{"id":74415,"date":"2023-05-18T01:18:31","date_gmt":"2023-05-17T14:48:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/?p=74415"},"modified":"2023-05-22T12:14:17","modified_gmt":"2023-05-22T01:44:17","slug":"home-batteries-finally-taking-off","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/home-batteries-finally-taking-off\/","title":{"rendered":"Home Batteries Finally Taking Off?"},"content":{"rendered":"\r\n
\"Fronius

Installation by DJM Electrical<\/p><\/div>\r\n

This year’s Smart Energy Conference was abuzz with news on solar and batteries — more abuzz than a bucket of Queensland prawns on a hot tin roof.\u00a0 The hottest of hot topics was home batteries — not because dodgy ones were spouting flame — but because their installation rate is soaring.\u00a0 If growth continues, by the end of 2027, Australia could have as many home batteries as some optimists predicted for the year 2020.<\/p>\r\n

An excellent source of battery information is Warick Johnston, Managing Director of Sunwiz.<\/p>\r\n

Sunwiz<\/a> is a solar consultancy company that does loads of market research, including on batteries.\u00a0 They’ve given us interesting information in the past, and that is appreciated.\u00a0 Warwick Johnston has been in the solar industry for 18 years.\u00a0 Long enough for us to give him the nickname “Warwick-san” on account of how he’s not Japanese.\u00a0 (It’s like how we call people with red hair “Blue”.)\u00a0 He spoke at the Smart Energy Conference, and I’ll tell you the major points he made on home battery uptake.\u00a0 While it wasn’t too far from what I expected, some points surprised me.<\/p>\r\n

I didn’t attend the talk in person, but neither did he, so we’re even.\u00a0 He appeared in video form. He wasn’t there in person due to family health reasons.\u00a0 I guess he must be one of “those” sorts.\u00a0 You know — people who love their family.\u00a0 While there’s nothing wrong with that, I find that if you start loving your family, they expect you to love them all the time!<\/p>\r\n

50% Growth In Residential Batteries<\/h2>\r\n

The big news is how battery installations are finally taking off, years after battery optimists<\/a> thought they would.\u00a0 Around 47,100 home batteries<\/a> were installed last year.\u00a0 That’s an increase of 50% from 2021. Commercial battery installations were also up.\u00a0 The only area that saw a decline was utility-scale batteries.\u00a0 Australia leads the world in building big batteries, so it may seem strange fewer megawatt-hours were added last year than the one before.\u00a0 But because they’re so big, there’s a lot of lumpiness in how much capacity is added each year, so it’s not unexpected.<\/p>\r\n

South Australia is the state with the highest portion of battery households.\u00a0 There are several reasons, but the main one is the state’s generous battery subsidy that ended\u00a0in July last year<\/a>.\u00a0 By my calculations, around 1 in 60 South Australian homes has a battery.\u00a0 That’s 1.7%.<\/p>\r\n

Home Battery Installations By Type<\/h2>\r\n

Warwick-san divided last year’s home battery installations into six categories.\u00a0 From the largest percentage of installations to the smallest, they were…<\/p>\r\n