Final week was an enormous one for these of us serving to Australians purchase and set up rooftop PV, photo voltaic batteries, and good power techniques of their properties after a comparatively new occasion rolled into city. Sydney performed host to Vitality Subsequent and it was evident from the customer numbers, which have been larger on the primary day than over the entire occasion final yr, that there was loads of curiosity within the matters!
Each trade bigwigs, and plenty of home- and business-owners have been current, exhibiting simply how eager persons are to study not solely all issues photo voltaic, but additionally concerning the want for totally electrified properties.
At Vitality Subsequent, Warwick Johnston, director of market intelligence and consulting agency SunWiz, supplied an replace on Australia’s rooftop photo voltaic and residential battery market in Australia. He’s been lively on the Aussie photo voltaic scene since its early days and was a keynote speaker on the occasion.
Along with discussing the photo voltaic and storage markets, Johnston additionally supplied some predictions for the long run. One of many key developments he sees is that to allow a residential market transitioning to electrification – with the addition of supporting expertise like storage, electrical automobile (EV) charging, and warmth pumps – rooftop photo voltaic system sizes are starting to extend markedly from the times when 6.6 kW was the usual.
As an alternative, the analyst and advisor stated that to supply the ability obtainable for a house to pursue the purpose of electrifying every thing, system sizes of extra like 26.6 kW shall be wanted. That’s plenty of photo voltaic to suit onto the roof, however most Australian properties have the area, notably in the event that they use excessive effectivity PV panels and gear.
Booming demand
That Aussie dwelling photo voltaic and battery techniques are getting greater can also be backed up by new market information. This data was printed in a Guardian article from a few weeks in the past that quoted Tristan Edis, the director of study and advisory at Inexperienced Vitality Markets.
Edis famous that of the brand new PV techniques being bought in Australia this yr, many purchasers are opting to interchange their smaller current techniques with bigger ones as they search to make the most of reducing costs and the truth that every panel can produce way more energy.
“No brainer”
Moreover, on the again of the extensively reported hovering electrical energy costs, Edis stated demand for rooftop photo voltaic techniques from Aussie owners and small companies is selecting up, with roughly 1.46 GW of latest techniques added to residential properties and companies within the first half of 2023. June specifically witnessed stellar development, with 13.2% extra installations recorded than the earlier yr, at 250 MW, he stated.
You’ll be able to take a look at the set up numbers within the chart above, with the orange line exhibiting the 2023 installations. It’s possible it is going to head upwards for the rest of the yr.
Given one other enhance in electrical energy costs of as much as 25% this month, Edis stated he’s assured that 2023 will see the three.2 GW rooftop set up file achieved in 2021 overwhelmed.
“It’s monitoring on the second highest it’s ever been,” Edis informed the Guardian. “I believe it’s going to proceed to be a strong yr when it comes to gross sales due to energy costs … and by the top of the yr, [new capacity] might be going to be much like what it was in 2021.”
Act now!
For many who have been contemplating putting in a rooftop photo voltaic system to counter hovering prices, now’s the time to behave, in response to client advocacy group CHOICE. Certainly, given the excessive electrical energy costs and improved payback occasions on photo voltaic techniques of 4 to 5 years, CHOICE says that “there’s by no means been a greater time to make the leap.”
Primarily based on a 6.6 kW system that self-generates 35% of a family of 5’s complete power consumption, photo voltaic professional Chris Barnes stated that quarterly funds might be beneath $100 {dollars} in comparison with a whole bunch of {dollars}.
“What you get on your greenback is usually superior to what you’d have purchased a number of years in the past,” he stated. “The photo voltaic payback interval is how lengthy it takes on your photo voltaic panel system to pay for itself from the financial savings in your decreased electrical energy payments.”
Total, CHOICE discovered that payback durations in capital cities might drop by a mean of 10%, and by as much as 30% in some regional areas.
Barnes added that no matter the place you reside, “The earlier you get panels on the roof, the earlier you begin saving cash. It’s typically stated that one of the best time to get photo voltaic was a yr in the past, and the subsequent finest time is now.”
Driving pressure
As Vitality Subsequent occasion attendees additionally heard, a key element of rising the photo voltaic trade, and electrification, are EVs. And, whereas there’s nonetheless a option to go within the Australian market, with challenges to beat, together with constructing client confidence, decreasing present excessive automobile costs, and putting in ample charging infrastructure, there’s a enormous alternative within the nation to drive this trade ahead.
This sentiment was underscored by a current report launched by Schneider Electrical, which acknowledged that 1% of companies have expressed a want to affect their fleet. And I’m assured that quantity goes to shoot up.
That is excellent news for residential photo voltaic, given the alternatives such a fleet presents for it to make the most of the power generated when the EVs aren’t in use. As occasion panelist Brett Milne, Managing Director and Founder, Karit, identified when addressing issues round grid stability and cargo administration, digital energy vegetation are a key resolution.
“There are plenty of completely different definitions of a digital energy plant however one of many most important advantages is the flexibility to share from one aspect to a different. We’re seeing this getting used on fairly a big scale, with factories, wineries and residential dwellings connecting and sharing,” he stated.
Batteries child
Inevitably, when putting in PV techniques, and shifting in direction of 100% electrification, power storage can also be a key element.
Based on the 2023 Australian Battery Market Report by SunWiz – Warwick Johnston’s outfit – Australia’s dwelling power storage system market grew “considerably” in 2022 throughout all states and territories. The annual enhance was a whopping 55%, reaching a complete of 589 MWh of dwelling power storage.
What’s extra, techniques mixed with PV grew from 8% in 2021, and even surpassed 2017’s file of 12%, to achieve 15% in 2022, thus bringing cumulative capability to 180,000 properties in Australia, or 1,920 MWh.
We will’t overlook about good power administration techniques both. As we at Pure Photo voltaic highlighted final October: “For the efficient decarbonisation of Australian properties, photo voltaic power can even have for use effectively within the dwelling and in an elevated variety of methods. Fossil-fuel utilizing heaters, cooktops, and automobiles have to be electrified, and the powering of those with rooftop photo voltaic is just not solely accomplished finest with a house battery, but additionally with a sensible power administration system.”
These techniques mark a transition from pure residential photo voltaic 1.0 to a sensible power home based business 2.0.
An integral a part of that is our good power controller, the Heartbeat, which helps properties take most benefit of their full electrification potential. As I wrote on the time, with a right-sized residential photo voltaic and battery system coupled to the Heartbeat, we’ve seen some properties save 120% on their electrical energy invoice.
However beware!
Whereas CHOICE is advocating for customers to put in clear power techniques now, it does warn concerning the risks of client exploitation by “shark” corporations that aren’t adequately certified.
“Don’t fall for traditional traps similar to ‘restricted time affords’, and get the complete specs of the photo voltaic system in writing earlier than signing up, to keep away from the supplier substituting various manufacturers on the final minute,” suggested Barnes. As an alternative, go for a certified and pre-vetted photo voltaic installer that additionally affords trusted and established gear manufacturers.
With a confirmed background that features being an Accepted Provider of the NSW Empowering Houses Program – the purpose is to ship photo voltaic batteries to as much as 300,000 NSW properties throughout the subsequent 10 years – and with “unicorn” 1KOMMA5° backing us up, Pure Photo voltaic has demonstrated it’s Australia’s main installer of photo voltaic batteries, and may be relied upon to go the space.
