$41,599 per year

$41,600-$77,999 per year

$78,000-$155,999 per year

$156,000-$311,999 per year


Prefer not to say

Income Distribution

Ausgrid non-solar respondents are more likely to:

• be living as a couple with children

• have children under the age of 24 in the household

• have larger electricity bills with 30% paying between

$401-$600 per quarter

• Have lived in their house between 1-3 years

10%

32%

30%

15%

5%

4%

5%

0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35%

$200 or less

$201 to $400

$401 to $600

$601 to $800

$801 to $1,000

More than $1000

Don’t know

Quart

erl

y C

ost

Quarterly Electricity Costs

Base = 386, total completed online responses, answered ‘no’ to having purchased a solar power system in their current household

Non-Solar Respondent Profile


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Comparisons between Non-Solar, Solar and Battery Owners

No significant difference between income band distributions amongst Non-Solar, Solar

and Battery respondents

10% 14% 9%

12% 15%

16%

29% 25%

23%

10% 10% 12%

3% 3% 3%

31% 31% 35%

5%

15%

25%

35%

45%

55%

65%

75%

85%

95%

Non-Solar Solar Battery

Comparison of Income Bands

Nil income $1-$20,799 per year $20,800-$41,599 per year $41,600-$77,999 per year

$78,000-$155,999 per year $156,000-$311,999 per year $312,000 or more per year Prefer not to say

Base = 1,461, total completed online responses


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Comparisons between Non-Solar, Solar and Battery Owners

Non-Solar respondents are more likely to live in a 3 bedroom home compared to solar

and battery respondents, who are more likely to have 4 bedrooms/larger homes

8% 5% 12%

43%

33% 23%

39%

46% 48%

7% 13% 14%

2% 3% 3%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

Non-Solar Solar Battery

Comparison of Number of Bedrooms

1 bedroom 2 bedrooms 3 bedrooms 4 bedrooms 5 bedrooms 6+ bedrooms



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Solar Ownership – Installation Date

Just over 40% of solar respondents surveyed had their solar system installed

between 2010 and 2012.

1 0 1 4 1 4 1 1 2 6 14

22

59

195

143

111

97

128

110 113

0

40

80

120

160

200

Num

ber

of sola

r syste

ms p

urc

hased

Year of purchase

Number of Solar Systems Purchased


NSW Solar Bonus Scheme started

on 1 Jan 2010


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Solar Ownership – Installation Company

Base = 782, total completed online responses, answered ‘yes’ to having purchased a solar power system in their current household and answered who they purchased

solar system from.

Of those who were able to name the company they purchased their solar system

from, below are the top 20 companies named:

0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50

Solar Australia

AGL

Mark Group

Origin

Newcastle Solar

True Value Solar

Energy Matters

Solar Switch

GoSolar

Modern Solar

Natural Solar

Nicholls Group

Solarhart

Solarpro

Euro Solar

Solaray

Superior Solar

Harvey Norman

HCB Solar

Sanctuary Energy

What was the name of the company you purchased your solar system from?


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A quarter of respondents surveyed paid between $4,000 and $6,000 (after

rebates/certificates) for their solar system while another 22% spent only $2,000-$4000.

Solar Ownership – System Cost

4%

22%

25%

16%

11%

16%

6%

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

$2,000 or less $2,001 to $4,000 $4,001 to $6,000 $6,001 to $8,000 $8,001 to $10,000 More than $10,000 Don't know

Amount paid for solar system



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Solar Ownership – Purchase Information

The most common source of information used for installing solar power

was from solar companies, followed by solar industry/environmental

bodies and government organisations.


30%

62%

24%

36% 33%

18% 14% 15% 13% 6% 10%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

Which of the following information sources did you use to help decide to install a solar power system?

