Record amounts of battery energy storage systems were installed in Australian homes and businesses in 2022, a new analysis by energy industry consultancy SunWiz has found.
Installations of batteries linked to solar systems in 2022 grew by 55% when compared to the previous year's installations, as shown by a compilation of government, industry, and energy market operator data sources.
According to SunWiz's assessment, 47,100 residential energy storage systems were installed in 2022. Warwick Johnston, Managing Director of SunWiz believes this is down to a number of variables.
"Australians responded to Russia's invasion of Ukraine, COVID, the energy price crisis and worsening climate fuelled disasters by installing home solar systems linked to batteries, in an effort to increase their energy independence, resilience and self-reliance."
"With skyrocketing electricity prices, this data shows Australian households and businesses are taking back power from the energy system by turning to cheaper, renewable sources of energy.
''Solar battery installation will enable free energy generated by the sun to be stored for later use. Homes and businesses set up with solar and storage are guaranteed lower power bills which will be a relief to many as we go into winter'' said Johnston.
Installing solar and storage together is becoming more common-place as Australia upgrades its energy system and looks for climate solutions. There was one battery energy storage system installed for every seven solar power systems installed last year. This is up from one in 12 in 2021.
"The cumulative total number of Australian homes and businesses with solar and batteries has hit 180,000. That's still a long way off the 3 million homes with solar panels, but many solar households are seeing the light – with one third of battery installations being retrofitted to existing solar systems" added Johnston.
Every Australian state and territory saw significant growth in battery installations last year, and all but one state (South Australia) installed a record number of battery installations.
Storage by state:
Victoria and NSW installed the greatest amount of energy storage systems in 2022
South Australia leads in per-household uptake
Tasmania and the ACT were the highest growth markets in Australia in 2022, installing four times more batteries in 2022 than in 2021
The national tally of home energy storage systems grew to 1920 MWh in 2022. That's enough energy storage to meet the daily electricity needs of 128,000 typical households.
SunWiz predicts further growth in the energy storage industry will occur in 2023.
The 2023 ANNUAL SUNWIZ AUSTRALIAN BATTERY REPORT can be found here: https://www.sunwiz.com.au/battery-market-report-australia-2023/
