# No solar on your roof? A home battery can still make sense in Australia | VPP

**URL:** https://forum.cleanenergyreviews.info/t/no-solar-on-your-roof-a-home-battery-can-still-make-sense-in-australia-vpp/3892
**Category:** Battery Systems
**Tags:** australia, vpp, virtual-power-plant
**Created:** [April 28, 2026, 3:57pm UTC](https://forum.cleanenergyreviews.info/t/no-solar-on-your-roof-a-home-battery-can-still-make-sense-in-australia-vpp/3892 "2026-04-28T15:57:13Z")
**Posts on this page:** 1
**Page:** 1

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### Author: ![Marty](https://forum.cleanenergyreviews.info/user_avatar/forum.cleanenergyreviews.info/marty/32/4032_2.png) [@Marty](https://forum.cleanenergyreviews.info/u/Marty)
#### Post date: [April 28, 2026, 3:57pm UTC](https://forum.cleanenergyreviews.info/t/no-solar-on-your-roof-a-home-battery-can-still-make-sense-in-australia-vpp/3892/1 "2026-04-28T15:57:13Z")

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Hi everyone,

I’m hearing from a number of different people now that homeowners are starting to think about adding battery storage, even if they can’t get solar on their roof. Or getting a much larger battery system than their solar can fill.

Why? Across much of Australia currently (2026), the wholesale cost of electricity around midday often drops below 5c per kilowatt-hour. Sometimes it goes negative — meaning the market is effectively paying buyers to take power at that time, and store it in their batteries.

[![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/DjIIxchyOno/maxresdefault.jpg "Power costs less than 5c at midday — here's how to use a home battery to benefit from it") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DjIIxchyOno)

Why midday is cheap: there’s so much solar in the system by lunchtime that prices get crushed. Then they spike in the evening when people are home and cooling/heating ramps up.

The bit many people miss: you don’t need solar on your own roof to benefit from the huge amount of solar generation on other roofs in Australia. A home battery can charge when wholesale-linked retail prices are low, cover your house through the expensive evening peak, and — on the right plan — export when prices jump. That bundle (battery + retailer/VPP program + automation) is what people mean by a Virtual Power Plant (VPP).

 ![image](https://perform.discoursehosting.net/uploads/db8135/original/2X/9/91c43709bc6e09fd16bd52e0e99a66287e86280e.png)

There are electricity retailers in Australia now that allow homeowners to access those wholesale rates, for a fixed monthly fee.

If you’re weighing whether a battery could actually pay back on your usage and tariff, we put a free calculator here (no login required for a first look):

Photonik VPP / battery earnings calculator:

> **[VPP Calculator — Virtual Power Plant Battery Savings Estimator | Photonik](https://photonik.solar/vpp-calculator/)**
>
> Free VPP calculator — estimate how much your home battery earns with virtual power plant arbitrage. Model hourly wholesale prices, solar charging, and annual grid trading revenue.

Further reading (sources)

- Wholesale market context and quarterly numbers (e.g. Q4 2025 report):  
[https://aemo.com.au/-/media/files/major-publications/qed/2025/qed-q4-2025.pdf](https://aemo.com.au/-/media/files/major-publications/qed/2025/qed-q4-2025.pdf)
- Press coverage on volatility / negative pricing (Feb 2026):  
[Big swings in Australia's electricity market have a frustrating effect on our power bills - ABC News](https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-02-08/big-swings-in-australias-electricity-market/106305696)

Cheers,  
Marty