Bite-sized report: Rooftop solar and storage trends accelerate

The latest Clean Energy Council (CEC) report reveals that over 300,000 rooftop solar systems were installed across Australia in 2024, pushing the national total past 4 million. Rooftop PV remains a critical contributor to Australia’s evolving energy mix, supplying 12.4% of total electricity generation in 2024 — up from 11.2% in 2023, and up from just 6.5% in 2020.

Now in its third edition, the biannual report tracks deployment trends in rooftop solar and behind-the-meter battery energy storage systems (BESS). Installation data was provided by SunWiz, with additional insights from Green Energy Markets and Clean Energy Council accreditation records.

Rooftop PV capacity remains strong

Total installed rooftop PV capacity for 2024 reached 3 GW from 300,375 systems, maintaining solar’s strong year-on-year growth.

This capacity was more than double the 1.1 GW of newly commissioned large-scale renewable projects in the same period, reinforcing the dominance of distributed solar in Australia’s energy transition.

Behind-the-meter battery uptake accelerates

• Battery installations surged to nearly 75,000 units in 2024, up from 46,127 the previous year.
• Australia now hosts 185,798 residential battery systems, with 28.4% of new rooftop PV installations in the second half of 2024 paired with a battery.
• Despite this growth, battery penetration remains relatively low — fewer than 5% of solar-equipped households currently operate a BESS.

The CEC attributes this lag to the high capital cost of batteries, with average systems priced between $12,000 and $15,000. Nevertheless, the potential bill savings are significant: households with both solar and storage systems can reduce electricity bills by up to 80%, nearly double the savings from solar alone (typically around $1,500 annually).

Export trends and system orchestration

According to the Australian Energy Regulator, 27% of rooftop solar households exported electricity to the grid in 2024. However, only 4% of customers — typically those with storage or smart systems — were able to export during peak demand periods, underscoring the need for greater investment in system orchestration and flexible export capabilities.

Grid-integrated batteries and participation in virtual power plants (VPPs) are increasingly seen as key enablers of grid resilience, enabling distributed assets to provide firming capacity during peak demand or low-supply events.

Policy recommendations

To address cost barriers and accelerate battery adoption, the CEC is advocating for a national home battery rebate scheme of up to $6,500 per household. This policy, they argue, would catalyse the installation of an additional 410,000 batteries by 2050, adding 2,054 MW of distributed storage capacity to the National Electricity Market (NEM).

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 would almost double with the addition of a battery.

“However, less than five per cent of 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,” commented Clean Energy Council General Manager of Distributed Energy, Con Hristodoulidis.

“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.

“Home batteries provide flexibility for rooftop solar owners as to when their electricity is generated, used and stored,” 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.”

Global context: Australia risks falling behind

Tim Buckley, Director at Climate Energy Finance (CEF), contextualised the local trends within the global transformation underway in solar and storage:

“Solar PV’s disruption is happening at a speed beyond imagination, turbocharged by BESS firming,” he said. “2024 saw global solar installs reach almost 600 GW, totally reshaping global energy markets.”

The CEF expects significant further growth, with installs expected to reach 1,000 TWh annually as soon as 2030.

Buckley highlighted China’s central role in this shift, driven by massive state-led investments in PV manufacturing, deployment, and exports, leading to global cost deflation across the solar value chain.

The same momentum is now evident in utility- and residential-scale batteries: “BESS has more recently seen remarkable growth, fast to deploy, at a larger scale and longer duration. BESS is unlocking more of solar PV’s value and utility,” Buckley said.

“China is at the centre of these shifts and is the ‘gift horse’ in this transition, adding extraordinary new industrial value as it undertakes world-leading investment in solar, battery and electric vehicle supply chains, both within China and increasingly globally.”

Australia’s rooftop solar success story is undeniable — but to fully unlock its value, the nation must now shift focus from generation to integration. Batteries and smart systems are critical to turning intermittent solar into firm, dispatchable energy that supports both households and the grid. With the right policy signals, millions of Australian rooftops can do more than generate power; they can power a resilient, flexible, and affordable energy future.