The home battery installation count in Western Australia is rapidly increasing, as too is the national total according to an update from Federal Minister for Climate Change and Energy Chris Bowen.
How Many Home Batteries Installed In Western Australia?
Since the formal launch of the Cheaper Home Batteries Program (CHBP) and WA Residential Battery Scheme (RBS) on July 1, 2025, more than 22,000 home batteries have been installed by Western Australian households and businesses. In just over the 6-month period involved, more than double the number of systems were in place that existed prior to the subsidies.
The tally represents 12 per cent of all installations under the CHBP to date; which tracks closely to the proportion of rooftop solar panel systems in WA (12.9%) against the national total. Six of the state’s postcodes are among Australia’s top 20 for battery uptake.
Given more than 553,000 solar power systems have been installed across the state, the current tally still only represents 4% of PV systems accompanied by energy storage; so there’s plenty of room for growth.
Minister Bowen said the installation numbers in WA were fantastic.
“We want more Western Australian households to have access to batteries that are good for bills and good for the grid.”
What About WA VPP Uptake?
There is an added sweetener in Western Australia, although it has a much too bitter aftertaste for some.
WA’s Residential Battery Scheme can be combined with the federal rebate. Synergy customers can get up to $1,300 and for Horizon customers, up to $3800. There’s also a no-interest loans aspect, up to $10,000.
But the catch is that unlike the CHBP, batteries must not only be Virtual Power Plant (VPP) capable but actually participate in a VPP program. And there’s not much of a choice in VPP providers in Western Australia currently. There’s Synergy Battery Rewards, Horizon Community Wave and Plico Energy VPP.
This requirement has been a deal-breaker for some, who have chosen to forego the state cash and just take the federal subsidy. Aside from being suspicious of VPPs, many were disappointed after the original state program was subject to substantial re-jiggering just three weeks prior to the CHBP hitting prime time.
While I don’t have any very recent figures for Residential Battery Scheme uptake, looking back at October last year, 10,575 batteries had been installed and commissioned in Western Australia since the CHBP launched. Around mid-November, the Cook Government said 4,500 solar batteries had been installed under the WA Residential Battery Scheme.
That works out to around 42% supported by both schemes.
But the Cook Government also said the program had received more than 18,000 applications by mid-November. However, there was no breakdown of application status provided; e.g., pending, approved, rejection and abandonment rates.
What’s The Latest National Solar Battery Installation Tally?
Minister Bowen said the CHBP has helped more than 190,000 households and small businesses across Australia so far — and around three-quarters of installations have occurred in the suburbs and regions.
From 1 July to 31 December 2025, Australians installed 184,672 home batteries. So, 2026 appears to have gotten off to a solid start with at least 5,300 new solar batteries in place despite holiday disruption.
The Cheaper Home Batteries Program In 2026
It became apparent very quickly after the CHBP program launched that its originally earmarked funding ($2.3bn) was not going to last the distance; which is 2030. In fact, it could have been exhausted as soon as June next year due to the way the rebate works makes big batteries particularly attractive.
More funding was announced, bringing the kitty to $7.2 billion over the next four years. Requirements have been tightened up on big batteries, and already-scheduled rebate reductions have been increased, along with reductions happening twice a year instead of once.
Learn more about the changes and impact of rebate reductions on a selected range of battery systems.
About Michael Bloch
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I have to admit, 42% take up on their VPP tied subsidy is higher than i thought they would get.
A breakdown on what the percentages are in their two different subsidy areas would be interesting. One would think where the higher subsidy is offered the take up might be better.
Many installers have stayed away from the WA Battery rebate with it’s golden egg interest free loan because it takes a very long time to get paid, by either.
It was November before pensioners and self funded retiress became eligible for the loan. Installers have had to become financial gurus amd lenders solar gurus. not a good mix.
And don’t get me started on the one group who should have been given a free ticket to the loan, the disabled. Becasue they generally don’t have a permanent income no go on eligibity. The fact that a 5kW inverter with 6.6kW of solar and a 12.8kWh battery gives them coolness in summer and warmth in winter at next to no cost, repaying the loan over 10 years brings a smile to those who won’t perform a Lazarus and get a :”real” job.
