Jack was quick to respond to our battery query. He provided honest useful information about AC vs DC battery systems. The time is not right yet to add a battery, as there is life left in our existing system.Helen MillerBattery enquiry
Battery storage and backup
Home batteries and blackout backup in Perth, with a straight answer on whether one suits you.
Battery storage and blackout backup, installed across Perth metro by a licensed electrical contractor. Including the times we advise against it.
- 5 stars from 60+ reviews
- 25 year workmanship warranty on solar and battery installs
- Perth metro and surrounds
- Our own installers, never subcontracted
Free quote
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Signs to look for
Signs a battery is worth a look
None of these on its own means you need one. Two or three together usually means the numbers are worth running.
Most of your power goes in the evening, after the sun is gone and the panels have stopped.
Your panels export at midday while you buy the same power back at night at a higher rate.
A blackout means no fridge and no lights and no bore or pool pump until the grid comes back.
The air conditioning runs late into the night so the evening is where the bill comes from.
Power going out is more than an inconvenience because someone at home relies on it.
You want the numbers before deciding including whether waiting is the better call.
What is included
What we work out before quoting a battery
The honest version
A battery makes financial sense when you use a lot of power outside daylight hours, when your existing system is exporting more than it is offsetting, or when losing power genuinely costs you something. It makes less sense when your usage is already lined up with your generation, or when your existing inverter is near the end of its life and the sensible move is to wait and do both at once.
We have told customers exactly that and lost the job. One of our Google reviews is a customer who did not buy anything, because the timing was wrong for them. That is the standard we want to be held to.
Retrofit or all in one
If you already have solar, a battery can often be added to it. Sometimes the cleaner answer is a single unit that combines inverter, battery and EV charging, which is what we have installed on a number of recent Perth jobs where the old inverter was the bottleneck anyway. We will show you both options and the difference in cost and complexity.
A battery that does not suit your house is an expensive way to feel prepared.
Blackout backup, done deliberately
Backup is a wiring decision, not just a battery decision. You choose what stays on: the fridge, the lights and the internet, or the whole house including the air conditioning. The second option costs more and needs the switchboard set up for it. We will price both so you can decide, rather than quietly giving you the cheaper one and letting you find out during the next outage.
Recent Perth battery jobs have run from 8kWh in Kenwick to 48kWh with whole-home backup in Byford.
Where the battery actually goes
A battery is a cabinet that has to live somewhere for the next fifteen years, so where it goes gets decided properly rather than wherever the cable run is shortest. It wants shade in a Perth summer, clearance around it, a short run back to the switchboard, and protection from anything that moves.
Stop donating your excess power to the grid
Through the middle of the day most solar homes export more than they use, and what the retailer pays for that power is a fraction of what the same power costs to buy back after dark. A battery keeps it instead. It is the same power you already generated, used at the time of day you actually need it.
Who actually installs it
A battery is live switchgear bolted to your house, so who wires it matters more than the badge on the front. Everyone who works on your job works for SolArk, and nothing is subcontracted. The people who assess it, design it and install it are deliberately different people, each doing the part they are best at, and there is nobody to point at if it is not right.
- How much power you use after dark, from your actual bills and interval data.
- Whether your existing inverter and switchboard can carry a battery, or need work first.
- Whether AC coupling or DC coupling is right for your setup, and why.
- What you want backed up in a blackout, and what that costs to wire.
- Whether waiting is the better financial call for you.
- Any current battery rebate scheme you qualify for, confirmed at quote stage.
How it works
How the job runs
Bills and interval data
We need to see how much power you use after dark. That single figure decides whether a battery makes sense for you or whether waiting is the better call.
Decide what gets backed up
Essential circuits or the whole house including the air conditioning. Two different prices and two different wiring jobs, so you choose with the numbers in front of you.
Sized and specified
AC or DC coupling, capacity, and whether your existing inverter carries it or wants replacing at the same time. We price both if both are sensible.
Install and commissioning
Installed, tested, monitoring set up on your phone, and the backup deliberately tested before we leave so you know it works.
Warranty and aftercare
A 25 year workmanship warranty on our solar and battery installation work, from commissioning, and the same number to ring afterwards. Warranty Terms apply.
FAQs
Questions we get asked
Will a battery pay for itself?
Sometimes, and we will tell you honestly when the answer is no. It depends on how much power you use outside daylight hours and what you are currently exporting. Send your last bill and we will run it rather than guess.
Can I add a battery to my existing solar?
Usually yes. What matters is the age and type of your existing inverter, because sometimes the sensible move is to replace the inverter and add the battery as one job rather than bolt a battery onto something with two years left in it.
Will it keep the whole house running in a blackout?
Only if it is wired to. Backup is a choice about which circuits stay live, and whole-home backup including air conditioning costs more than essential circuits. We quote both.
Is there a battery rebate in WA?
There are battery incentive schemes, and their values and eligibility change. We confirm what currently applies to you at quote stage and lodge the paperwork, rather than publishing a figure here that goes out of date.
How long does a battery install take?
Most residential battery installs are a day, sometimes two where the switchboard needs work or the backup wiring is extensive. We tell you which before we start.
Who will I deal with?
Everyone who works on your job works for SolArk, and nothing is subcontracted. The people who assess, design and install your battery are deliberately different people, each doing the part they are best at.
Get a quote
Not sure a battery is right for you?
Good. Send your last power bill and we will tell you straight, including if the answer is to wait.
5 stars from 60+ reviews
After doing some research for a Perth electrician, I decided to contact SolArk Electrical to come to my home in Gosnells and give me a quote for a home battery. Jack was professional from the start, making everything clear, assessing my existing solar system and comparing my bills.Wayne CurtisHome battery, Gosnells
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Tell us about the job
Working across Perth metro and surrounds, including Baldivis, Byford, Canning Vale, Joondalup, Ellenbrook, Rockingham, Midland, Fremantle. See every suburb we cover.