Deakin University has released findings from a large-scale randomised control trial exploring a new technology that enables households and small businesses to buy and sell solar and battery power, and which lowered electricity prices, while boosting access to solar and battery power.
Victoria-headquartered Deakin University has conductected a large-scale randomised control trial exploring a virtual energy network (VEN) that enables households and small businesses to buy and sell solar and battery power.
The VEN study, led by Deakin Business School and funded by Energy Consumers Australia’s grants program investigates how households and small businesses can be enabled to sell excess solar or battery-stored power directly to others via a digital platform.
300 sellers and buyers in the trial from Queensland, New South Wales (NSW), Victoria and South Australia (SA) traded energy based on mutually agreed prices, prompting cheaper than standard electricity rates and demonstrating a pathway to help consumers who cannot install solar panels.
One hundred participants did not have rooftop solar or batteries.
