Australia is about to be home to the first housing development outside Europe to be built sharing solar power between all 12 homes on a single estate.
Australia now has the first housing development outside of Europe to share solar power. The 12 homes, all three or four bedroomed, in Sydney’s Kurnell development, were finished last month and will enjoy networked batteries and non-existent power bills.
There’s plans afoot to build developments with at least 200 properties, all connected to shared battery “virtual power plants” and hopefully this trend will be adopted to all new build projects.
The numbers
The 12 homes all have a 5kW system allied with an 8kW SonnenBatterie. This new tech meant that the developer avoided paying $250,000 to upgrade the grid for the new homes.
This system should save the residents at least $620,000 in electricity bills over the next 20 years – $2,500 per household per year. The only electricity-related payment is a $30 monthly management fee to maintain the system.
Almost all of the homes on the development – mostly costing around $1.5 million – have been bought already and estate agents believe that the blockchain tech that enables the power-sharing is driving up the prices further. Buyers are often excited about an environmentally-conscious home, as well as lower bills and so it’s estimated that this installation has added at least 5% to the asking prices of the units.
It’s no longer early-adopters and tech geeks
Innovative new systems like blockchain power sharing and solar generation are no longer the preserve of techie types. The significant savings – most solar panels and battery systems save between $2,500 and $3,000 a year – are the big draw.
These days, older homebuyers are looking to move into smart homes. In many ways this makes sense because if they’re planning to retire in the next few years, they’ll want to be able to stop worrying about rises in power bills.
