Leichhardt is still going solar!
24 July 2026
By John Macleay
Meet the IWCE team!
If you’d like to meet the team from IWCE, we’re holding a pop-up stall:
When? Saturday 1 August, 8:30 till 10:30am.
Where? Richard Murden Reserve, on the Greenway in Haberfield.
It’s an event we’re doing in collaboration with Solar Citizens. See you there!
Leichhardt is still going solar!
Long-time Leichhardt resident Ben Stevens was prompted to install his PV array and battery by the news that the battery rebate was going to be reduced from May 1.
“That was the kick that brought the project to the top of the queue,” Ben says. “You know how it is, there’s always a long list of stuff to do and this was the driver to get it done now.”
His new 7.1 kilowatt PV array with 13 kilowatt-hour battery is a combination of two pods and was very much limited by what could be fitted on the roof because of size. Like many houses in the Inner West, small-roof size and the fact that only half the area of the roof was flat was a definite consideration.
Ben with his new home battery.
“The guys out there doing the installation were very precise about what could be added,’’ Ben said.
Ben was quoted two days for the installation work. The first day was taken by putting up the panel rails and the panels themselves but on the second day the remainder of the work was completed in about three hours. This included the installation of the battery at the front of Ben’s home.
“We were up and running by 11 o’clock that morning,” Ben said.
As he opted to buy full home back-up, Ben can shut himself off from the grid and relies on solar and battery only.
The system app has a feature monitoring the weather, where if a big storm is coming it can automatically charge the battery from the grid.
Ben says the installation was a learning experience as one of the reasons that he had put off installing a system was the huge amount of information that was required to understand the technology and what you are actually getting, and also who to trust. This was why Ben decided to approach Inner West Community Energy.
“That trusted connection gave me the confidence to go ahead as quickly as possible,” Ben said.