By Dominic Giannini in Canberra

THE average household is saving thousands of dollars each year on their power bills with rooftop solar and battery storage.

Households can save between $822 and $1350 on their power bills if they have rooftop solar and this jumps to between $1322 and $2252 if households have an 8.5kWh battery, government analysis shows.

An 8.5 kWh battery allows a household to be largely energy independent depending on which state the house is in.

Regional Queenslanders had the biggest rooftop solar savings with $1104, bringing their bills down to $822, energy department figures show.

This was followed by NSW saving $1015, South Australia $930, south-east Queensland $866 and Victoria $687.

This brought bills down to $1091, $1350, $1102 and $1069 respectively.

The biggest battery savings were reaped by residents of SA, NSW and regional Queenslanders, pocketing an extra $2252, $2123 and $1932 respectively.

This took bills down to $28 for SA while people in NSW were $17 in the black and regional Queenslanders $6 up.

The savings are compared to the default market offer for the 2023/24 financial year.

Solar energy was helping Australians reap the benefits of renewable energy while the federal government worked to whip the power grid into shape by boosting renewable energy input, Energy Minister Chris Bowen said.

“Whether solar is on people’s roofs, or in renewable energy zones, it’s cleaner, cheaper and reduces energy prices,” he said.

One-third of Australian homes have solar panels.