A battery flips that on its head. The battery can charge during the day when there is plentiful solar energy and then households can use it when they need it, or they can sell it back to the grid if their retailer allows it. The household pays less for electricity, the grid is more stable, and non-solar households also get cheaper power because networks don’t have to produce as much expensive peak-time energy. Win, win, win.

That’s why governments are now incentivising households to install batteries. The NSW government battery rebate scheme began on the first of this month, for example.

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You can buy an electric vehicle for about $40,000 and the battery inside is three or four times larger than a typical household storage system. The equivalent home battery would probably cost about the same, but without the bonus of a car.

It’s possible that vehicle-to-grid charging could even be worthwhile for households without solar, as they could take advantage of off-peak rates. And they’ll still have a car, even if retailers adjust their prices.