FAQ Results

Installing a battery storage system is a great way to maximise the clean electricity generated by solar panels. With battery storage, you can use more of your solar electricity at times when the sun isn’t shining, like evenings and overnight. This will make your household less reliant on fossil fuel-generated electricity from the grid, and reduce your overall environmental impact.

When purchasing battery storage, check whether the product can be recycled at the end of its life to ensure the impact is as low as possible. The Australian Battery Recycling Initiative and the Clean Energy Council are collaborating to promote the recycling of energy storage batteries.

Battery storage is perfectly safe if it is used properly and is well looked after. There are potential risks, but these are no different to the many electrical hazards already present in the modern home. However, it is important to be aware of the risks so they can be properly managed.

See the Safety first web page for more information, and always refer to the manufacturer’s instructions.

The Clean Energy Council and CSIRO produced a useful set of FAQs and a safety checklist that cover the safety of battery storage systems in more detail.

The battery are installed and maintained to the same high standard we would for any of our other electricity network assets. The operational practices for the batteries will also minimise the safety risks.

Like other chemical or energy infrastructure in the community, whether a petrol station or other electricity infrastructure, however, there are risks.

To address this risk the batteries will use the latest technology, be located within a clear area, and will be monitored remotely 24/7. The pole mounted batteries are being mounted the same way our transformers are mounted, on a new sturdy, fire-resistant concrete pole within the normal three-metre service alignment.

In the event an incident occurs, or smoke or fire is observed, stay well away, warn others, and call 000. Do not approach the system or attempt to put out the fire.

Queensland Fire Department (QFD) have protocols in place to respond in the unlikely event the batteries’ alarms are triggered, for example, by a vehicle impacting the power pole, or a battery malfunction. For each site, we will engage with local Fire crews, to ensure they are aware of the installations.

The Neighbourhood and community batteries have about the same energy storage capacity as an electric vehicle.

Read more from QFD about Lithium-ion battery fire safety for mobiles phones, electric scooters, electric vehicles, etc.

We are operating the network batteries in the interest of our customers, and the wider community, to efficiently manage the local electricity supply. This helps keep prices down for all, but it will not change what you pay individually for electricity locally in comparison to anywhere else.

In some areas, there may be an opportunity, through electricity retailer partnerships, for members of the local community to test different product offers associated with the batteries, as an alternative to buying a ‘residential’ or ‘behind the meter’ battery. This could help you save money.

In Ipswich, where we’ve partnered up with Origin, they are giving local households and small businesses in the Ipswich City Council area the chance to ‘subscribe to use’ a proportion of a battery. During the day, Origin stores the excess rooftop solar in the community in the batteries, and then allows customers to draw it back for ‘free’ when the sun goes down.

It is like having a battery without the hassle of installation, maintenance or high upfront costs. And you don’t need to own solar panels or be an Origin customer to join this trial. To find out more visit Origin and Energex Neighbourhood Community Battery Trial.

Batteries themselves do not make noise, but the systems attached to them – like the inverter – may make some noise. You may hear the cooling fans and an electronic ‘buzz’ from the circuits, but it should be fairly similar to a regular solar inverter.

Make sure you discuss any proposed changes with your solar PV system retailer, as some changes may affect your eligibility for solar feed in tariffs (FiT).

You or your solar PV retailer* will need to submit an application to us if you wish to:

• Add panels to an existing system
• Increase or decrease the inverter capacity of an existing system
• Replace your inverter due to failure
• Add battery storage to an existing system
  • Note: if you are currently earning the 44c/kWh FiT, read the section on 'Adding a battery to a solar PV on the 44c feed-in tariff' on our Battery connection options web page.

You can submit an application via Customer Self Service or your solar retailer/installer* can submit it via our Electrical Partners Portal.

If you wish to remove your system or make a change different to those described, please contact our Solar Team on 1300 553 924.

*If someone other than you (the property owner) lodges the application, they become the applicant we deal with.

Electric and magnetic fields (EMFs) can be produced by anything with electric current flowing through it, including the powerlines, or your home’s wiring system or electrical appliances.

The powerlines or any of the equipment on the lines, like these batteries or more commonly pole-mounted transformers, however, will generally contribute little to the electrical fields that can be measured inside a house or nearby building. This is because the walls create a shield from the electrical field.

To reassure you further, all the equipment that we use and install onto our network must comply with strict industry standards. To learn more visit our Electric and magnetic fields web page.

We are selecting sites where the local community has a high level of rooftop solar penetration – creating significant excess solar during the day, and reverse power flows. Some of the communities selected have been designated by the battery funding requirements.

The large utility-scale batteries are being located on our land, adjacent to existing infrastructure.

The pole mounted community batteries are being installed on new poles within the normal three-metre service alignment along the front of property boundaries.

The ground-level community batteries will either be in the current service alignment of our electricity infrastructure, or on another site negotiated with your local council. These sites need to be adjoining other electrical assets for ease of connection (substation / pad mounts), in a flood free zone, have vehicle access, and a clear area approximately five by five metres.

In selecting the locations, we have been mindful of the current land use, visual amenity, and the potential for any other local impacts, as we do for all of the equipment that supplies electricity to our customers. We are engaging the immediate neighbours as part of this roll out.

While there are a number of different battery storage solutions available, residential systems are typically similar in size to a fridge or split system air-conditioner. They come in a range of sizes based on the technology that they use and the amount of energy that they store. Lead acid batteries tend to be physically larger than lithium batteries, but it’s best to check your battery manufacturer’s website for accurate size details of their products.

Batteries sizes are talked about in kW (kilowatts) and kWh (kilowatt hours). One way to visualise this is to think of water from a hose or in a bucket:

• kW (kilowatts) - the power available at any point in time is the ‘water’ that you can get with the ‘size of the hose’
• kWh (kilowatt hours) - the energy stored is the ‘size of the bucket’.

Large utility-scale community network batteries – each of these batteries, which are connected to the High Voltage network, are 4MW/8MWh, the same capacity as the electricity required to support an average home for more than a year via the network, or power an electric vehicle for more than 45,000kms.

Neighbourhood/community batteries – each battery module is either 30kW/60kWh or 40kW/80kWh. This means, if they are fully charged, they can supply enough power over about two hours during the evening peak, at the full discharge rate, for about 10-15 customers. That’s around 4kWh to 6kWh of energy per customer.

The latest ground-level community batteries being rollout can produce 90kW of power and store 180kWh of energy. This means they are able to support over 60 homes in the local area for two hours The battery stores enough energy to drive an electric vehicle 1,200 kilometres.