Household solar boom back on track after severe weather and supply disruptions lead to 14% drop in capacity

Rising global PV demand, particularly as nations scramble to find alternatives to Russian energy after its invasion of Ukraine could also nudge solar panel prices higher in the near term, she said.

The average size of household PV systems continued to creep higher, topping 7.5kW, Green Energy Markets said.

The managing director of industry analysis group SunWiz, Warwick Johnston, said battery sales to households likely topped 43,000 units last year.

The battery uptake for households continues to rise, allowing the sector to grow even as the number of new systems fell about a fifth in 2021.

The increased uptake came even though prices of batteries trended higher in 2022 in part because of demand for lithium to power the expanded fleets of EVs entering global markets.

Payback periods for PV systems alone average out at five to six years, while adding storage typically doubles that. But for sun-blessed South Australia the payback period is under seven years for combined systems.

Similarly, the widening gap between what households pay for power they get from the grid compared with what they receive for exporting surplus electricity is adding to the appeal of storage.

McLean said governments should subsidise batteries as their greater use also helps avoid costly network investments.