Battery uptake has long lagged behind rooftop solar, but a new CEFC-backed subscription model could change that.
A new partnership between Enreal, smart metering provider Intellihub, and the Clean Energy Finance Corporation (CEFC) is targeting one of the rooftop solar industry’s biggest hurdles.
Backed by a $50 million CEFC investment, the deal subsidises Enreal’s subscription model for residential solar-plus-battery or battery-only systems – removing upfront costs and introducing fixed monthly fees for eligible homeowners.
While nearly one in three Australian homes now have rooftop PV, battery adoption lags significantly at just 2.5 per cent.
The high cost of home batteries has long been a barrier to residential electrification. Enreal’s model offers a potential shift: customers subscribe to solar and storage with no upfront capital requirement.
CEFC’s discounted finance then reduces subscription fees by up to $28/month for solar-and-battery systems, or $20/month for battery-only setups, depending on state and system size.
For solar installers and energy system integrators, the implications are twofold.
First, this may unlock a larger segment of the residential retrofit market previously priced out of battery storage. Second, bundling battery storage with orchestrated smart systems could accelerate uptake of behind-the-meter (BTM) energy management technologies.
Intellihub, which already manages more than 2.5 million smart meters across Australia and New Zealand, will use the CEFC finance to scale its deployment of smart meters and develop its demand flexibility platform.
That platform – co-funded with ARENA – aims to coordinate 100,000+ distributed energy devices totalling over 500MW. The technology enables dynamic load management of solar panels, home batteries, EV chargers, and appliances like air conditioning and hot water systems.
For solar retailers, the integration of Enreal subscriptions with Intellihub’s smart tech stack signals growing demand for full-suite, digitally managed energy ecosystems.
Installers may need to broaden their technical offerings beyond rooftop PV to include interoperable storage, metering, and demand-side response capability.
Eligibility for Enreal’s discounted subscription requires homes valued under $2.5 million. The initiative aligns with the Australian Energy Market Commission’s push for universal smart meter adoption by 2030, which is projected to deliver $507 million in net benefits across four jurisdictions.