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At a warehouse in Perth's eastern suburbs, Chris Dodd has been watching the energy transition unfold on a daily basis.
The 58-year-old sells solar panels and batteries for electricity wholesaler Lawrence & Hanson.
Despite the usual dip in winter, he says demand has been as strong as ever.
"Solar is basically one of the things that's going to be growing and growing into the future," Mr Dodd says.
"I can see the evolution of batteries into everyone's household and business being within five or six years.
"Around the corner, we're all going to be in that position."
Mr Dodd says consumers are worried about the increasing volatility in energy markets, which have fluctuated wildly in recent years amid fuel shortages, international strife and various other shocks.
But he reckons price increases are fuelling much of the demand for his products.
"The biggest driver of solar is really financial, to actually save money on your power bills," he says.
"It was really like that from day one, and even more so now."
Good long-term, short-term costly
From the beginning of the new financial year on Saturday, benchmark electricity prices will rise more than 20 per cent in south-east Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria and South Australia.
Offers available in the broader market are expected to rise even further.
While these increases are unavoidable for thousands, there are some small changes you can make around your house to soften the impact.
Peter Kerr, an energy expert who runs Perth-based advisory ATA Consulting, says the price pain is driving ever-growing numbers of households and businesses to seek relief in green tech such as solar panels.
He says it is a similar story across the entire electricity system, as the country attempts to go green and cut the link to volatile coal and gas markets.
But Mr Kerr warns achieving this task will not be nearly so simple.
"The analogy I use is it's a little bit like taking out a mortgage to build a very energy-efficient house," he says.
"You've got to borrow a lot of money up front and you pay that off over time.
"It's a little bit like the electricity system.
"We're spending a lot of money up front to get a lot more efficient energy.
"In the long-term it will be good, but in the short-term there will be some costs to bear and it will flow through to consumer bills."
Last year more than a third of the power generated in the national electricity market, which supplies about 10 million customers across Australia's eastern seaboard, came from renewable sources.
'Regulated monopolies'
The milestone prompted observers to suggest the country had reached a tipping point in the switch to green energy.
It has also shone a light on how much farther Australia has to go to wean itself off fossil fuels.
Last week, the Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO), which keeps the lights on across the nation's biggest power systems, warned that too little renewable capacity was being built to replace the retiring coal power.
AEMO chief executive Daniel Westerman likens the challenge to "redesigning and rebuilding the aeroplane while we're flying it".
"We need urgent investment," Mr Westerman says.
"And we have to keep the lights on and the gas flowing today, while we assemble the new system of tomorrow, as the old system of yesterday gradually gives way."
St Vincent de Paul policy and research manager Gavin Dufty says the decarbonisation of the power system is undoubtedly a good thing.
He says that in many ways the country has secured the easy gains by plugging wind and solar capacity into a system that still largely runs on fossil fuels.
But Mr Dufty says the going is likely to be much harder in future as coal-fired power, in particular, exits the system in a rush over the next 10 years or so.
He says consumers should brace for a "new normal" in which upwards pressure on power prices lingers for years.
Among the reasons he cites are the huge investments needed in renewable generation and firming services such as batteries, pumped hydro and gas plants to back it up.
On top of this, he says pushback from communities against projects will add extra time and cost to getting things done.
Finally, Mr Dufty says expanding Australia's multi billion-dollar network of poles and wires will come at massive expense and notes that the industry was given guaranteed rates of profit by regulators.
Network costs typically make up between a third and 50 per cent of a household power bill.
"All the poles-and-wires companies across Australia are regulated monopolies," Mr Dufty says.
"As interest rates go up, so do their costs because they've got to service loans."
He is also concerned the change is unfolding in a disorderly, inequitable way.
Transition 'won't be painless'
Mr Dufty says people who cannot afford or get access to technology such as solar panels, batteries and heat pumps are at risk of being left behind unless changes are made to protect them.
"The other interesting thing about these current price increases and potential future ones is it washes through differently within the community," he says.
"I'm a little bit immune from them – I've got solar.
"But people without solar will tend to do more of the heavy lifting."
Mr Kerr says Australia could not – and should not – turn back on its path to decarbonisation, arguing business as usual implied "using the environment as a public sewer".
He says solutions could include better targeting subsidies and assistance to those who most need it, tapping rooftop solar in a more coordinated way and fast-tracking the development of renewable capacity required to replace retiring coal plants.
But he says those leading the transition such as governments and industry also need to acknowledge the costs and complexity involved in such monumental change.
"The conversation has been a bit simple and simplified as things are these days in politics," Mr Kerr says.
"And I think that's probably causing some people some angst because they're being told this will be a painless transition.
"That's not going to be the case.
"However, I don't think we do have a choice.
"We do need to get to a cleaner, renewable future."
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