Recommended by friend, family or other

Solar company information

Energy retailer advertising, website or bill information

Solar industry / environmental organisations (eg. Clean Energy Council, Australian PV Institute, Alternative Technology Association)

Government information or websites (state or federal government)

Consumer organisations/ product reviews (eg. Choice)

Online discussion forums (eg. Whirlpool)

Newspaper or magazine advertising

Television or radio advertising

Home or industry exhibition shows

Other


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Respondent Feed-In Tariff Distribution

• 40% of respondents surveyed received the 60 cent NSW solar bonus scheme feed-in tariff up until 31 December 2016.

• Those who received incentives from their electricity retailer mainly received between 6 cents and 8 cents/kWh from their retailer.

• The proportion of gross to net meters amongst the solar respondents who knew what type of meter they had, were relatively the same (38%/39%).

Gross metered

38%

Net metered 39%

Don't know 23%

Type of metering system for solar system

60 cents/kWh Solar Bonus Scheme 39%

20 cents/kWh Solar Bonus

Scheme 9%

Don't know 12%

Electricity retailer rate

40%

Feed In-Tariff Rate for Solar Exported to the Grid (to 31 Dec 16)



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Motivation for Purchasing a Solar Power System

Of those who purchased a solar system to save money on their electricity bills, two

thirds felt this was ‘extremely important’.

66%

30%

32%

27%

13%

10%

25%

27%

27%

32%

23%

21%

7%

23%

23%

21%

28%

28%

2%

15%

12%

15%

30%

26%

6%

6%

4%

7%

15%

To save money on my electricity bill

To benefit from government rebates and feed-in tariffs (eg. NSW SolarBonus Scheme)

To reduce my household carbon emissions

To be less reliant on electricity utilities

To add market value to my home

To keep up with the latest technology

How important were the following reasons to you for purchasing a solar system?

Extremely important – Very important – Fairly important – Not that important – Not important at all –



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Purchase Motivation by Household Type

Respondents who live alone are more likely than any other household type to be strongly motivated to help reduce their GHG emissions by purchasing a solar system for their home.

37%

33% 30%

23%

28% 27% 27% 28%

26%

31%

34%

0%

23%

19%

27%

19% 21%

36%

8%

13% 12%

23%

12%

18%

5% 7% 5% 4% 4%

18%

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

35%

40%

Single personhousehold

Couple withoutchildren

Couple withchildren

One parent family Other familyhousehold (eg.

extended familyhousehold)

Group or sharehousehold (eg.

sharing house withnon-familymembers)

To reduce my household's carbon emissions

Extremely important Very important Fairly important Not that important Not important at all



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Solar System Ownership by Income Band

Households that are not actively earning an annual income are more likely to have paid between

<$2,000 and $4,000 for their solar system than any other income group. Those who paid more than

$10,000 for their solar system earn more than $6,000 per week.


18%

4%

2%

4%

5%

6%

7%

36%

24%

37%

20%

20%

20%

11%

9%

24%

28%

25%

26%

22%

19%

9%

12%

14%

19%

15%

19%

15%

9%

20%

8%

13%

10%

9%

11%

18%

8%

8%

14%

18%

20%

33%

8%

5%

3%

5%

4%

4%

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

Nil income

$1-$399 per week ($1-$20,799 per year)

$400-$799 per week ($20,800-$41,599 per year)

$800-$1,499 per week ($41,600-$77,999 per year)

$1,500-$2,999 per week ($78,000-$155,999 per year)

$3,000-$5,999 per week ($156,000-$311,999 per year)

$6,000 or more per week ($312,000 or more per year)

How much paid for solar system by Annual Household Income

$2,000 or less $2,001 to $4,000 $4,001 to $6,000 $6,001 to $8,000 $8,001 to $10,000 More than $10,000 Don't know


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82% 80%

69% 68% 67%

54% 52%

67%

9% 12%

24% 23% 24%

33% 33%

25%

4% 6%

8% 6%

11% 15%

7%

4% 1% 1% 2% 2% 0%

2%

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

Nil income

$400-$799 per week

$1,500-$2,999 per week

$6,000 or more per week

To save money on my electricity bills

Extremely important Very important Fairly important Not that important

36% 44%

28% 28%

21% 25%

22% 30%

27% 32%

37% 31%

33% 29%

22% 32%

36% 4%

17% 21%

26% 14%

26% 22%

12% 12% 17%

15% 22%

26% 14%

8% 6%

3% 4%

10% 4% 2%

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

Nil income

$400-$799 per week

$1,500-$2,999 per week

$6,000 or more per week

To be less reliant on electricity utilities

Extremely important Very important Fairly important

Motivation for Purchase by Income Band

Respondents whose households are generally earning less than $3,000 per

week were more likely to be motivated to save money on their electricity bill

and from government solar rebates.



