Round-trip efficiency (RTE) is the share of energy you get back out of a battery after charging and discharging. If you store 10kWh and later use 9kWh, RTE is about 90%. Australian households should include those losses when modelling evening savings — especially once Cheaper Home Batteries support (~$372/kWh usable) makes storage mainstream.
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Conversion losses occur in battery chemistry, power electronics and sometimes auxiliary loads. Hybrid inverters add AC/DC stages depending on architecture. Datasheet RTE figures are laboratory values; real homes see seasonal variation.
Exporting at 5c avoids fewer losses than storing for a 35c evening import — even after ~10% RTE loss, storage can win. If your FiT is unusually high and evenings are cheap, RTE losses may argue against cycling as hard.
AC-coupled batteries invert twice in some flows; DC-coupled hybrids can be more efficient for PV-to-battery-to-load paths. Ask installers which path your operating mode uses most.
Heat and very small cycles can move effective efficiency. A battery in direct afternoon sun on a western wall underperforms a shaded plant room install with the same sticker RTE.
If a VPP discharges to the grid, you also wear conversion losses for someone else's benefit — offset only by credits. Include RTE when valuing those credits against self-consumption.
Do not pick a battery on a 1–2% RTE gap alone if usable kWh, warranty and installer quality differ more. Still reject fantasy models that assume 100% free storage. CEC-accredited quotes via MrSolar should show expected daily kWh shifted after losses.
Model storage with real losses — compare CEC-accredited battery quotes on MrSolar.
Written and reviewed by Daniel (Marketplace lead, Epic Unicorn Pty Ltd). We build pages from Australian solar datasets and regulatory references, then map you to CEC-accredited installers only.
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