Australians’ desire to take control of their power bills has continued to see rooftop solar uptake boom in 2024, according to the Clean Energy Council’s bi-annual Rooftop Solar and Storage Report (Jul-Dec 2024) released today, which found for the fifth consecutive year, more than 300,000 Australian homes and businesses installed rooftop solar.
The report found household battery installations also increased, yet only a third (28.4%) of Aussie solar lovers had a home battery by the end of 2024, with two thirds missing out an opportunity to almost double their savings -the findings prompting the Clean Energy Council to reignite its call for a national home battery rebate incentive of up to $6500 per household.
Rooftop solar generated a total of 30,178 GWh of electricity in 2024 - 12.4 per cent of Australia’s total supply, which was up from 11.2 per cent in 2023, and almost doubled from 6.5 per cent in 2020. There were 159,011 rooftop solar systems installed during the latter half of 2024, bringing the annual total to 300,075, surpassing four million rooftop solar installations in November 2024.
In the second half of last year, 45,233 home battery units were sold – up 55 per cent on the same period the year prior - bringing the total number of household batteries installed in 2024 to 74,582 - up from 46,127 during 2023. There are now 185,798 home batteries currently installed across Australia.
Among Australian states, the report found New South Wales led the way with the most home battery sales (14,686 installations), followed closely by Victoria (10,996) and Queensland (8,555).
Clean Energy Council General Manager – Distributed Energy, Con Hristodoulidis, said the results reinforce the importance of establishing a national home battery rebate scheme, to ease the upfront costs associated with adopting home batteries.
Over four million Australian households and businesses have now adopted rooftop solar in Australia, saving households more than $6 billion annually on their energy bills. Rooftop solar saves an average Aussie family $1500 on their annual bill, this almost doubles if you add a battery.Con Hristodoulidis Clean Energy Council General Manager - Distributed Energy
“However, only one in three rooftop solar owners have a battery storage system installed, despite its capability to save households up to 80 per cent for a combined solar battery system.
“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,” he said.
The Clean Energy Council’s 'It’s time to back batteries’ campaign shows a national rebate of up to $6500 per household could slash energy bills, as well as lowering system-wide costs for all energy users by $190 million by 2030.
“Home batteries provide flexibility for rooftop solar owners as to when their electricity is generated, used and stored,” Mr Hristodoulidis said.
“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,” he said.
ENDS
For more information or to arrange an interview, contact:
Liam Straughan
Clean Energy Council Media Officer
+61 409 470 683