Australian Solar Systems Interest Index – September 2020

The latest auSSII report provides a snapshot showing what Australians were shopping for in solar power and battery systems during August.

Solar System Sizing

As in June and July, August saw nearly 83% of prospective solar buyers with a system size in mind wanting 6kW capacity or bigger. While July was the first month we saw 6kW+ just eclipsing 6kW, 6kW took the lead again in August – but only just.

Interest in small systems (3kW and 4kW) dropped back significantly from 5% of all quote requests with a capacity selected in July to just 3% in August.

Solar Power Purchase Timeframe

Interest in purchasing a system immediately dropped again in August to just over 20% (22% in July and 25% in June). Some of this was attributable to the situation in Melbourne, where installations aren’t able to take place at the moment – but installers are still providing quotes and consulting remotely in preparation for restrictions being lifted. There’s going to be a bunch of solar installations in Melbourne when that happens.

As in July, 97% of Australians using the SolarQuotes service in August were considering buying a system any time from immediately to within 3 months.

Price Vs Quality Considerations

There was a bit of an uptick in the proportion of solar buyers wanting “top quality” (most expensive) system – just under 13% compared to just under 12% in July. Close to 79% were interested in a solar package providing a good balance between quality and cost, and a just over 8% a good quality budget system – so a small drop on the latter.

Advanced Solar Monitoring

63% were interested in optional solar consumption monitoring in August, well down on July’s 69% and June and May’s (70%).  Advanced solar monitoring offers a number of benefits. As mentioned on the SQ blog last week, added to that list is helping to identify high voltage issues.

Interest In Microinverters

Microinverter interest was 14% in August; same as in July and June. If you’re not aware of what a microinverter is, it’s basically a miniaturised inverter installed with each solar panel, performing the same role as a conventional solar inverter. You can discover more about microinverters here.

“Battery-Ready” Solar Systems

A little more than 5% of Australians using our service were interested in a “battery-ready” solar power system in August, similar to July. A solar battery can be added to just about any system, but knowing ahead of time that storage may be desired down the track can help with system design.

Solar + Battery Installation

There was another increase in the proportion wanting a battery installed at the same time as solar panels – 13.5% (12% in July, 9% in June and 7% in May). Prior to May, a concurrent battery installation was consistently registering very little interest and August’s result is the highest level we’ve seen since we first started publishing the auSSII report around 3 years ago.

If you’re thinking of installing energy storage along with a PV system, try out SQ’s solar and battery calculator; which will show you how savings are affected by a battery and solar panels separately.

Battery System Size Selection

Among requests for battery pricing where a capacity was noted:

• 1 – 5 kWh: ~14% (July: 15%)
• 5 – 10 kWh: ~50% (July: 50%)
• 10 kWh +: ~35% (July: 34%)

55% of those interested in energy storage didn’t select a capacity and requested advice on battery system sizing.

Intended Primary Battery Use

Just under 4% wanted a battery for backup as the primary application (3% in July, 5% in June, 6% May), while 42% were intending to use it primarily for minimising grid electricity consumption (39% in July, 37% in June and 35% in May). 54% noted a battery would be used for both applications (58% in July, 57% in June and 59% in May).

Electricity Bills Pre-Solar

In August, around 49% of quote requesters who knew what their average quarterly electricity bills were selected  between $500 and $1,000 – not much change from July. 12% stated over $1,000 a quarter – the highest level for at least three months.

About SolarQuotes auSSII Reports

SolarQuotes matches Australian solar buyers with up to three pre-vetted installers participating in the SQ network. The auSSII report is based on details provided during the quote request process.

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