CONSTRUCTION OF FIRST NEW AGE RESIDENTIAL TOWNHOMES IN AUSTRALIA’S MOST EXCITING SMART CITY UNDERWAY

$1.5M deal inked between Natural Solar and Mulpha for 74 homes in new Essentia development

The highly anticipated residential development in Western Sydney’s Norwest expected to be completed in 2020 will become Australia’s first new age residential development with more than 74 homes that have a fully integrated home battery storage solution allowing residents to have their appliances and home consumption automated through battery power.

In a $1.5M installation deal signed between Australian owned and operated company Natural Solar, the nation’s largest installer of solar and battery solutions, and global developer Mulpha, Natural Solar will be providing both home batteries and solar panels in the new Essentia development.

Each of the homes will be powered by a 5.13kWp solar system, with a 10kWh sonnenBatterie to store excess day time solar production, allowing customers to fully maximise power produced. In addition, homeowners will have the ability to charge their battery on off-peak power purchased from the grid and utilise the power directly from the battery at times when it would normally be more expensive.

Each household will no longer have to pay for power in the traditional sense. sonnen are distributing the Energy Retailing market through their capped monthly fee model, which limits a homeowners electricity bill to $30p/m.

“Commentary on ‘the home of the future’ has been rife, but it’s clear to see the concept of the future is already here in Australia. A relatively new technology to the market has been transformational, with home battery storage solutions no longer a ‘dumb’ battery or storage device, but fast becoming a central hub within a smart home ecosystem,” commented Chris Williams, CEO & Founder of Natural Solar.

“Not only will the Essentia Townhomes be guaranteed free electricity consumption with no daily supply charges on their electricity bills, these townhomes will have the ability to add state of the art home automation, giving residents the ability to communicate with the sonnenBatterie direct,” says Mr Williams.

Each battery has a smart learning algorithm, learning from household consumption patterns and able to predict and adjust how and when the battery discharges its power. The sonnenBatterie will also be able to modify its behaviour based on the weather forecast, anticipating which time of day and the precise appliances the residents will utilise in order to best maximise savings and offer return-on-investment.

“While homeowners will have the ability to access and remotely turn appliances on and off using the sonnen app, the capabilities of the sonnenBatterie extend far further than this. Each sonnenBatterie will have the intelligence to decide when to turn appliances on and off in order to maximise self-consumption and savings. Essentially, your home will be able to make the tough decisions when it comes to power usage for you,” said Mr Williams.

“In an increasingly competitive housing market, we are seeing consumers gravitate toward more energy efficient homes with properties that have a higher energy rating fetching a considerable premium. The energy savings are a vital component, while at the same time households with intelligent devices and home automation are key drivers in decision making process when purchasing a property,” added Mr Williams.

With the potential for 74 batteries installed across the entire development, including plans for a wider rollout across Norwest, in line with Mulpha’s Smart City Vision, and a total storage capacity of almost 1Mwh, there is no doubt about the exceptional volume of new technology at play. With its advanced lithium iron phosphate technology, each sonnenBatterie can fully charge and discharge a total of 10,000 times. This equates to 27.6 years of daily cycles which is over three times more than its closest competitor.

Natural Solar can reveal the shift towards battery power has been mammoth with a 2500% increase in the rise of residential battery enquiries in the past 36 months, and a 1100% increase in commercial battery power storage solution enquiries across Australia in the past eighteen months. However Essentia in Norwest, is the first large-scale development to move wholeheartedly to technology led solar and battery storage solutions for residents and is a key milestone for both renewable energy and alternative energy solutions.

“We are looking forward to working with Natural Solar on our exciting Essentia development,” says Tim Spencer, Executive General Manager from Mulpha. “We’ve been through a lengthy process to find the right product, installation and operational partner for this development who can meet our cutting edge demands, and we are certain that both sonnenFlat and Natural Solar will be vital when it comes to powering our future city. We see the concept of smart homes as a vital point of difference in this high-end development.”

“At Natural Solar, we are delighted to be working with Mulpha to be delivering high-end and smart batteries at scale. The market has spoken and clearly says it no longer wants the pressure of power bills and this is exactly what we are committed to delivering through our partnership with Mulpha. We are very excited to see our core mission unfolding as we continue to push the boundaries and deliver environmentally significant solar and battery solutions at-scale,” said Mr Williams.

Project Enquiries

x

These costs are based on the SA Power network in Adelaide but prices may vary depending on your circumstances. This comparison assumes a general energy usage of 4000kWh/year for a residential customer on Energy Locals Time of Use Tariff – (TOU – Peak, Off-Peak & Solar Sponge).

The reference price is set by the Australian Energy Regulator (AER) for a financial year in relation to electricity supply to residential customers in the distribution region and is based on an assumed annual usage amount. Any difference between the reference price and the unconditional price of a plan is expressed as a percentage more or less than the reference price. The terms of any conditional discounts are shown, along with any further difference between the reference price and the discount applied if a condition is met, expressed as a percentage more or less than the reference price.