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Installation Experience

• Just over half of respondents surveyed (56%) were ‘very satisfied’ with their installation.

• Of the 17% (188) who encountered difficulties with their installer, the most common complaint

was with damage to roof tiles and water leakage due to the installation.

• Problems with panels was the second most common problem. These problems were mainly

either the wrong number of panels were installed, installation was in the wrong place due to TV

aerials being in the way or shadowing on roof.

• The third most common problem was to do with inverters, being either faulty and requiring

replacement or servicing.

56%

21%

7% 7% 9%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

Very Satisfied Moderatelysatisfied

No opinion eitherway

Moderatelydissatisfied

Very dissatisfied

How satisfied or dissatisfied were you with your solar installation?


83%

17%

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

No

Yes

Did you encounter any difficulties with the installation of your solar power system?


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Solar System Performance and Benefits

Of those respondents who were either moderately dissatisfied or very dissatisfied, the most common problem with their system’s performance was due to either their inverter being faulty or damaged, or by shading occurring over their panels.

Very satisfied 51%

Moderately satisfied

32%

No opinion either way

5%

Moderately dissatisfied

7% Very

dissatisfied 5%

How satisfied are you with your solar power system's performance?


17% 12%

2%

22%

6%

12%

41%

10%

0%5%

10%15%20%25%30%35%40%45%

Shadingover thepanels

Dust anddirt on

the panels

Faulty ordamaged

panels

Faulty ordamagedinverter

Inverterturns offdue tohigh

voltages

Other(pleasespecify)

No, therewere no

issues

Don'tknow

Factors causing issues to solar system's performance


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13% 14%

13% 12%

13%

19%

15%

$200 peryear or

less

$201 to$400 per

year

$401 to$600 per

year

$601 to$800 per

year

$801 to$1000

per year

Morethan

$1000per year

Don'tknow

By how much has the solar system reduced your electricity bill each year?

Overall, 70% of all surveyed were either moderately or very satisfied with the level of savings they received from installing their solar systems, with 19% claiming to have saved $1,000 or more per year from their energy bills.


34% 36%

6%

14% 10%

Very satisfied Moderatelysatisfied

No opinioneither way


Very dissatisfied

How satisfied are you with your electricity bill savings as a result of installing your solar power system?


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Amongst those who were moderately or very satisfied with their electricity savings,

24% of this group claimed more than $1,000 in annual savings.

Half of this group felt that their household has changed the way appliances or

electricity is used in their home as a result of installing a solar system. The most

common changes were:

• Using electrical appliances more when panels are generating

power / during the daytime

• Delay the start of dishwasher and washing machine until after

10pm (for those on timed power)

• Turning off appliances at the power point/ not leaving on standby

http://www.google.com.au/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwjNw433vfLRAhUCjpQKHTodCj4QjRwIBw&url=http://www.coreyetc.com/home-appliances.html&psig=AFQjCNF7x8JVjJ0uyhHZGQFq2iqmZ5eNkw&ust=1486161707416418

http://www.google.com.au/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwigloWJvPLRAhVKmJQKHSMADIkQjRwIBQ&url=http://www.fragrantica.com/news/Sunshine-Fragrances-8170.html&psig=AFQjCNGw1QjAidJwhcrAwFPbLU-BSbjxjw&ust=1486161209565783


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Future intention to purchase a home storage battery

Intention to purchase a battery amongst solar respondents is strong with just over half

(52%) of solar system respondents surveyed claimed that they would either

probably/definitely buy one in the future or were in the process of purchasing a battery

system.

