More home batteries were installed across Australia in the second half of 2024 than for the entire 12 months of 2023, new data has revealed, as more and more households add storage to their rooftop solar systems.
The Clean Energy Council (CEC) half-yearly tally of residential solar and energy storage installations counts 45,233 home battery units sold in the final six months of 2024 – a 55% increase on the same period the year before.
The comparatively big half-year takes the total number of home batteries installed in 2024 to 74,582 – up from 46,127 during 2023 – and boosts the total number installed around Australia, to date, to 185,798 units.
Source: Clean Energy Council
The CEC data paints a picture of growing investment in storage, as households seek to use more of the solar power they generate, to maximise electricity bill savings.
But the CEC says the fact that only a small proportion of solar homes are investing in battery storage underlines the need for a national rebate scheme, to help reduce the upfront cost barrier.
“Rooftop solar saves an average Aussie family $1,500 on their annual bill, this almost doubles if you add a battery,” said CEC general manager of distributed energy, Con Hristodoulidis on Monday.
“In a cost-of-living crisis, it’s clear the upfront cost of purchasing a home battery, which averages around $12,000 – $15,000, is a barrier to entry for many people, and this is why we need a national battery rebate scheme.”
The CEC is among a number of industry groups calling for a federal scheme to incentivise home battery uptake – a policy lever both the Albanese Labor government and the Coalition seem willing to pull, but with a election date due to be announced any day now, neither has made any firm commitments.
The CEC, like the Smart Energy Council, has been calling for national home battery rebate of up to $6,500 per household.
The CEC’s It’s time to back batteries says a battery rebate could be incorporated into the existing national rooftop solar rebate, the SRES – a scheme that is legislated and well understood with a product and installer regulatory framework that consumers trust.
“Home batteries provide flexibility for rooftop solar owners as to when their electricity is generated, used and stored,” says Hristodoulidis.
“Batteries that are integrated into the grid (also known as orchestration, or virtual power plants) have the added advantage of supplying electricity to the grid when it is needed most, reducing costs for everyone and creating a more resilient energy system.”
Having more home batteries soaking up more of the rooftop solar that can flood grids in the middle of the day also helps solve a number of issues for the energy market operator – smoothing out the infamous solar duck curve, including the end-of-day peaks in demand.
For households feeling the pinch, a national rebate could combine with the growing number of state-based incentive schemes, to really drive down the cost of adding storage.
In New South Wales, the state Labor government’s Peak Demand Reduction Scheme (PDRS) opened to applications in November, offering to shave $2,400 off the cost of installing a home battery and offering $500 rebates to battery owners who join a virtual power plant.
The incentive aims to drive the uptake of home batteries in the state where rooftop solar installations recently passed the 1 million mark – and which consistently leads the nation in the addition of new distributed PV capacity.
Already, it appears to have had some impact, with NSW topping battery sales in the second half of 2024 with 14,686 after a strong finish to the year.
Victoria, which recently swapped its battery rebate for a zero interest loan incentive, recorded 10,996 battery sales for the year, putting it in second place nationally, just ahead of Queensland.
Queensland, where the former Labor government introduced an up to $4,000 Battery Booster rebate with a focus on low income households, chalked up 8,555 battery sales for the year.
Western Australia, meanwhile, will be one to watch, with the recently re-elected Labor government there pledging to launch the nation’s most generous home battery rebate, yet, from July.
The Cook government’s $387 million Residential Battery Scheme aims to underwrite more than 200 megawatt hours (MWh) of small-scale storage by offering rebates of up to $5,000 per household, or $7,500 for households on the regional Horizon Power grid, backed by a no-interest loan program.
Sophie is editor of One Step Off The Grid and deputy editor of its sister site, Renew Economy. Sophie has been writing about clean energy for more than a decade.
