Western Australia’s Cook Labor Government has moved to legalise plug-in solar panels and home batteries. The change would make WA the first Australian state or territory to allow the systems, which are already used in millions of European households. Consultation on a new safety standard opened last week.
Until now, the savings from solar have mostly gone to people who own their homes. Plug-in solar panels are designed to change that, giving renters and apartment residents a way to cut their power bills without needing a roof of their own.
What plug-in solar panels look like
The systems are portable and plug straight into a standard wall socket, so renters can take them along when they move house. As Commerce Minister Dr Tony Buti put it, the kit arrives in a box, goes into the wall, and comes with you when you move. Because nothing is fixed to the roof, plug-in solar panels suit people who can’t install a rooftop system.
The government estimates a typical plug-in solar setup could save a household around A$240 a year on its electricity bill. Pair the panel with a battery and that saving climbs to roughly A$500 a year.
How the safety standard will be set
The Department of Energy and Economic Diversification and the Building and Energy Division of the Department of Local Government, Industry Regulation and Safety are consulting on the proposed legalisation pathway and a new technical standard. The aim is to make sure the equipment is fit for Australia’s electricity system and weather conditions.
Dr Buti said that, as WA would be the first state to make the systems legal, the government wanted to make sure it was done properly. He said it wanted to hear from industry, electrical safety experts and the community before the standard is finalised.
Why now
WA already has plenty of rooftop solar. Panels sit on more than 40 per cent of homes connected to the South West Interconnected System (SWIS). More than 35,000 homes have also installed a battery through the WA Residential Battery Scheme, which the government says offers the most generous rebates in the country.
Plug-in solar panels would give the same option to renters and apartment dwellers who can’t put fixed panels on a roof that isn’t theirs. Energy and Decarbonisation Minister Amber-Jade Sanderson said the benefits of cheap solar “have been out of reach for anyone who doesn’t own their roof”. She added that Western Australians were already taking up solar and batteries in record numbers, and that the change would let even more families share in the savings.
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General information only, not legal advice. Check the official source before acting.
Source: Western Australian Government.