Currently in the process of

purchasing and installing a battery

system 2%

Definitely will 13%

Probably will 37%

Probably won't 21%

Definitely won't 4%

Don't know 23%

Do you think you will purchase a home battery storage system in the next few years?

Base = 977, total completed online responses, answered ‘no’ to having purchased a battery system in their current household


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Battery respondents are more likely to be:

• Couples aged 55 or older, and also singles aged 75 or older

• Skewed towards being male (74%)

• Similar household tenure as solar owners, 67% own their home outright and also

more likely to have been living in home for more than 10 years.

Customer Segment Profiles – Battery Owners

Base = 86, total completed online responses, answered ‘yes’ to having purchased a solar power system and battery system in their current household

Household Type

5%

9% 6%

15%

65%


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1%

9%

16%

23%

12%

3%

35%

0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35% 40%

$1-$20,799 per year

$20,800-$41,599 per year

$41,600-$77,999 per year

$78,000-$155,999 per year

$156,000-$311,999 per year


Prefer not to say

Total Household Income Distribution

Battery Respondent Segment Profile

• Similar income distribution as per solar owners and non-solar owners



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Battery Ownership – Installation date

Solar customers who also own a battery are more likely to have more than one solar system in their home. The majority of customers had their battery installed in the last 12 months.

83% 57%

17%

43%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

Solar Owners (1,075) Battery Owners (86)

How many solar power systems do you have?

More than one

Only one

1 0 1 4

69

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

2012 2013 2014 2015 2016C

ou

nt

What year did you install your battery system?



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5%

81%

2% 6% 6%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

Electricity retailer Solar/batteryinstaller or

company

Electrician Don't know Other

From which type of company did you purchase your battery storage system?

Battery Ownership – Installation Company

Base = 86, total completed online responses, answered ‘yes’ to having purchased a battery system in their current household

0 5 10 15 20 25 30

AGL

Australia Wide Solar

AW Solar

Beyond Solar

Eastern Suburbs Solar

ECB Solar

Meridien Solar

Newcastle Batteries

Red Energy

S&K

Allgreen Environmental Solutions

Energy Matters

Evergen

Natural Solar

Natural Solar

Solarpro

Sun Edison

Energy Australia

HCB Solar

MV Solar

Bradford Solar

Go Solar

Solar Australia

Which company did you purchase your battery from?


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Battery Ownership – Battery Brand

The most common battery brand amongst battery owners

surveyed is Enphase followed by Tesla and then BYD.

0 5 10 15 20

Enphase

Tesla

BYD

LG

AlphaESS

Sungrow

BMD

SMA

Narada

Panasonic

Who is the manufacturer of your battery?

Count

Base = 76, total completed online responses, answered ‘yes’ to having purchased a battery system in their current household and knew whom they purchased battery from

24%

76%

Who is the manufacturer of your battery?

Don't know

Please enter the name of the battery manufacturer or brand


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Battery Ownership – Battery Cost

40% of customers surveyed paid between $8,000 and $12,000 for their battery. Just

over half the number of battery customers were either very or moderately satisfied with

their bills savings, however another 40% appeared indifferent.

7%

31%

40%

8%

1% 2%

10%

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

35%

40%

45%

$4,000 orless

$4,001 to$8,000

$8,001 to$12,000

$12,001to

$16,000

$16,001to

$20,000

Morethan

$20,000

Don'tknow

How much did you pay for your battery system?


33%

19%

40%

5% 5%




Verydissatisfied

How satisfied are you with electricity bill savings as a result of installing your battery system?


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Battery Ownership – Warranty Length

• However, when asked exactly how much they think they have saved, the majority

of customers did not know.

• Almost half of the battery customers surveyed said their warranty length fell

between 5 and 10 years.

5%

5%

14%

5%

9%

18%

45%

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50%

$200 or less

$201 to $400

$401 to $600

$601 to $800

$801 to $1000

More than $1000

Don’t know

By how much has the battery system reduced your electricity

bill each year?

