Newly introduced limits on rooftop solar and battery storage capacities for households are likely to spark innovative solutions that will effectively accelerate the so-called “network death spiral”, according to one of the leading lights in the Australian solar and storage business.

Michael Mobbs has been involved in sustainability for more than two decades, leading public discourse with his “sustainable house” blog, cutting his connections to mains water and sewer more than two decades ago, and finally cutting the electricity wires to his inner-Sydney terrace home in March, 2015.

The world’s biggest solar and battery storage plant – and Australia’s biggest solar farm – could begin construction this year, after the project was formally launched in Adelaide on Thursday.

Households in Western Australia could be facing electricity price rises of seven per cent each year for the next three years – and perhaps even more.