To say that Australians are losing faith in the national grid’s stability and ability to provide electricity and gas at reasonable prices would be an understatement. Many customers around Australia have already been hit with huge electricity price increases, and there’s more pain to come.
The Federal Budget released on October 25 suggested that electricity could rise a further 56%, while gas prices could increase 44% in the next couple of years. For households already struggling to keep up with rising costs of living, this is certainly causing concern.
Of course, when you don’t trust the national grid to deliver affordable and reliable power, the only solution is to generate energy yourself. According to recent statistics, solar energy is the people’s choice, with solar uptake increasing even further since the Budget announcement.
Decreased payback times
When you install a solar energy system, you typically look at a ‘payback period’. This has nothing to do with how your finance the solar installation, but more to do with the amount of time in which your system starts paying for itself. When you’ve saved the entire cost of your investment through reduced energy bills, your system has paid for itself.
For example, if a solar installation costs $6,000, and saves you on average $100 per month, the payback period is 60 months, or 5 years.
What we’re seeing now though is not just a decrease in the initial cost of solar products, but rising energy prices are making the payback period even shorter. Let’s say energy prices rise by 50% in the next couple of years. That means the solar system that saved you $100 a month previously would now save you $150 per month.
That reduces the payback period to 40 months, or just over 3 years.
An aging national grid
Part of the issue that’s pushing electricity prices up is the instability of the national energy grid. However, the more residential and commercial solar uptake that occurs, the less pressure there is on the national network. It’s estimated that solar battery solutions will alleviate even more strain, as people will become almost totally self-sufficient for their energy needs.
For now, solar battery prices are still out of reach for the average Australian, but there are hopes of future subsidies or price decreases that make a solar battery system more attractive. Not only can this take pressure off the main grid, but potentially also drive electricity costs down for everyone.
If you’d like to escape the pain of rising electricity costs, speak to the team at Halcol Energy. As your trusted solar energy installer on the Sunshine Coast, we’d be more than happy to show you just how much money you can save. Contact us today for more details.