How much has the battery system reduced your electricity bill chart , base = 44, total completed online responses, answered ‘yes’ to having purchased a solar power

system and battery system in their current household and who were either very or moderately satisfied with their electricity bill savings as a result of installing a battery

storage system. Warranty length chart, base = 86

2% 2%

10%

48%

19% 19%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

1 year orless

Greaterthan 1 to 3

years(inclusive)

Greaterthan 3 to 5

years(inclusive)

Greaterthan 5 to10 years

(inclusive)

Greaterthan 10years

Don't know

What is the warranty length for your battery system?


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The most common source of information used for installing a battery was from solar companies, followed by solar industry/environmental bodies.

Battery Ownership – Purchase Information

13%

72%

19%

47%

21% 21% 14%

8% 10% 7% 15%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

Which of the following information sources did you use to help decide to install a battery storage system?

Recommendation by friend, family or other

Solar/ battery company information

Energy retailer advertising, website or bill information

Solar/ battery industry or environmental organisations (eg. Clean Energy Council, Australian PV Institute, Alternative Technology Association)

Government information or websites (state or federal government)

Consumer organisations/ product reviews (eg. Choice)

Online discussion forums (eg. Whirlpool)

Newspaper or magazine advertising

Television or radio advertising



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Purchase Motivation for Battery Owners

Similar to their responses to solar power, owners of batteries are naturally most

motivated by wanting to store excess solar energy from their solar systems. They also

appear to be more likely to be more motivated by helping to reduce their carbon

emissions compared to just solar power owners.

Base = 86, total completed online responses, answered ‘yes’ to having purchased a battery system in their current household

67%

74%

47%

16%

43%

16%

17%

21%

20%

29%

17%

20%

20%

22%

8%

3%

10%

14%

21%

28%

26%

1%

9%

34%

9%

24%

17%

5%

19%

7%

12%

17%


To store excess solar electricity from my solar system

To reduce my household carbon emissions

To be able to disconnect from the grid permanently

To operate independently from the grid during power interruptions

To add market value to my home

To keep up with the latest technology

How important were each of these reasons in your decision to install a battery system?

Extremely Important Very important Fairly important Not that important Not important at all


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Motivation to purchase a battery by home ownership type

Respondents who are paying off their mortgages are 50% more likely than those who

own their home outright to be motivated to save money on their electricity bills. Both

groups consider that the ability to store excess solar from their solar system as

extremely important.

57%

84%

30%

6%

9%

6% 3%

4%

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

Owned outright

Owned with a mortgage



Not that important Not important at all

70%

84%

21% 16%

6% 4%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

Owned outright Owned with a mortgage

To store excess solar electricity from my solar system


Not that important Not important at all



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42% of all customers surveyed expressed future intention of purchasing a battery

system for their home.

Total online completed respondents

= 1,461 (100%)

Solar owners

Intending to purchase Battery

= 509 (35%)

Non-Solar owners

Intending to purchase Battery

= 106 (7%)

Intention to purchase battery



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Battery Installation Experience

Half of all battery respondents were very satisfied with their battery installation, and of

the 21% who encountered difficulties, had various issues ranging from house wiring

problems, faulty inverter, portal communication problems and loud operation of battery

fan.

49%

24% 22%

2% 2%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%




Verydissatisfied

How satisfied or dissatisfied were you with your battery installation?

72%

7%

21%

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80%

No

Don't know

Yes

Did you encounter any difficulties with the installation of your battery system?



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Battery Performance and Benefits

A significantly larger proportion of battery owners (71%) check their battery systems

compared to solar owners (25%) once a week. The most popular way of monitoring

their system was checking their online portal followed by checking their in-home

display/monitoring system.

29% 34%

63%

19%

13% 10%

7%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

Check thestatus lights or

readings onthe inverter

Check an in-home display

or separatemonitoring

system

Check anonline portal

provided withthe system

Check theelectricity bill

for generationor exportamounts

Check theelectricity

meter readings

We don'tmonitor our

systemsperformance

Other

How do you monitor your battery system's performance?

