Australian Home Battery Uptake Accelerates

Installations of home battery systems jumped 55% in the second half of last year, and 28.4% of solar installations were accompanied by storage, states a new report.

The Clean Energy Council released its Bi-annual Rooftop Solar and Storage Report yesterday, covering July to December 2024.

Rooftop Solar Summary

The CEC says the total capacity of rooftop solar installed during last year was 3 GW from 300,375 units. But according to the Clean Energy Regulator, the total was 313,067 systems and the number will rise for a while yet. This is due to the way the tally is recorded. It’s based on the number of systems with Small-scale Technology Certificates created (STCs – the virtual bits of paper that form the basis of Australia’s solar rebate), and there’s a 12-month window after installation to generate these certificates.

Rooftop solar power’s energy generation share was 12.4% for all of 2024, up from 11.2% in 2023 and 6.5% in 2020 says the CEC. Many more interesting stats about solar PV are included in the report.

Home Battery Boom

Over to batteries, and the CEC says a cumulative total of 185,798 home battery systems had been installed across Australia by the end of last year. Close to 75,000 home battery units were sold in 2024, up from 46,127 in 2023. In the second half of last year, 45,233 home battery units were sold, up 55% on the same period in 2023.

How The States Stacked Up In Q4

The following are home battery sales numbers for Q4 2024 for most states and territories.

• New South Wales: 8,598
• Victoria: 5,990
• Queensland: 4,988
• SA: 3,527
• Western Australia: 1,841
• Northern Territory: 784
• Tasmania – Number not specified
• ACT – Number not specified

Battery Attachment Rates

In the second half of last year, 28.4 per cent of rooftop solar power system installations had an accompanying small-scale battery installed. The following are figures for attachment rates in December each year since 2021.

• 2021: 7%
• 2022: 10%
• 2023: 15%
• 2024: 26%

26% is impressive, but it wasn’t the month with the highest attachment rate last year. That was in October at 36% — an all-time high.

CEC Spruiks Home Battery Saver Subsidy

Currently, there is no federal program for battery rebates/subsidies. Of the states and territories, the jurisdictions to offer home energy storage incentives are New South Wales (subsidy), Victoria (interest-free loan), the ACT (interest free loan), and the NT (*huge* rebate). Summaries of these programs and what they offer can be found on our rebates and incentives page, along with details of incentives for solar panels, electric vehicles, hot water systems and energy-efficient appliances in each state and territory.

Western Australia’s Cook government also pledged in the lead-up to the state election that it would offer a $5,000 – $7,500 battery rebate and a means-tested no-interest loan element if it was returned to power. With WA Labor again leading the state, that scheme is expected to kick off on July 1 this year.

The Clean Energy Council has been pushing for a national home battery subsidy program offering up to $6,500 per household that it says would see an additional 410,000 batteries installed in homes and small businesses by 2050.

“This would provide cost of living relief to households and businesses, which can draw on the stored energy to use themselves or supply it back into the grid during peak periods,” says the CEC. “Even better, this would see all Australians save around $190 million on energy bills over the course of the program; the more power we can store for those peak times, the lower the bills for everyone.”

So, with battery incentives of some type reportedly to be offered by Labor and the Coalition to entice voters in the lead-up to the federal election  – but none yet formally announced – should you hold off on a battery or solar + storage installation? SolarQuotes founder Finn Peacock says waiting for battery rebates could cost you more.