Households rush to claim new federal subsidy as battery capacity surges across the country
Australian households have responded swiftly and enthusiastically to the new Cheaper Home Batteries subsidy, which came into effect nationwide on 1 July 2025.
In just the first month of the scheme, over 19,000 home battery systems were registered for subsidy support. At this pace, Australia is on track to see more than 220,000 installations over the next 12 months — triple the number recorded in 2024, when 72,500 battery systems were installed.
Not only are more batteries being installed, but they’re also significantly larger in capacity. The average battery size jumped from 10–12kWh in previous years to 17kWh in July, resulting in 300 megawatt-hours (MWh) of new energy storage capacity added in a single month — equivalent to 10% of the entire existing installed base of home batteries.
“Uptake has been incredibly strong in the first month of the Cheaper Home Batteries Program,” said Warwick Johnston, Managing Director of market analytics firm SunWiz.
“In just one week, Australians installed more battery capacity than in the entire first two months of 2024.”
Over 115MWh of battery capacity was registered during the week commencing 21 July — an astonishing figure compared to the 852MWh installed over all of 2024, most of which came in the second half of the year.
Johnston attributes the trend toward larger battery systems to strategic consumer behaviour.
“Many households recognise this may be a one-time opportunity to access a significant subsidy, and they’re using it to invest in larger batteries,” he said.
“Thanks to economies of scale, larger systems offer better value per kilowatt-hour, so the subsidy is having a strong multiplier effect.”
The most commonly installed system sizes in July were 13kWh, 19kWh, 9kWh, and 15kWh.
State-by-State Breakdown
New South Wales led the nation in July battery capacity, accounting for 38% of all registered storage. Queensland followed with 23%, then South Australia with 15%. Victoria, typically a solar leader, lagged behind at 13%.
In fact, South Australia saw the highest storage-to-solar ratio in the country, with 150 battery installations for every 100 new PV systems in July — highlighting the state’s continued leadership in energy resilience and self-sufficiency.
Registrations Peak and Stabilise
The month began with slow certificate registrations as the industry adapted to new paperwork requirements. However, activity ramped up quickly as a backlog of pre-installed batteries — commissioned after 1 July — began flowing through the system.
Registrations peaked at 1,400 in a single day, before stabilising to around 1,000 per day by the end of July. SunWiz expects this level to remain steady over the coming months, with further growth dependent on new stock arrivals and expanded installer training.
Retrofitting Surges Ahead of New Solar Installs
The initial wave of subsidy uptake has primarily come from existing solar households retrofitting batteries. For much of July’s second half, battery registrations outnumbered solar PV registrations on a daily basis.
Across the month, there were 72 batteries installed for every 100 new PV systems. But in the week of 15–21 July, that ratio surged to 137 batteries per 100 PV installs, reflecting a temporary but powerful flip in market dynamics.
