Tucked away in the small South Australian beach town of Semaphore lives Sally and her family. One of the 2.6 million Australian households who have joined the renewable energy revolution by installing rooftop solar power.

For Sally, having solar power was a great way to help offset their energy bills. However, with two young children at home, they needed more than just their rooftop solar system to help power their home and their dream of self-reliance.

When we announced a competition to win the latest Redback Smart Battery System, Sally entered knowing how much a home battery storage system could help her and her family.

Sally received a call to say that their entry had won them the competition grand prize of a Smart Battery System and was in shock – both astonished and delighted.

The benefits for her family of adding battery storage to complement their rooftop solar system were numerous. And with that, one of the first Redback Smart Battery Systems was on its way to installation. With some help from one of our trusted installation partners, Greener Housing Solutions, the installation commenced.

Sally’s residential solar system was equipped with a 5.5 kW solar inverter that converted the sun’s rays captured by their solar panels, into useable energy within their home. However, their solar panels generated the most power in the middle of the day, while the family consumed the most energy in the mornings and in the evenings.

Upgrading their solar system to include the Redback Smart Battery System meant they could store their excess solar for use when the sun was not shining, ensuring they didn’t waste those much-needed sun rays generated during the day. The Smart Battery System’s 7.2 kWh of battery storage was the perfect size to pair with their existing solar system, without oversizing their battery storage more than their energy needs required.

Semaphore SA, like many other small towns across South Australia, can be susceptible to power outages at any given time. Losing power to your home is an inconvenience at the best of times and at the worst of times can result in water problems, food spoilage, and even compromise the safety of your home. When installing the Redback Smart Battery System at Sally’s property, we connected a backup circuit to run their essential appliances in the event of a power outage. For this family, it meant that if the grid went down, they could continue running their lights, TV, Wi-Fi, and refrigerator.

The Results 

The installation of the Redback Smart Battery System for this family has made a dramatic impact on their energy self-sufficiency. Each day their rooftop solar system generates energy that powers their home and charges their battery with the excess for their use in the evenings. 

Since the installation of their Redback Smart Battery System, Sally’s family are powering 92% of their home with their own, self-produced renewable energy, reducing their energy bills even further, as well as their carbon footprint and their reliance on the grid.