From the federal battery rebate frenzy to retail giants flexing their muscles in the solar market, it has been a game-changing year for home electrification in Australia. Here’s a rundown of our biggest stories across 2025.
The Federal Battery Rebate
Without question, the most significant stories of the year revolved around the hugely popular Cheaper Home Batteries Program:
- First announced during the election campaign, the federal battery rebate had its rules locked in after Labor was returned to power;
- In terms of adding storage capacity to the grid, the scheme has been revolutionary – in October we estimated it was on track to add a coal plant worth of power in 18 months;
- The rebate has had its share of issues however – incentivising oversized batteries, mandating strange rules and overlapping with state schemes to the point many were watered down or scrapped;
- Less than a month after the program launched, SolarQuotes resident fact checker Ronald Brakels was the first to warn the rebate was on track to exhaust its funding years ahead of schedule – and in November we flagged it could run out by mid 2026.
- The federal government in December revealed a host of changes to keep the program sustainable, and we updated our rebate and battery calculators to ensure they reflected the latest rules.
Retail Giants Join The Fray
Home electrification truly entered the mainstream in 2025, with corporate giants like Aldi & Bunnings attempting to carve out a space in the market.
- Bunnings started stocking home EV chargers, but we weren’t terribly impressed in our January writeup. Regardless, the big green shed doubled down by launching solar and battery “subscriptions”.
- Aldi too entered the fray, chucking solar and batteries into its bargain bin in February, before expanding their offer in September.
- SolarQuotes founder Finn Peacock described, with some concern, the arrival of the big corporates as the “Aldification of solar”.
Best Solar, Batteries & Installers of 2025
As usual, we announced the winners of our Installers Choice Awards:
- Best Solar Panels 2025 – Aiko Solar;
- Best Home Batteries 2025 – Tesla & Sungrow;
- Best Solar Inverters 2025 – Fronius;
- Best Hot Water Heat Pumps 2025 – iStore;
- Best EV Chargers 2025 – Fronius.
We’re already canvassing our installers for the 2026 edition – it will be interesting to see which brands best navigated the chaos of the past year to emerge on top this time round.
In October we kicked off a new tradition – the inaugural SolarQuotes Awards event in Melbourne, where we crowned RESINC Solar as Australia’s Best Solar Installer, based on a weighted average of customer verdicts on the SolarQuotes reviews platform.
Big Brands Recall Products
It wasn’t all positive news for home electrification. Among the negatives were some prominent brands issuing product recalls:
- We revealed Sigenergy’s issues with melted inverters, which was shortly followed by a recall of some of the company’s products;
- There was also a recall of some Powerwall 2 batteries, and more on the seemingly neverending saga of the LG home battery recall.
Practical Guides To Home Electrification
As always we offered plenty of practical tips on everything home electrification related.
- Solar tips on cleaning panels, navigating wild weather and whether you need to bin your old solar if you’re getting the battery rebate;
- Home battery tips on what to check after your installer leaves, why not to be a tightarse on your battery choice, and whether to join a VPP;
- Hot water heat pump tips on using timers, the importance of getting capacity right, and why Finn went so far as to rip his solar thermal off his roof;
- Money saving tips for getting off gas (without getting stung by huge fees).
Staying Cool Through Summer
To conclude the year we expanded our coverage of one of the best ways to save money through home electrification – reverse cycle air conditioning. We published:
- A deep dive guide to air conditioning along with a recommended brands chart;
- An air conditioner reviews hub – including verdicts on big brands like Mitsubishi Electric and Panasonic;
- A guide from Finn on how to get solar to work hand-in-glove with air conditioning.
All in all, its been another huge year in solar and home electrification. Thanks to all our readers for tuning in and keeping us accountable in the comments – no doubt the solar coaster will give us plenty more to debate in 2026. Sign up to our free weekly newsletter to stay up to date as it all unfolds.
About Max Opray
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Certainly been a big year.
Thanks for keeping us abreast of all the news!!
Hi Solar Quotes.
Regarding home battery storage, I am wondering if there is a cheaper and safer option than lithium chemistry which will do the same job.
I know that lithium is good for cars because of its high energy density, but you are not dragging a battery around like a car does.
It seems to me that the most important considerations for a home battery are safety, cost, efficiency and useful life. If size is the penalty, it shouldn’t matter, most homes would have a corner where could sit and do its thing.
Would love to be enlightened.
Hi Francis,
If you want bulletproof then Lithium Titanate is the commercially available best option as far as I know.
Zenarji sell them for a 48V nominal system.
Otherwise lead acid is still widely available but doesn’t attract a subsidy.
Search the blog under “lead acid” for more.
I want to thank Finn and the team for the useful information you have provided throughout 2025, I read everything!
The issue of the battery rebate has been very confusing, thus I have not gone ahead with having one installed.
I was looking at a heat pump; however when I informed installers that I have a very old electric hot water system in the roof space, the price of a heat pump skyrocketed or they would not touch it at all.
I also want to have a heat pump installed at a country property. At the moment the hot water heater is on bottled gas, which is extremely expensive, any suggestions would be much appreciated.
Thanks again for all your help.
Hi Judi,
I swear plumbers are useless sometimes but if you get the right one, they’ll be able to sort out a ceiling unit.
Speak to Wilson Hot Water in Melbourne and they might even attach a heat pump to one.
Sadly my old mate mentioned in this article has just about retired.
https://www.solarquotes.com.au/blog/copper-solar-hot-water/
Judi Lawton: – “…any suggestions would be much appreciated.”
Do your properties experience below freezing ambient outdoor air temperatures? CO₂ (R744) refrigerant-based heat pump water heater (HPWH) systems are generally superior for below-freezing conditions compared with other heat pump types because CO₂ refrigerant’s properties allow them to maintain high heating capacity & efficiency even in very cold air, down to -7°C or lower. CO₂-refrigerant HPWHs generally don’t require an additional resistive element.
Brands with CO₂ (R744) refrigerant:
* Reclaim Energy
* Sanden
* Thermann
Compare heat pump prices & specifications side-by-side.
https://www.solarquotes.com.au/hot-water/heat-pump/
See the performance data of an earlier model Sanden HPWH system at:
https://www.solarquotes.com.au/blog/heat-pumps-explained/#comment-1581814
My experiences with a Sanden HPHW unit:
https://www.solarquotes.com.au/blog/are-heat-pumps-better/#comment-1583495