Record home battery surge charges up Australia's biggest power station on Aussie rooftops, new research finds

The report found rooftop solar installations continued to shine brightly, with more than 139,080 units installed in the latter half of 2025. Rooftop solar installations cooled slightly during 2025 (254,664 systems, down from 300,375 in 2024), as they approach critical mass on the rooftops of almost a third of Aussie homes and as consumer demand shifts towards energy storage.

Overall, Australia’s share of rooftop solar continued to increase its contribution to the nation’s electricity supply last year, making up 14.2 per cent of the energy supplied to the grid in 2025 and almost doubling over the last five years since 2020, when it was at 7.2 per cent.

The report reveals Australians installed 2.6 GW of new capacity on their rooftops during 2025 – just short of the capacity of an Eraring coal-fired power station (2.9 GW), the largest in the country. Among the states and territories, New South Wales continues to lead the nation’s rooftop solar installed capacity (8 GW), while Queensland continues to lead in the number of installed systems (1.16 million).

“We know Australians have long had an appetite for energy independence to drive down bills and as a result have been adopting solar and battery technology at record pace for the last several years. However, recent Government home battery programs have strapped a rocket to this momentum, driving even stronger uptake over the past six months.

“We’ve seen phenomenal uptake of home batteries in Australia, with installations more than doubling in the space of one year. This increase in demand has also driven a surge in new batteries and inverter products available in the market, giving customers more choice than ever,” she said.

However, many households are not getting the full value of their solar and batteries unless they are part of a virtual power plant.

“We know energy customers who sign up to a Virtual Power Plant (VPP) are currently paying the lowest power bills in Australia, according to the most recent analysis by the ACCC. That’s why encouraging and incentivising stronger participation in VPPs by Australian households and businesses is more important than ever,” she said.

The ACCC’s Inquiry into the National Electricity Market report (July 2025) found that households with rooftop solar and a battery pay on average $323 per quarter for their energy bills but can save an additional $106 if they are signed up to a VPP, bringing them down to $217 per quarter on average (Figure 1 & 2).

By participating in a VPP program, households can receive bill credits or higher feed-in-tariffs for sharing stored energy. VPPs help reduce peak demand, allowing households to use and share their excess stored energy, driving wider system cost savings for all energy users.  By selling excess stored energy during high demand periods, households can also earn additional revenue.  This reduces the payback period and leads to a faster return on investment for a solar battery system.

“This in turn helps reduce strain on the national energy grid during peak times, contributing to overall grid stability and reliability – it’s a win, win,” Ms Trad said.

“That is why it is critical industry and governments work together to raise greater consumer awareness, trust and understanding about the many benefits of participating in VPPs, which is the next step to driving consumer energy bills down even further,” she said.