Gadgets Tested in this video:

Desktop vacuum

Egg Timer

Tofu Cutter

Electric Peeler
testing gadgets 2026 rice cup mold maker
Rice Cup Mold

Is it worth getting a Solar Battery in 2026?

With thanks to sponsor resinc who provided the battery for this test, ask them about the best solar solution for your home. Resinc are the highest rated installer in Australia.
See the video for test results comparing no solar to just panels to solar and a battery.
Details of our solar set up:
Battery: Sungrow SBH400 battery. Usable Energy 40 kWh, Max. Output Power 28.16 kW
Inverter: Sungrow SH20T, capacity 20kW three phase inverter (note our home had three phase power, not all homes do so you may need a different inverter)
Panels: 32 x TSM-415NEG9.28 415 Watt Trina Panels (we already had these panels installed, Resinc recommends different panels that have thicker glass so they are more resistant to hail damage).
Shade: Our roof is not overshadowed by any trees or buildings at any time of the day.
Direction of our panels: Note panels that face north produce the most electricity overall in Melbourne. But obviously we are restricted by which direction our roof faces and roof space available.
We have:
9 panels facing NNW, north-west will produce around 95% of the electricity that North would.
11 ENE, panels facing north-east will produce around 95% of the electricity that North would.
12 SSE, South is the worst direction solar panels can face. Panels facing SE will produce around 60% of what they would if they were on the north side.

The test month weather was quite variable in temperature and rain, see the chart below for detailed information from our closest weather station.
is a solar battery worth it in 2026
What we noticed at our house. Every home is going to be different so this is just to give you some insights.
* On hot days with heavy cloud cover we made less power than slightly cooler days without clouds. The amount of power you make seems to be more closely related to the UV index for the day rather than the temperature.
* In our house the aircon is the big power draw. Even if the battery is fully charged we drain the battery within 4 hours of the sun setting if we leave the aircon running. If it’s a cooler day, so we don’t need the aircon, we fully charge the battery, sell power to the grid and have plenty of battery power to last from sunset until the morning. So on those days we use nothing from the grid. Even if the battery charge was as low as 30% at bed time the charge will last us all night. See weather chart below for details of the weather over the test month.
* Other big power draws – the oven, the filming lights, the pool pump and the clothes dryer. We used all of these regularly over the month without any problems.
* You can force charge from the grid. If you have a peak/off peak plan where power is more expensive at certain times of day you can choose to automatically force charge the battery from the grid just before peak time hits. We now have this set up to kick in only if the battery is not already charged to above 30% before peak. This has not yet kicked in, because the sun charges the battery to well above that level or full every day.
* There are some providers offering free power charging times. This may be worth us investigating in winter, right now it’s not needed.
* Power outage cover – if the power goes out in your area you can still run your house from the battery. How quickly it runs out will depend on what you have running so if it’s going to be for a long time you could conserve power by turning off non-essentials.
* If power prices keep hiking you will pay it off much sooner than you originally calculated.
* The federal government rebate ‘Cheaper Home Batteries Program’ gives you a discount of around 30% on the install and battery cost. This is not means tested so everyone is eligible. Under this program the government has set the rebate amount to decrease each year. And the total amount of the rebates to be given out is capped, so once it is used up it’s done. Resinc Solar & Batteries will take care of all the paper work to get the rebate for you.