Ready to get up to 3 free quotes?
Get up to 3 free quotes for solar, batteries, EV chargers or hot water heat pumps
GET MY QUOTES
Western Australia is moving to become the first state in Australia to legalise plug-in solar panels and batteries, potentially giving renters and apartment residents a way to generate their own electricity without installing a conventional rooftop solar system.
The Cook Government says households could save around $240 a year with plug-in solar, rising to $500 if they add a battery. But the systems aren’t legal yet. The government has released a draft technical standard for consultation, and questions remain about safety, installation restrictions and whether the promised savings will justify the cost.
Unlike conventional rooftop solar, plug-in systems are designed to connect to an ordinary household power point. Electricity generated by the panels is fed into the home’s electrical circuits, reducing the amount drawn from the grid.
Their appeal is simplicity and portability. A renter could potentially take a system with them when they move, while an apartment resident might be able to install panels on a balcony or in a courtyard.
The WA Government has published a draft Technical Bridging Standard, based largely on German requirements but modified for Australian electrical standards and conditions.
Among the proposed rules:
The government is also developing the certification and regulatory changes needed before compliant systems can be legally connected.
The government’s headline estimates are $240 a year for plug-in solar and $500 with a battery. But those figures need some context.
At the current Synergy A1 electricity rate of 33.26 cents per kilowatt-hour, saving $240 would require a household to avoid buying about 722 kWh of grid electricity annually, or almost 2 kWh a day. Reaching $500 would require approximately 1,503 kWh a year in avoided grid purchases, equivalent to 4.1 kWh a day.
Those figures aren’t necessarily unrealistic, but they depend on solar generation, household consumption patterns and, in the battery case, how much energy can be stored and used later. The government’s published information doesn’t provide enough detail to reproduce its estimates, including the assumed system sizes, self-consumption rates or battery capacity.
Then there’s the purchase price. A solar-only system costing $1,200 would take five years to recover its cost at $240 in annual savings. A $3,000 solar-and-battery package saving $500 annually would take six years. These are illustrative examples, not Australian retail prices, and exclude degradation, maintenance and other costs.
Until compliant systems reach the Australian market, their actual prices and payback periods remain uncertain.
Australian research published in 2019 found that apartments and units consumed a median 8.9 kWh of electricity per day, compared with 17.7 kWh for detached and semi-detached houses. Although the study wasn’t specific to WA, it suggests even a modest solar system could make a meaningful contribution to an apartment household’s electricity needs.
However, financial returns depend on how much electricity is used while the panels are generating, rather than total daily consumption. An apartment occupied during the day could benefit considerably more than one left empty until evening. Panel orientation, shading from neighbouring buildings and limited balcony space could further reduce the savings.
The draft standard includes requirements covering inverter protection, electrical connections, mounting arrangements and battery safety. However, the government’s consultation paper acknowledges an outstanding concern about DC leakage potentially interfering with older residual current devices (RCDs), reducing their ability to detect electrical faults. Further laboratory testing is being considered to establish whether the proposed safeguards are adequate.
Another concern is overcurrent protection. A plug-in generator can supply electricity to a household circuit in addition to the grid, potentially allowing more current to flow through sections of wiring than the circuit breaker is designed to protect against. Although the draft limits inverter output to 3.5 amps, it’s not clear whether this adequately addresses the risk in all existing installations.
Legalising the equipment won’t necessarily remove every obstacle facing the households the government hopes to help. Renters may still require landlord approval, while apartment residents could face strata restrictions on mounting panels to balconies, railings or other common property. The government acknowledges that further work may be needed to address rental arrangements.
Homeowners should also consider their longer-term plans. Under the draft standard, plug-in solar couldn’t operate alongside conventional rooftop solar. That doesn’t prevent a homeowner from upgrading later, but it could leave them with a plug-in system they can no longer use at that property.
Public consultation on the proposed rules closes on 9 December 2026. The government must then consider submissions, settle the technical requirements and make the necessary regulatory changes. No firm commencement date has been announced.
There’s a genuine opportunity here to extend solar’s benefits to households that have largely missed out on the rooftop solar boom. But whether plug-in systems deliver worthwhile savings will depend on the final safety requirements, installation permissions and, perhaps most importantly, what compliant equipment actually costs.
In the meantime, there are other solutions available – read our guide to apartment solar for more.
Sign up for our weekly newsletter!
A solar installer and electrician in a previous life, Kim has been blogging for SolarQuotes since 2022. He enjoys translating complex aspects of the solar industry into content that the layperson can understand and digest. He spends his time reading about renewable energy and sustainability, while simultaneously juggling teaching and performing guitar music around various parts of Australia. Read Kim’s full bio.
3.5A seems the main impediment to a system bring useful. And it seems it is being considered because of worst case scenario ancient PCBs.
