Budget’s energy bill relief and home retrofit funding is a good start, but dwarfed by the scale of the task

May 11, 2023

Trivess Moore, RMIT University and Ralph Horne, RMIT University The quality and performance of our housing have big impacts on the environment, cost of living and our health and wellbeing. The 2023-24 federal budget’s announcement of $1.6 billion for energy-saving upgrades to housing recognises the broad importance of retrofitting Australian homes. Until now, much of […]

How to maximise savings from your home solar system and slash your power bills

January 23, 2023

Wasim Saman, University of South Australia Soaring electricity prices have made 15% of Aussies think about installing solar panels, a recent survey found. Another 6% were already weighing up the move, on top of the 28% who had panels. With costs falling, the average system size is growing rapidly. Households now typically install 8-10kW solar […]

How closely monitoring households’ energy data can unleash their solar outputs and (possibly) make them more money

December 21, 2022

Richard Bean, The University of Queensland and Neil Horrocks, The University of Queensland Almost one in three Australian households have solar panels on their roofs. Most are motivated by rising electricity prices and environmental concerns. Households are paid a so-called feed-in tariff for surplus energy they export to the grid. While customers would love to […]

Complicated, costly and downright frustrating: Aussies keen to cut emissions with clean energy at home get little support

August 4, 2021

Hugo Temby, Australian National University and Hedda Ransan-Cooper, Australian National University Even after A$4,000 in repairs, Heather’s $18,000 rooftop solar and battery system is still not working. Heather worked as a nurse until a workplace accident caused her to leave the workforce. She put most of her compensation towards making a switch to clean energy, […]