Interest from Australians in purchasing an electricity bill-busting solar power system showed no signs of slowing in May – and prospective buyers were again thinking big.
Solar System Capacity Selection
In May, close to 82% of Australians using our service who had a system size in mind wanted a 6kW solar system or larger. The proportion has been increasing fairly steadily this year and the gap between interest in 6kW capacity and those wanting an even bigger system is continuing to close up.
Solar Purchasing Timeframe
Interest in signing on the dotted line for a system immediately dropped from 23% in April to a little under 22% in May. Once again, 98% who requested quotes were considering buying any time from immediately to within 3 months.
Price Vs. Quality
Also dropping slightly was the proportion of potential solar buyers wanting a “top quality” (most expensive) solar power system at just over 12% (13% in April), while 78% were wanting a system offering a balance between quality and cost, and 9% a good quality budget system.
Consumption Monitoring Option
There was quite a jump in interest in advanced solar monitoring, from 67% in April (65% in March, February and January), to close to 70% in May.
Microinverter Option
Interest in microinverters eased to just over 14%. (April:15%, March:16%, February:18%). As mentioned last month, perhaps there’s some price sensitivity as microinverters will add to the cost of a system.
It will be interesting to see what happens once Enphase releases the IQ8 here in Australia. You can learn more about microinverters here, but one of the benefits not mentioned on that page we’ll see with the IQ8 is “stand-alone” functionality, enabling a home without a battery to continue making use of solar energy in a blackout. A currently available string inverter with this feature is the Delta E5.
Battery Ready Systems
While just about all solar power system are “battery ready”; some are more ready than others – so we ask a question about this on our quote request form to help potential installers with system design aspects. Close to 11% indicated interest in a battery ready solar power system in May – down on April’s 12%.
Concurrent Solar + Battery Installation
We’re still not seeing any real indication of a home battery revolution here in Australia among new solar system buyers. Only a whisker over 7% expressed interest in a concurrent battery installation in May (8% in April and 6% for some months prior).
Our newish solar and battery calculator continues to see significant use, which is very handy for households considering energy storage. Not only does it provide full system payback details, it also shows how savings are affected by a battery and solar panels separately – and Australians will be discovering solar-only provides the best bang for buck.
A few years back, there were some very optimistic predictions made for home solar battery uptake in Australia that haven’t even come close to eventuating. As for what went wrong, SQ’s Ronald tackles the topic in-depth in this recent article; but basically it’s all about the bucks.
Battery Capacity
Where interest in a concurrent battery installation was indicated and a capacity range known, just over 11% wanting pricing and details on 1-5kWh battery system. (April: 13%, March: 15%, February: 16%). 50% were interested in 5-10kWh (April: 48%: March: 45%, February: 41%), and 38% in 10kWh+ (April: 39% March: 40%, February: 43%).
There’s a trend towards 5-10kWh increasingly considered the sweet spot by potential buyers. As to whether that’s what they end up with is a different story and there are still many considering batteries wanting advice on sizing – 55% in May, up from ~51% in April.
Primary Battery Use
There was a jump in the proportion wanting a battery primarily for backup last month; from 3% in April to close to 6% in May. Around 35% were wanting a battery mainly for minimising grid use (36% in April) and 59% for both applications (61% in April).
Quarterly Electricity Bills
Where electricity bill amounts were known, 48% indicated their quarterly bills were between $500 and $1,000 on average – that’s up a little on April, March and February’s 46%. However, just under 11% were paying $1,000 or more – down on April and March’s 12%.
About auSSII Reports
Thousands of Australians use our service every month to request solar quotes, who we match to up to three carefully pre-vetted solar providers. It’s the responses to the questions we ask during the process that form the basis of the auSSII report.
About SQ’s Solar Sales Leads
More than 472,000 Australians have used our services since 2009; providing quality installers with quality leads. Learn more about our sales leads service.
Reproducing Content From auSSII Reports
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About Michael Bloch
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