Residents in Perth's outer suburbs are reaping dramatic savings on their electricity bills after embracing rooftop solar paired with home battery storage — with one Armadale household's latest power bill coming in at just $3.60. The surge in installations has pushed Western Australia to a new solar record, with enough capacity added between April and June this year alone to power 25,000 homes.
Armadale leads Perth's home battery boom
Suburbs within the Armadale local government area have topped the state for new home battery installations over the past 12 months, with 2,007 batteries installed in the region. Other strong performers include Cockburn with 1,660 installs, Wanneroo at 1,555, Canning at 1,422, and Mandurah rounding out the top five with 1,233 batteries installed.
The figures reflect a nationwide push driven by the federal government's Cheaper Home Batteries program, which has seen more than 50,000 batteries installed across Australia. The scheme offers homeowners a discount of around 30 per cent on a range of battery sizes, with the federal government announcing in December an expansion of the program to an estimated $7.2 billion over the next four years. The target is for more than two million Australians to have a battery installed by 2030, delivering around 40 gigawatt hours of additional storage capacity nationally.
In Western Australia, the state government added further incentives in May by launching its WA Residential Battery Scheme, which provides an additional rebate of $1,300 for Synergy customers and $3,800 for Horizon Power customers, along with access to a no-interest loan to help cover the purchase and installation of a battery system. For homeowners weighing up the broader value of energy upgrades, the financial case for home energy improvements has been building steadily across the country.
A $3.60 power bill: the Armadale couple who cracked the code
For Armadale residents Linda and Danny Slob, years of incremental investment in solar and battery technology have paid off in a way that once seemed unthinkable. The couple's most recent electricity bill — excluding standard service charges — came to just $3.60.
"All I know is it only cost us about $3.60 for our last bill, apart from the normal service charges," Linda said.
Before installing their system, the Slobs were spending around $1,000 per billing cycle on electricity. They began their journey two years ago with four batteries and a single inverter, costing approximately $15,000. Around six months ago, they doubled the capacity of their setup — now a 7.2-kilowatt solar array paired with a 19.3-kilowatt-hour battery — spending a further $12,000, though they received a rebate of around $5,000 this time around.
The system also features a backup power function, providing the household with energy independence during outages — a priority for the couple, who both work from home. Linda said avoiding large bills was particularly important as they plan for later life.
"My biggest aim was to first make the home purposeful for us because we work from home, and secondly, to ensure that we weren't paying high bills because of our age," she said.
The savings have extended to the family's transport costs as well. Linda recently purchased a hybrid Toyota RAV4 GR, which she charges using the battery system. "They gave me a full tank of fuel, and I haven't even used it yet," she said.
Bedfordale family of up to 12 halves power bills despite higher usage
In nearby Bedfordale, David and Ellen Gibbs tell a similarly striking story. The couple, who regularly foster children and can have up to 10 kids living in their home at any one time, installed their battery system in March and have since cut their power bills by nearly 50 per cent — even as their overall electricity consumption has increased.
"Some of our bills were up around $1,200 to $1,400," David said. "We're using more power now because we've actually had to put two heat pumps in on each end of the house, so we're using more power, [but because of the batteries] it's costing us less, so it is a pretty significant gain."
Their most recent bill came to $650 — a substantial reduction given the larger household and added appliances. The couple installed two 20-kilowatt-hour batteries, a system that would ordinarily have cost around $32,000. Thanks to combined state and federal government rebates covering roughly 50 per cent of the cost, the financial barrier was significantly reduced.
"There's always two adults in the house, but the children vary because we foster. So it goes from five to 10 kids," David said, describing the system as "a life changer" for the family.
What's driving Perth's solar and battery surge
Western Australia's appetite for home energy storage is accelerating at a pace that's outstripping much of the country. The record-breaking solar capacity added in the June quarter underscores how quickly the technology is being adopted, particularly in the city's fastest-growing outer suburbs, where newer housing stock and larger block sizes make solar installations more practical.
The combination of federal rebates, the state's own battery scheme, and the rising cost of grid electricity has created a compelling financial case for households across Perth to make the switch — one that, for a growing number of families, is already delivering returns that were hard to imagine just a few years ago.
