Australia is on track to surpass 2024 home solar ESS installation records, with July data from Melbourne-based solar consultancy SunWiz indicating up to 220,000 systems could be installed in the first 12 months of the federal government's Cheaper Home Batteries subsidy.
Across the month, 72 batteries were installed for every 100 new rooftop PV system. But during the week of July 15 to 21, the ratio surged to 137 batteries per 100 solar ESS installs, "reflecting a temporary but powerful flip in market dynamics," said SunWiz.
SunWiz said the potential trajectory is based on 19,000 registrations in the Cheaper Home Batteries subsidy's first 31 days.
The SunWiz figures show that South Australia leads the solar battery storage ratio of all states and territories, 150:100, and record uptake nationwide is seeing a shift to larger battery sizes, with the average battery sizes jumping from 10-12 kWh in previous years to 17 kWh in July.
This results in 300 MWh of new solar battery storage capacity being added in a single month, or the equivalent of 10% of the entire existing installed base of home batteries.
Over 115 MWh of battery capacity was registered during the week commencing 21 July, which SunWiz describes as astonishing figure compared to the 852 MWh installed over all of 2024, most of which came in the second half of the year.
Registrations peaked at 1,400 in a single day, before stabilizing to around 1,000 per day by the end of July, with SunWiz expecting this level to remain steady over the coming months, with further growth dependent on new stock arrivals and expanded installer training.
