Well, it's not an article we saw coming this year, but alas, here it is. The great battery backlash began in 2024.
It's no secret that recently one state government brought in a battery rebate. We decided it wasn't a good idea to be a part of it for various reasons and expected to lose some business from it in the short term. Due to what we have witnessed over the last 15 years or so in the industry, we thought it was best to approach these incentivized schemes with caution. We decided that some short-term pain was a better long-term strategy than jumping in and installing on mass, products that are really not yet tested or proven. However, the response was not what we were expecting.
We have actually increased our conversion rate. And, even crazier, it's because we sat this one out! It seems the general public is starting to clue in to how things work in renewables.
The comments from customers have been that during their research, they had observed that batteries either had lots of issues, were extremely dangerous, or just didn't stack up financially. Now, that's not entirely true. Though to be fair, no one in our team, and we all have solar, has batteries. Why? Well, because of the reasons above.
But, circling back to our customer's reactions, we have been shocked by the positive response regarding this. Many feel that it shows our experience, and more importantly, desire to be around for the long run and not just to make a few quick easy bucks (and there are some very, very colourful operators on the approved list). That and people's fears regarding things like the LG recall and lithium fires have really made the public wary.
Now, we really must stress here. Batteries do work for some and they can be a great idea. And for us to say they're all bad is just as irresponsible as selling and large amount of lithium without caring. Though, for most, well your gut instincts are correct. It's a good idea to wait at this stage. And, it's a dangerous product for a mass rollout from a state government. Think exploding pink batts...
As bills rise solar only gets busier, so we will see more of this. And, governments need stored power to help offset the loss to the grid when the sun goes down. It sure will be an interesting future ahead!
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