More than 7000 home battery systems installed in H1 2017

Household batteries are flying off the shelf twice as fast this year as Australians look for new ways to control their power use and protect against price hikes, according to the Climate Media Centre.

New research shows more than 7000 home battery systems were installed across Australia in the first half of 2017 — exceeding the 6500 sales recorded for all of 2016. Analysts predict the market will treble in 2017 (with more than 20,000 battery installations by year’s end) on the back of even stronger sales in the months to come.

The SunWiz 2017 Mid-Year Battery Report reveals the cost of batteries has fallen marginally (5%) since January, primarily due to increased competition among wholesalers. However, the payback time for customers buying a solar storage system is now considerably quicker in most parts of the country due to major power price hikes.

SunWiz founder and report author Warwick Johnston said anyone in Australia is now able to pay back the cost of a small battery (5 kWh) within a decade, while those living in Adelaide and Brisbane enjoy the best bang for buck with payback time as low as six years.

“We are already seeing extraordinary growth in the Australian battery market despite little change in the price point, with a doubling of the market already appearing locked in this year on top of a 13-fold increase in 2016,” Johnston said.

“Solar and battery installers say they are being inundated with inquiries, but many people are delaying purchase until the price point drops. Once we hit a tipping point in payback time, the sales of household batteries will skyrocket — becoming as common as the backyard swimming pool is today in the years ahead.”

According to the report, NSW is the number one battery hotspot in the country, being home to 21% of installations taking place so far this year. Queensland was a close second with 18%, followed by Victoria (12%). The report also found that growth in industrial-sized storage projects is already soaring, with 156 MWh of storage slated for this year (dwarfing the 11 MWh installed in 2016); and the majority of household batteries are being sold in combination with a rooftop solar system, rather than to customers who already have solar at home.