As Australia’s solar transition deepens, the narrative has increasingly shifted from just rooftop PV panels to solar-plus-battery storage systems. Recent federal incentive programs, coupled with rising energy costs and grid limitations, have resulted in an unprecedented uptick in residential and commercial battery installations. By April 2026, solar battery installations are poised to accelerate even further, creating a major growth window for installers, retailers, and solar EPC businesses. This blog explores the drivers behind the battery surge, what this means for the Australian solar market, and how Eclipse360 can help solar businesses manage these new lead and operations opportunities.

The Battery Inflection Point: More Than a Trend

Australia’s rooftop solar market, at over 26.8 GW of installed capacity, has laid the foundation for a rapid uptake in energy storage systems - particularly batteries - in 2025 and beyond.

But the game has changed materially in 2025 with the introduction of the Cheaper Home Batteries Program, a federal initiative offering upfront discounts of roughly 30% off the total cost of solar battery installations. Early data shows nearly 43,500 battery installations in just two months (July–August 2025), equating to 825 MWh of capacity delivered under the program alone.

The scale of this uptake is staggering. For context, solar batteries accounted for roughly 27.4% of new PV system pairings in late 2024 - and that was before the rebate. This sector is now reaching the kind of demand we saw years earlier with rooftop solar itself.

Why Batteries Are Taking Off Now

There are several strong market drivers:

1. Economic Reality Meets Policy

Households are experiencing continual electricity price rises and falling solar feed-in tariffs, which has reshaped the economics of solar generation. With reduced compensation from exporting solar power to the grid, storing that power becomes more financially attractive.

Battery payback periods that once stretched to eight years are now compressing closer to 5–7 years thanks to subsidies and lower hardware costs. This is producing a new narrative for solar buyers: batteries aren’t just optional add-ons, they are smart financial investments.

2. Policy Design That Actually Moves the Needle

The federal rebate program is striking because it doesn’t just incentivize installation - it transforms the market structure. According to emerging policy analysis, the energy storage program not only supports homeowners and small businesses but also encourages the adoption of battery systems that can participate in Virtual Power Plants (VPPs) and grid-stability markets.

This has contributed to a rapid renormalization of storage: unlike in previous years, where only early-adopter households pursued batteries, now many of those 4+ million Australian PV owners are actively upgrading to batteries.

3. Retrofit Dominates New Adoption

Data from SunWiz shows that a growing share of batteries being installed are retrofits to existing solar systems. While new solar installs still matter, the rapid pace of retrofit battery adoption is heralding what analysts call the second wave of solar market expansion.

This has massive implications for service providers: instead of just selling new solar installations, businesses are now selling upgrade paths, add-on storage, and long-term service relationships.

State-by-State Dynamics

Battery uptake isn’t uniform across Australia. NSW is leading in sheer volumes, followed by Queensland, Victoria, and South Australia.

Interestingly, the Northern Territory and Tasmania, while smaller markets, have seen large average system sizes - indicating that some regional markets are prioritizing high-capacity storage for off-grid and remote applications.

Commercial & Grid-Scale Storage Matters Too

Large utility battery energy storage systems (BESS) are also helping define the future. Australia now ranks as the third-largest market globally for utility-scale battery storage by per-capita capacity, a testament to both private investment and government revenue support schemes.

While residential batteries are where most installers will find volume opportunities today, the growth of grid-scale storage validates long-term storage demand and reinforces the need for businesses to understand both retail and utility storage dynamics.

What This Means for Solar Businesses

The massive uptick in battery adoption creates several key opportunities:

1. Increased Lead Opportunities

Customers who already have solar are now seeking batteries as retrofits, not just as part of new installations. This significantly expands the addressable market.

2. More Complex Sales Processes

Battery systems are not “plug and play.” They require:

• Accurate energy modelling

• Custom system sizing

• Financial justification

• Grid export coordination

This complexity increases the value of consultative selling, which means solar businesses that can manage leads effectively and track complex sales pipelines will win.

Operational Pressure Points

With demand surging, installation backlogs, skilled labour shortages, and product lead times are rising.

Some installers are already reporting wait times of 3+ months for battery installs - and a portion of the workforce is still not accredited for battery work.

This is where effective CRM, lead management, and project tracking tools like Eclipse360 help organize opportunities, qualification steps, and scheduling, especially as teams scale.

The Path Forward

Solar storage is no longer a niche: it’s a core driver of renewable energy economics in Australia in 2026. Installers who lean into training, battery design expertise, and digital workflow management will capture the lion’s share of the wave.

This means:

• Upskilling sales teams for battery consults

• Integrating battery workflows into operations

• Using tools designed for solar-plus-storage sales cycles

• Segmenting leads by retrofit vs new install

Conclusion

The solar battery market in Australia is in a phase shift. Federal policy, economics, and grid realities are converging to produce one of the largest growth windows in the country’s renewable energy story - one that eclipses rooftop solar alone.

For solar businesses, success in 2026 and beyond will depend on how well they manage leads, sales, and operations for these increasingly complex systems.

And with demand scaling fast - thousands of battery installs per week - tools like Eclipse360 help organisations turn this opportunity into real growth.