(REPOST: One Step Off The Grid)

In a deal announced last week with solar retailer Bradford Energy, Porter Davis said it would include a 5.6kW rooftop solar system coupled with a 13.5kWh Tesla Powerwall 2 to 50 such rebuilds in Victoria, as part of a limited promotion.

The PV and battery deal, packaged as the Bradford Solar ChargePack, is expected to deliver an average of $26,000 in energy cost savings over a ten-year period, and give home owners up to 90 per cent energy self-sufficiency on an average day.

The solar and storage systems also have the ability to provide back-up during grid outages, such as those triggered by heatwave conditions in Victoria over the weekend, leaving tens of thousands of homes without power.

The Victorian deal is not the first to pair Bradford Energy (aka CSR Bradford) with a major Australian housing developer – or solar and battery storage with new-build homes: a pairing CSR’s managing director, Anthony Tannous, has predicted will soon be the norm.

In a deal with Melbourne-based Metricon homes in April last year, Queensland customers who upgraded to the builder’s “luxury living” offer could get the same Solar ChargePack.

As we noted at that time, the upgrade – which then cost $1,999 for a single story home and $4,999 for a double story home – was expected to save the Metricon households $2,100 a year on energy costs.

It has also offered similar packages in Victoria through Arden Homes, and in New South Wales with Mojo Homes.

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