Households with solar panels and batteries not joining 'virtual power plants'

The Business

Topic: Batteries

Thursday, 6 August 2026, at 4:41 am

Chris Richardson has solar panels and a battery. He sells extra energy back to the grid.

In short:

Many households with solar panels and batteries are not sharing their extra energy.

Experts say people do not trust energy companies, which act as middlemen between the energy market and households.

Regulators are worried that this could lead to a less efficient energy grid and higher costs for households.

Chris Richardson's home in Melbourne has its own 'power plant'.

Solar panels collect energy from the sun, and a battery stores it for later use.

Chris Richardson said, 'I wanted to save the planet by using solar panels.'

But most people use solar panels and batteries to save money.

Chris Richardson's energy bill is almost zero, and his gas bill is half the original price.

He joined a 'virtual power plant', a network of energy resources like household solar and batteries.

The solar power from Chris Richardson's home is sold back to the grid.

Chris Richardson lets an energy company control his battery to sell energy back to the grid.

At first, Chris Richardson was upset when the energy company took energy from his battery at night.

Battery users are not joining virtual power plants.

Chris Richardson is an exception. Most people with batteries are not joining virtual power plants.

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission found that fewer than a quarter of customers with batteries joined virtual power plants.

Even though customers in virtual power plants are better off, on average, than those who are not.

Anna Brakey from the ACCC said consumers with batteries might be wary of virtual power plants, but it often pays off to 'cede control'.

If you have a battery, you pay 20 to 50 percent less for energy, depending on your location.

Solar and battery use is a unique strength.

Yolande Strengers from the Monash Energy Institute said coordinating household solar and batteries is not a trivial question.

More than 4 million homes have solar panels, and almost half a million have batteries.

Australia has a lot of storage capacity in homes, which is a unique situation.

If we use this storage capacity as a coordinated resource, we can improve the energy grid's efficiency.

Yolande Strengers said virtual power plants can help make the energy grid more efficient.

Coordination can help avoid the need for expensive upgrades to the grid and benefit customers who cannot get solar panels and batteries.

But widespread acceptance of virtual power plants is not certain, given the reasons households turned to batteries.

Many people want greater independence and resilience in the energy system.

There are now more than 4 million homes in Australia with solar panels.

Some people sell their energy directly to the market.

Simon Hackett runs a company that will give consumers direct access to the electricity market.

He argued that virtual power plants are based on an outdated idea that batteries must be controlled by big players.

Simon Hackett said there are two downsides to virtual power plants.

You do not have control over the decisions, and you do not have control over the profits.

Simon Hackett said virtual power plants do not have to be managed by big players to help the energy grid.

The size and sophistication of batteries are growing as their costs fall.

Customers have every incentive to sell their excess energy back to the grid at times of high demand and high prices.

Households can now tap the wholesale market directly, and the technology to handle their trading is available.

This is a big change, and it gives people the ability to do things for themselves that never existed before.

More than half a million homes with solar panels have installed a battery under the federal government's subsidy scheme.

The rise of dynamic retailers, which give households direct access to spot prices, is appealing to some.

But experts have warned that dynamic retailers are not without risks.

Price volatility in the spot market means extraordinary highs, but some customers could be caught out as prices swing low.

You might make a lot more money, or you might wind up paying a lot more money.

You can sign up with any other energy retailer that does it the traditional way.

Chris Richardson monitors his renewable energy generation through an app on his phone.

Chris Richardson is comfortable with his decision to be part of a virtual power plant.

He acknowledges that he does not have complete control over his battery, but he insists he is still coming out ahead.

Chris Richardson said, 'I love it,' but he has given up trying to explain it to friends and colleagues.

When he tells people at work, they give him a look like he wants to join a Tupperware club.

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