Solar panel install statistics in Australia

Solar panels continue to be installed on household rooftops in Australia at a steady rate, meaning more households and businesses are reducing their carbon emissions and reaping the savings benefits of solar.

According to Australia’s Clean Energy Regulator, as at the end of September 2024, a total of 3.912 million solar power systems have been installed on Australian homes and small businesses.

With an estimated number of 10.8 Million homes in Australia, this brings the total of all households in Australia that have solar panels to 36.05%.

Australian solar panel install statistics

The number of solar installations is set to break the 300,000 mark for the fifth year in a row in 2024. The table below shows Australian solar panel install statistics by calendar year.

Install statistics by state

Queensland leads all other states with 1,058,916 solar panel system installs as at 30th September 2024. However, it’s a slightly different story when we compare the percentage of solar installs per home; South Australia leads narrowly from Queensland with just over half of all households (50.9%) owning a solar system.

2024 Installation figures

Installations are predicted to top over 300,000 in 2024. There is a slight lag between the actual date of installations and the processing of the Small-scale Technology Certificates (STCs) which is recorded in the CER data when STCs are submitted to the Regulator. Even 2023 numbers are likely to increase slightly in future months.

*Small-scale installs include any system under 100kW in size. Predominantly, these are solar panels installed on household rooftops.

The Clean Energy Regulator forecasts a sixth straight year of 300,000+ installs in 2025, before a gradual decline in the following years.

The table below shows future projections for solar panel installs in Australia:

Source: Clean Energy Regulator – STC projections.

Australians are installing larger systems

The average system size installed in Australian homes and small businesses in 2022 was 8.74 kW. Compare this to 2020 when the average system size installed was 7.92 kW. While the figures are skewed slightly higher to account for systems installed on small businesses, the upshot is that homeowners are choosing to put more panels on their roof and opt for a larger solar system.

Australian solar battery install statistics

While the rate of solar units installed remains steady, it’s a different story for battery storage which saw a 22.2% rise in 2023 after recording a whopping 67% rise in installs in 2022.

A total of 26,875, solar panel and battery units (hybrid systems) were installed in 2023, up from 21,993 in 2022.

The table below shows the number of battery installs with solar panels by calendar year:

Battery installs by state

The rate of battery installs per state is much closer than for solar panels. New South Wales leads the way, closely followed by Victoria and South Australia. It’s no coincidence that each of these states has adopted their own rebate program for solar batteries, Victoria’s remains ongoing and New South Wales is about to start.

Greater financial viability leading to increase in adoption

Solar batteries are becoming more financially viable due to the larger discrepancy between electricity costs and feed-in tariffs. Functionality like backup power is also proving to be very popular, as is the want to charge electric vehicles and, an increasing desire for energy independence.

Electrical vehicle uptake is increasing

Australia’s appetite for electric vehicles continues rise. Data prepared by the Electric Vehicle Council shows that 98,436 electric vehicles were sold in 2023 representing 8.45% of all new car sales. In 2022, EVs represented just 3.8% of all new car sales.

While these figures show the growing interest in electric vehicles, Australia has a long way to go catch the ACT, where EVs represented 21.9% of all new car sales.

Electricity production in Australia

Renewable energy continues to contribute an increasing supply of Australia’s electricity needs. In 2023, 34% of Australia’s electricity came from renewable sources, up from 32% in 2022. Solar energy is now the largest source of renewable generation in Australia, in 2023, solar contributed 45% (up from 35% in 2020) of all renewable generation and 15.3% (up from 14%) of total electricity generation.