Whether a battery is worth it comes down to one question: how much grid electricity can it replace each year, and what is that worth to you? You can estimate it from your own power bill.
What a battery saves you
A battery saves the difference between what you pay for grid electricity and what you would have been paid to export the same solar. If you pay 30c per kWh for grid power and get 6c per kWh for exports, every kWh you store and use later is worth about 24c. In regional Queensland the regulated feed-in tariff is 6.006c per kWh for 2026–27; in South East Queensland it depends on your retailer, so check your bill for both rates.
Step 1: Find your evening use
Look at your smart-meter data or bill for how much power you use from late afternoon to the next morning. A battery can only save what you would otherwise buy in that period.
Step 2: Check your spare solar
A battery only fills up if your solar system exports enough during the day. If you already use most of your solar, a bigger solar system may come first.
Step 3: Estimate the yearly saving
Multiply the energy the battery will actually deliver each day by the price difference, then by the number of days it fills up. Allow for some losses: a battery returns a little less energy than goes into it.
A worked example
These figures are assumptions for illustration only; use your own bill.
- Battery: 10 kWh usable, delivering about 9 kWh a day after losses
- Days it fills from solar: about 300 a year (cloudy days and winter reduce this)
- Price difference: 30c grid price minus 6c feed-in = 24c per kWh
- Yearly saving: 9 kWh x 300 days x $0.24 = about $650
If that battery cost $8,000 installed after the rebate (a hypothetical figure), the simple payback would be about 12 years. A higher grid price, more evening use or a cheaper battery shortens it; a smaller price difference lengthens it.
What else can change the answer
- The federal Cheaper Home Batteries Program lowers the upfront price; the rate steps down on 1 January 2027 and every six months after that.
- Joining a virtual power plant can add earnings on top of your bill savings.
- Time-of-use tariffs with expensive evening rates make a battery more valuable.
- The Solar Sharer Offer, available since 1 July 2026 in South East Queensland and NSW, offers free grid power from 11am to 2pm, which a battery can store for the evening.
- Blackout backup has value that doesn't show up in a payback figure.
When a battery makes sense
A battery suits households that export a lot of solar during the day and use most of their power in the evening, or that want backup. If you are home during the day and already use most of your solar, the payback is longer.
We run these numbers from your actual bills during a free assessment. See the batteries we install, read our battery storage guide, or check your rebate eligibility.
Sources: Queensland Competition Authority, regulated electricity prices for regional Queensland 2026–27; Australian Energy Regulator, Default Market Offer and Solar Sharer Offer 2026–27; Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water, Cheaper Home Batteries Program.
