Cheaper Homes Batteries Program | What it could look like for you!

Electricity has been sparking a lot of conversation lately, especially with the announcement of the Cheaper Home Batteries Program by Labor.

Before I get into how this program can help you, let's take a quick look back at the history of electricity.

• Around 600BC: Thales of Miletus, a Greek philosopher, discovered that rubbing amber with fur attracted lightweight objects, which was one of the earliest records of static electricity.

• 16th Century: Scientists such as William Gilbert experimented with static electricity, providing foundations for later discoveries.

• 1752: Benjamin Franklin's famous kite experiment demonstrated that lightning was a form of electricity.

• 1800: Alessandro Volta invented the first electric battery, the "voltaic pile," generating continuous electric current.

• 1820s: Hans Christian Oersted and Michael Faraday made key discoveries about the relationship between electricity and magnetism, which led to the development of electric generators and motors.

• 1879: Thomas Edison invented the first practical incandescent light bulb, marking a major advancement in the use of electricity. However, like all great inventions, the light bulb can’t be credited to one inventor.

• 1880s: Edison developed an electric "utility" to compete with existing gas light utilities.

  
  

During the 1880s Thomas Edison and Nikola Tesla were embroiled in a battle now known as the “War of the Currents”.

Edison developed direct current - current that runs continually in a single direction, like in a battery or a fuel cell. During the early years of electricity, direct current (shorthanded as DC) was the standard in the U.S.

But there was one problem. Direct current is not easily converted to higher or lower voltages.

Tesla believed that alternating current (or AC) was the solution to this problem. Alternating current reverses direction a certain number of times per second - 60 in the U.S. - and can be converted to different voltages relatively easily using a transformer.

Edison, not wanting to lose the royalties he was earning from his direct current patents, began a campaign to discredit alternating current. He spread misinformation saying that alternating current was more dangerous, even going so far as to publicly electrocute stray animals using alternating current to prove his point.

• 1888: The small NSW town of Tamworth, was the first place in Australia to supply electricity to the public at large. Tamworth switched on arc and incandescent street lighting.

• 1890s: Melbourne City Council established 20 dynamos and four boilers at Spencer Street and, on the 7th of March 1894, streets in the centre of the city were lit by electricity.

• 1900s: Nikola Tesla wrote an article in 1900 for Century Magazine called “The Problem of Increasing Human Energy with Special Reference to the Harnessing of the Sun’s Energy.” In this philosophical treatise, Tesla uses his genius and knowledge to address how to satisfy humanity’s increasing need for energy, covering renewable energy like solar power.

• 1920s: Electricity still not yet considered a necessity. The New York Edison company used pictures of a bewigged man using electricity to persuade businesses to adopt the technology.

  
  

In the early days, you couldn’t get too comfortable with your electricity supply. Service wasn’t reliable, street lights went off at midnight, and power stations were closed on Sundays.

And as the saying goes.. The rest is history!

It's remarkable to reflect on how far we've come from the days of Bakelite light switches and power points, cotton-insulated cables, and no RCD protection.

Here we are in 2025, and the hot topic once again is electricity and what could this new Cheaper Home Batteries Program do for you.

I've attached photos illustrating two scenarios: one shows purchasing battery storage using both the Solar Victoria Loan (interest-free) and the new Cheaper Home Batteries Program and the other shows purchasing battery storage using just the Cheaper Home Batteries Program.

I’ve also put together a quick FAQ regarding the new Cheaper Home Batteries Program.

Please email me with any questions you may have.

Please note that the Cheaper Home Batteries Program's proposed start date is July 1st. This is based on the assumption that the Labor government is elected.

Cheers,

Kirk