The silly season didn’t stop Australian households from making a very smart move – getting quotes for solar panels. Find out what they were wanting in the January 2022 auSSII report.
Solar Power System Capacity
A little over 78% requesting quotes through SQ’s service who had a system size in mind selected the 5-10kW range in December. Close to 9% chose the “fill your roof” option, around the same as November. The typical residential rooftop has space for around 10kW of solar panels – so a very large system.
There was little interest in the 3 – 5kW range – just 4%. It was only a few years ago when 5kW systems comprised more than half of requests where a capacity was specified.
Need advice on system sizing? Discover how much solar power you’ll need.
Solar Power System Purchase Timeframe
In December 2021, there was a significant increase in the proportion of prospective PV purchasers wanting to buy a system straight away – nearing 28% compared to 25% in November, October and September.
As it has done each year since 2017, the national solar rebate that provides an up-front discount on buying a system reduced when the calendar flipped over to January 1, but remains very generous. Learn more about the solar rebate in 2022.
Solar Price Vs. Quality
12% of quote requests selected the “top quality” (most expensive) system option in December, same as November and October. Around 79% wanted a system offering a good balance of cost and quality, and approximately 8% a good budget system. To see pricing ranges for good quality systems, check out our solar panel costs page.
Australian Solar Price Index
The auSSII report indicates what Australians are wanting – but how much are they actually paying for systems when they sign the dotted line? The SolarQuotes Australian Solar Price Index will show you, updated in real time. We’ll have a summary report on December average system costs here on the blog towards the end of January.
Microinverter/Optimiser Option
Just over 18% of requests in December indicated interest in learning more about microinverter and optimiser options; down on November’s 20%. These PLO (Panel Level Optimisation) devices can be particularly helpful in some installation situations.
Advanced Solar Monitoring
While the solar inverters of most systems incorporate inbuilt energy production monitoring, they won’t track solar energy consumption or have other advanced features. That’s why optional advanced solar monitoring is a very worthwhile consideration.
In December around 37% of quote requests expressed interest in advanced monitoring, down a little on November’s 39%.
Finn’s a big fan of advanced monitoring – particularly the Australian-developed Solar Analytics. It has some nifty features that can help you extract maximum value from your system.
Battery Ready Solar
Interest in battery-ready systems dropped to less than 5% in December, down from 6% in November. This isn’t an indicator of a lack of interest in solar batteries – there is interest as you’ll see below – and a home battery can be retrofitted to just about any system.
Solar + Battery Concurrent Install
Around 18% of Australians using the SolarQuotes service in December said they wanted a home battery installed concurrently with their solar panels (November and October 20%, September and August 12%). Whether they pursue this after finding out the cost of energy storage is another matter.
Discover everything you need to know about home energy storage in Finn’s new “101” guides on understanding, buying and owning a home battery system.
Note: We used to also report on battery size selections in the auSSII, but most people wouldn’t know what capacity system they actually need – so we dropped this question from the quoting form.
Primary Battery Application
Close to 7% wanting a concurrent battery installation intend to use it primarily for backup purposes (~6% in November, 5% in October, 8% in September), 34% for minimising mains grid electricity consumption (~35% in November, ~40% in October and close to 41% in September) and 59% for both purposes (59% in November and October, 51% in September).
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Mains Electricity Costs – Pre-Solar Installation
Among those who knew what their average electricity bills were, 46% reported between $500 and $1,000 a quarter; which is within the usual range of 45% – 47%. Just under 11% were paying more than $1,000 a quarter (~12% in November).
About The January auSSII Report
January 2022’s auSSII report is based on details by the thousands of Australians who received up to 3 quotes each from pre-vetted installers in the SolarQuotes network in December 2021.
Quality Installers Deserve Quality Sales Leads
More than 583,000 Australians have requested quotes for a quality solar power system installation via SolarQuotes since 2009. Find out more about the solar sales leads we provide to businesses who have a special focus on providing the very best installation services.
Reproducing auSSII Content
You’re welcome to reuse information from this report in your publication without asking us first – we just require you attribute SolarQuotes appropriately and this page is referenced.
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