About once a week 71% About once a

month 10%

Longer than once a year

2%

We have never checked our

systems performance

17%

How often do you check your battery system's performance?



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Approximately the same proportion of battery respondents were very satisfied with

their battery’s performance (50%), reflected by the large proportion of those who did

not have any performance issues with their batteries (74%).

2% 2% 1% 9%

74%

14%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

The batterywas damaged

or faulty

The inverterwas damaged

or faulty

The inverterturned off dueto high volts

Don’t know No, therewere noissues

Other

Have you had any of the following issues that may have affected your battery system's operation or

performance?

Very satisfied 50%

Moderately satisfied

24%

No opinion either way

22%

Moderately dissatisfied

2%

Very dissatisfied

2%

How satisfied or dissatisfied are you with your battery system's performance



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3% 7% 7% 5% 6%

12%

60%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

$200 orless

$201 to$400

$401 to$600

$601 to$800

$801 to$1000

Morethan

$1000

Don’t know

By how much has the battery system reduced your electricity bill each year?


Most battery respondents do not have an opinion (40%) about how much they have

saved so far on their electricity bill as a result of their battery installation, as they do

not know how much they have saved (60%). This may reflects the short period of time

which the majority have owned their system and the lack of historical information

about the $ benefits it is generating for them.

33%

19%

40%

5% 5%

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

35%

40%

45%




Verydissatisfied

How satisfied or dissatisfied are you with your electricity bill savings as a result of installing your battery

storage system?



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45% of battery respondents said that their behaviour around their use of appliances in

their home has changed as a result of installing a battery system by:

No 42%

Don't know 13%

Yes 45%

Has having a battery system installed changed the way appliances or electricity is used in your home?


• Planning and moderating their use of

appliances more carefully to take

advantage of the best time of battery

storage use.

• Using more appliances during the daytime

and allowing batteries to charge overnight

• Use high draining power appliances (eg.

only when battery power is available)

http://www.google.com.au/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwjcxr_j0YHSAhUGjpQKHdXPCaUQjRwIBw&url=http://simplepooltips.com/swimming-pool-pump-choosing-tips/&psig=AFQjCNESJKTkXbN0Q0B33f657r9RXstO_w&ust=1486682424164753

http://www.google.com.au/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwjM5MXA0YHSAhWLXbwKHepQBnMQjRwIBQ&url=http://www.appliancerepairnewmexico.com/tips/dishwashers/&psig=AFQjCNHo2YimJENtpNtInTbPyl3rRiWEvA&ust=1486682359165629


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Demand Management for Batteries

59% of battery customers answered that they would not consider participating in a

demand management trial for batteries with a financial incentive. The main reason

was their perceived reluctance to give control over to someone else.

No 59%

Yes 41%

Would you consider allowing an electricity utility to operate your battery system for a financial incentive or

payment to you?


54%

43%

24%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

I don't want to give overoperation of my batterysystem to anyone else

I don’t believe the incentives/ payments

would be enough

Other

If No, why would you not consider allowing an electricity utility to operate your battery?

Of the 24% who would not consider allowing an electricity

operator to operate their battery, the main reason was

because they felt they did not have enough information at

the time to make an accurate decision.


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Next steps, feedback and further information

Next steps

A more detailed analysis of the survey results is planned to be undertaken soon and a final

report will be released later in 2017.

Your feedback

If you have any questions regarding this survey or would like to provide feedback or

suggestions regarding further research and analysis, please email us at:

[email protected]

Further information

You can find more information about solar systems and batteries on the Ausgrid website at:

http://www.ausgrid.com.au/Common/Customer-Services/Homes/Solar-power-and-

batteries.aspx

mailto:[email protected]

http://www.ausgrid.com.au/Common/Customer-Services/Homes/Solar-power-and-batteries.aspx










Household Solar Power and Battery Survey 2016€¦ · solar power and battery systems. The project was funded from the Demand Management and Innovation Allowance (DMIA) and results

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