From the future of virtual power plants (VPPs) to the challenges of managing thousands of home batteries, there was no shortage of interesting discussions at All Energy Australia 2026.
Our team spoke across eight sessions, sharing what we're learning as more Australians invest in batteries, electric vehicles (EVs) and smarter energy technology. Away from the stage, the Amber Brewhouse was busy with installers, partners and industry experts stopping by for a coffee, a beer and a chat.
For anyone who missed it, here are some highlights from across the two days.
Energy efficiency across multiple touchpoints
Our co-founder and co-CEO Dan Adams joined Stefan Padberg, Senior Vice President Innovation at E.ON, and Cameron Knox, co-founder and CEO of Allume Energy, to discuss how Australian energy innovations are making their way overseas.
From our work with E.ON bringing Amber's battery automation technology to Europe to Allume's shared rooftop solar for apartment residents, the discussion explored what it takes to make energy technology work across different markets and customer needs.
Dan also shared how quickly battery automation is growing in Australia. “We’re now, depending on which data you look at, somewhere between 50% and 70% market share of all automated batteries in the Australian market. We’re about to hit 100,000 customers very soon.”
The session reinforced the importance of partnerships in making these technologies accessible to more households.
ROI for VPPs and who gets the value
VPPs can create significant value by coordinating home batteries to support the grid. But how much of that value reaches battery owners? Dan joined Pablo Campillos from the Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO), Leigh Storr, CEO of RESINC Solar and Electrical, and Scott Watkins, Chief Sustainability Officer at KISCO and an Amber customer since 2020.
While many traditional VPPs offer fixed payments or bill credits in exchange for some control over a customer's battery, Amber gives households access to wholesale electricity prices, with SmartShift automation working around their preferences. Dan highlighted the recent NSW price spike, when Amber customers collectively earned approximately $2.1 million in around 90 minutes.
Scott shared how his household electricity costs have fallen over time. His advice was to choose equipment that's proven to work with your preferred battery plan, understand the tariffs and avoid making decisions based on the promise of big earnings from rare events.
From an installer's perspective, Leigh reinforced the importance of sizing solar and batteries around a household's actual needs, rather than simply maximising the available rebate or selling the promise of energy trading.
The takeaway? Battery returns depend on more than storage capacity. How that battery is used throughout the year matters just as much.
Amber versus the world
Our co-founder and co-CEO Chris Thompson took the audience on a slightly unconventional tour of international electricity markets, drawing on his recent travels to explore what other countries are getting right and where things have become unnecessarily complicated.
In the UK, smart meters are widespread, but their potential remains underused. The Netherlands could see a new wave of battery adoption as generous solar net metering arrangements end.
Germany has around two million home batteries, yet many can't respond to electricity prices or support the wider grid. And Norway's fixed-price electricity arrangements have reduced incentives for households to shift energy use.
After sharing the quirks he'd encountered overseas, Chris brought the audience back to Australia with one final observation. “Finally, I did get home to Australia, where everything in energy is perfectly rational and we never make bad decisions.” Behind the humour was a serious point. Installing more batteries, solar panels and EVs doesn't automatically mean we're making the best use of them.
Chris also spoke about the idea Amber was built around: giving customers access to wholesale electricity prices and using automation to help them optimise their batteries and capture more value.
Renewables and the future of grid integration
Australia's growing EV fleet represents enormous potential energy storage. Chris joined Kate Barnes, Executive Director at Solar Victoria, Julie Delvecchio, CEO of the Electric Vehicle Council, and Carl Hutchinson, Country Manager at Enel X, to discuss how batteries, EVs and flexible energy use can support the grid.
One figure put that opportunity into perspective. The electric vehicles sold in Australia in August had a combined battery capacity of around 1,600 MWh. That's more than ten times the original capacity of South Australia's Hornsdale Big Battery, from just one month of EV sales. As V2G technology develops, that represents a huge opportunity to make better use of the energy stored in our cars. Chris also spoke about customers wanting both control over their energy technology and financial value from it. “We designed a business model where that wasn’t a trade-off.”
Amber customers can access wholesale prices and use SmartShift automation while retaining control over their batteries. We pass through wholesale savings and export earnings without taking a cut.
Chris explained that around half the value of flexible energy use can come from smaller, everyday shifts rather than major price spikes. “Flexibility is not just for big events, though. It's also here every day.” SmartShift helps customers capture that value automatically, without needing to monitor wholesale prices themselves.
Where to next for electrification
With home battery adoption accelerating, making devices work reliably together is becoming increasingly important. Amber Staff Engineer and Evangelist Myles Eftos shared lessons from growing our automated battery fleet by almost 5,900% in just 12 months.
Some challenges are surprisingly practical. Unreliable manufacturer software connections, firmware updates that disrupt solar curtailment and incorrectly installed current transformer (CT) clamps can all affect how batteries operate.
Myles also shared a memorable comparison. While VPP operators might see batteries as a fleet of assets, to the households that own them, batteries are more like pets than cattle. They're significant personal investments, often relied on for backup power and lower bills. At scale, that means automation needs to respect individual preferences, and problems need to be identified and resolved without leaving customers to work out what's gone wrong.
Matteo Meirelles, Vendor Account Manager at Amber, joined Michaela Reilly, Energy Transition Project Manager at SA Power Networks, to discuss South Australia's Energy Masters pilot.
The pilot has installed 253 home energy management systems and identified around 1.8 MW of flexible demand capacity. But coordinating devices from different manufacturers isn't always straightforward, with equipment changes and software compatibility creating ongoing challenges for installers and customers. As more Australians electrify their homes, reliable integrations and support will be just as important as getting the technology installed.
What we heard at the Amber Brewhouse
Away from the sessions, we caught up with hundreds of installers, manufacturers and industry partners over coffee and a few beers. Home batteries dominated conversations, with plenty of optimism about continued adoption of the Cheaper Home Batteries Program.
It was great to connect with partners showcasing their latest technology, including GoodWe, following our announcement that compatible GoodWe ESA batteries can now connect to SmartShift. Beyond the hardware, conversations kept coming back to what matters to battery owners: lower bills, greater energy independence and getting more value from their investment.
See you next year
Thanks to everyone who joined our sessions or stopped by the Amber Brewhouse! If you're an installer, you can include Amber in your quotes through Pylon or refer customers after installation. And if you own a home battery, get a quote with Amber to see how our battery plan could help you get more from your investment.
See you at All Energy Australia next year.
