2024 Solar Installation Report Reveals Technical Trends and Installer Rankings Across Australia
Leading installer Sunboost captured 3.09% of Australia’s solar market in 2024, installing 99,415 kilowatts across 10,432 systems according to new findings. The Solar Nerds research platform has just released their annual solar installer performance analysis, giving electrical contractors unprecedented visibility into market leaders, technical preferences, and evolving installation standards across Australia’s thriving solar sector. The annual report highlights installer leaderboards, system size distribution, postcode performance, and STC trading metrics across all Australian states and territories.
The report’s national data reveals the top 10 solar installers across Australia, ranked by total kilowatt capacity installed throughout 2024. Each installer’s market share and total number of systems are precisely tracked, offering a clear picture of market leadership.
Notably, the top three installers combined accounted for 5.75% of all installations nationally, highlighting the competitive concentration at the upper end of the market.
Accompanying these rankings is a comprehensive breakdown of installations by system size, categorised into 0–15 kW, 15–40 kW, and 40+ kW segments. This segmentation provides valuable insights for electrical contractors focusing on specific market niches.
The report breaks down installation performance across all Australian states and territories, offering specialised insights for contractors operating in specific regions. This state-specific data allows electrical contractors to benchmark their performance against regional leaders and identify growth opportunities in their operating areas.
For electrical contractors specialised in specific system capacities, the report offers dedicated leaderboards for each system size category. These segmented leaderboards are invaluable for contractors looking to understand the technical specifications that dominate each market segment.
Imraan Thanawalla, Managing Director of Solaris Finance (owner of Solar Nerds), mentioned, “The technical breakdown allows contractors to identify which system sizes are experiencing the most growth in their regions.” This information is crucial for inventory planning and training priorities.
The report provides a detailed analysis of Small-scale Technology Certificate (STC) trading, with rankings of the top STC traders nationally (top 10) and by state (top 5). This data includes volumes traded and market share percentages, offering valuable intelligence for contractors navigating the STC landscape, particularly as the Clean Energy Regulator continues to update STC requirements and processes.
The analysis reveals that Formbay, the leading STC trader, processed certificates equivalent to 940,899 kilowatts of solar capacity, with a market share of 29.20%.
Understanding the STC market dynamics is essential for electrical contractors looking to optimise their business operations and provide accurate advice to clients on available financial incentives.
A key feature of the report is its temporal analysis, showing installation volumes over the previous 12 months with month-by-month comparisons. This data is presented through intuitive bar charts that highlight seasonal patterns and growth trajectories.
The report also includes quarter-over-quarter comparisons, allowing contractors to identify whether the solar installation market is expanding or contracting in specific regions. This trend analysis provides critical context for interpreting the current year’s performance data.
The 2024 Yearly Report includes a special awards section recognising excellence across various categories: top installers in each system size category (0–15 kW, 15–40 kW, 40–100 kW); overall performance awards for top 5, top 10, and top 20 installers; and segmentation by state or territory.
These awards offer benchmarks of excellence for electrical contractors aspiring to improve their market position and technical capabilities.
Complementing the data-driven sections, the report features results from an extensive industry survey, addressing topics highly relevant to electrical contractors:
- Preferred inverters, batteries, and solar panels among installation professionals
- Most popular design software being utilised in the field
- Financial models (cash vs. finance) being employed for system sales
These insights can help contractors optimise their solar deployment protocols and equipment selections, which often align with equipment performance ratings from independent testing organisations like the IEC.
The report’s postcode analysis identifies the highest-performing areas for solar installations, both nationally (top 10) and by state (top 5). Year-over-year growth and decline figures provide context for understanding which regions are emerging as solar installation hotspots.
The data highlights that postcode 2765 led the nation with 24,703 kilowatts installed, representing an 8.59% increase compared to 2023. Among the top five postcodes nationally, both Victoria and South Australia had two each, underlining each state’s strong solar adoption.
This geographical data is valuable for contractors planning expansion strategies or focusing their marketing efforts on high-potential areas. Understanding what size solar system customers in different postcodes typically choose can inform inventory and training decisions.
Drawing from the industry survey, the report examines how customers are financing their solar installations, including cash purchases versus client funding solutions. This information is particularly relevant for electrical contractors who need to understand consumer purchasing behaviours.
The 2024 Yearly Solar Installation Report provides a comprehensive, data-driven overview of Australia’s solar installation landscape. For electrical contractors, engineers, and professionals in the electrical industry, the detailed technical specifications, installer rankings, and market trends offer invaluable insights for business planning and competitive positioning.
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