For new builds, an appropriately sized 32A connection point on balconies and courtyards shouldn’t be out of the question…should it?
The 3.5 amp limit is set for a 800VA output from inverter. That is approximately the output of 2x 400W solar panels after inverting to AC at 230V, the norm in Europe where portable solar is allowed. Most balconies won’t fit more than those two panels anyway. The cabling wouldn’t be as thick as what 32A required hence saving cost.
32A… 7.4kW
Good luck installing that on a balcony!
So both small PV and battery are grid connected ?
No brainer for those that can’t afford fit a regular full size system, or renters etc.
Just get the tiny PV panel set up, whatever size battery, and charge on the best local free power or low tariff plan available, charge low, use in peak.
If grid connected, and technically able to be in a VPP, would the battery then qualify for federal battery rebate, as it is charged from a PV source ?
(All be it, tiny PV compared to normal rooftop.)
Further, would the plug in solar be eligible for STCs ?
Metering, would need upgrading / digital / smart ?
Or older meters just spin backwards if more solar than usage ?
I’m amazed that the government electricity supply charge is only $1.19 per day and yet the cost per unit is 33 cents, while here in the east of Australia the private sector is charging around 50% more than that!
We really are being ripped off by retailers, especially considering the wholesale price of electricity!!!!
Now if only we could economically install batteries and solar PV,… for the actual cost of hardware is not that expensive.
Our Supply Charge here in Sydney, NSW is:
Daily Charge (incl GST) 118.8304c.
And off-peak it’s: Usage Rate (incl GST) 18.3562c/kWh
Ausgrid being our local supplier.
Even with a small balcony battery if you can charge it on an SSO free plan that allows up to 24kWh during a 3 hour window it’s got to help flat dwellers and any household that doesn’t currently have PV or batteries. A saving of $250-500 doesn’t sound massive but if I saw that amount of money on the ground I wouldn’t be stepping over it. It will help to spread energy equality which can’t be bad.
Thanks Chris,…I’m in SA and Typical supply is $1.70/$1.80 with peak at 63c down to 35c and 28c to shoulder rates and controlled load around the 29c.
Even though a lot of electricity (renewables ) is exported from SA,.. we still seem to pay more than further east does.
Yes. Those SA rates sound pretty solid. We have friends down south and up north in NSW who are paying like you and even higher. Put energy into private hands and it will always be charged at what the market will bare.
This 2026/27 DMO is lower than last years and yet we end up paying more due to these Supplt Charges. Wh have our 4 person household consumption down to an average of 21-25kWh per day. If we can keep it down to that then our PV and the SSO free 24kWh per day keep us in credit and virtually off-set the Supply Charges. It really all comes down to energy management in this day and age.
The attraction for me, approaching 80 years, is a plug in battery that I can take with me or gift to my children if I move and my house gets demolished, as they virtually all do around here. But those limits make it unlikely to be useful. I already have panels, but am unlikely to stay here for the ten or more years of payback.
“Only one plug-in system would be permitted per household, and it couldn’t be used alongside conventional rooftop solar.”
I don’t see why a plug-in system can’t be used in conjunction with a fixed panel installation. I can see some ‘solar sceptics’ who would buy a plug-in setup to ‘suck it and see’ for a year or two before committing upwards of $ 10k on a full system. As pointed out their portable then become redundant.
Anyway good to read that just for once WA doesn’t stand for Wait Awhile.
“Extension leads, power boards and travel adaptors would be prohibited.”
How could this be possibly enforced?
Not that I can see any benefit of putting extension leads, power boards and travel adaptors between your battery/inverter’s output and your balcony’s input 3-pin GPO power point? Most of those power distribution items you would use in the house surely? The connection between the panels and your battery’s inverter in 99% of cases would be a suitable socket such as a Schuko or Wieland cable and socket. So maybe not too much enforcement needed… hopefully!
Please keep the SolarQuotes blog constructive and useful with these 5 rules:
1. Real names are preferred – you should be happy to put your name to your comments.
2. Put down your weapons.
3. Assume positive intention.
4. If you are in the solar industry – try to get to the truth, not the sale.
5. Please stay on topic.
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.
RSS – Posts
Read The Good Solar Guide Free Online!
Ready to get up to 3 free quotes?
Get up to 3 free quotes for solar, batteries, EV chargers or hot water heat pumps
GET MY QUOTES
© 2009 to 2026 SolarQuotes Home Electrification Pty Ltd
Get free quotes for solar, batteries,
EV chargers or hot water heat pumps
Download the first chapter of The Good Solar Guide, authored by SolarQuotes founder Finn Peacock, FREE!
You’ll also start receiving the SolarQuotes weekly newsletter, keeping you up to date on all the latest developments on Australia’s solar scene.
We respect your privacy and you can opt out from the newsletter at any time.
You must be logged in to post a comment.