2500 loans approved in 6 months – not great. It”s not the lenders fault as they must abide by archiac lending rules which discriminates against the disabled.
Every install has to meet the satisfaction of five different bodies.
I am holding off for a vastly cheaper, longer life, less fire prone, Na+ based batteries. CATL has just opened its mega factory !
Govt Subsidy goes to 2030 although at reducing amounts so I am sure to be better off financially and with a safer product in my garage done by someone not rushing and overcharging !
I agree with waiting for Na batteries.
Australia has two companies selling them. I contacted both and only got a reply from one.
Saying “We have applied for the Sodium Ion Batteries to be added to the CEC Rebate List which is still pending so they are currently not eligible for the rebate.”
Even though I have a small solar system, they still worked out what I would need and understood I wanted to charge the battery from the grid on low rate and discharge back at the super off-peak rates.
I believe the first major player to enter this space will see great returns if right system is offered, Cant wait for this tech to become more widely known about, LIFEPO4 seems to still be the dominant battery chemistry yet very toxic and dangerous when it goes up and no petrol is not as dangerous as batterys, no firey has ever complained about ICE vehicle fires.
DJ,
ICE vehicle fire keep firies employed – there are 25 times as many ICE vehicle fires as BEV fires. (HEVs are just ICEs with an extra battery.) It is only obsolete Li-Ion batteries which are a fire problem, once you manage to light them – but only 4% of the ICE vehicle fire frequency.
If you burn a LFP battery, as in the dangerous petrol in a HEV setting it alight, the smoke is toxic – like the plastic interior. By itself, LFP is very safe – enormously safer than dangerous petrol – a product on the way out, thankfully.
Personally, we did not take up the WA State Rebate. A few reasons that contributed to my decision follows:
– SolarEdge required another box to be installed to be compatible, this box had very limited information, just a brochure, not even a size description, let alone what it did and how. Installers had little to no information on this.
– The $1300 was offset by the above box, but not by a known amount at the time I put in my application.
– The approval for systems and the 5kw Inverter limit being raised to 10kW (with no FIT) was late (months).
– Installers weren’t being paid in a timely fashion by the State govt. They were in trouble to be honest.
– If I wanted to get the most out of the Federal Rebate I had to install before 31 Dec 2025.
– VPP information is more like a brochure and PDS were sparse and unclear. Control of my Inverter and Battery was unclear.
The sum of the above meant it was easier and more attractive to for to just stick with the Federal Rebate, and glad I did!
The Western Australian Synergy VPP actually looks like a good deal, you get 70c per unit per activation event plus free usage during the event. Based on my 15.8kwh Fronius battery I will receive $11.06 per event plus free usage during the event. If they trigger the maximum 30 events per year I will receive $331.80 plus. Given the A1 supply tariff is currently 1.1605/day the 30 events will cover 285 days supply tariff. I didn’t factor this into my original purchase decision, because it seems too good to be true, but it is definitely a good sweetener. The way I look at it the more events the better.
ref. https://www.synergy.net.au/Your-home/Solar-battery-and-EV/Battery-Rewards?utm_medium=eml&utm_source=saf&utm_id=BR~BRPR~res~na~na
Whay you didnt factor in was once Synergy drains your battery to your min setting, mostly likely in the evening peak, you will need power from the grid to use through the rest of the night and to recharge it to some extent before the next day in case its overcast or rainy. Then there is the reduced life of the battery as a result of extra recharging cycles.There is a good youtube video by a WA installer advising all the benefits and shortcomings and shows a spreadsheet over 10 yrs that basically said your no better off and on some cases worse off.
My only other comments is the VPP contract is only for 3 yrs so you can opt out. This the trump card if this isnt working out for you if you go ahead.
These are piffling concerns though. I might use an extra dollar or two buying back some electricity at half the price I just sold it for, and my battery reaches a similar depth of discharge whether it runs my AC or my neighbour’s… whoopee.
I only gave a few egs, see youtube for detailed feedback.