Final week was a giant one for these of us serving to Australians purchase and set up rooftop PV, photo voltaic batteries, and sensible vitality methods 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 had been greater on the primary day than over the entire occasion final 12 months, that there was loads of curiosity within the subjects!
Each trade bigwigs, and plenty of home- and business-owners had been current, displaying simply how eager persons are to find out about not solely all issues photo voltaic, but in addition in regards to the want for totally electrified properties.
At Vitality Subsequent, Warwick Johnston, director of market intelligence and consulting agency SunWiz, offered 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 offered some predictions for the long run. One of many key tendencies he sees is that to allow a residential market transitioning to electrification – with the addition of supporting know-how 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 facility obtainable for a house to pursue the objective of electrifying all the things, system sizes of extra like 26.6 kW will probably be wanted. That’s numerous photo voltaic to suit onto the roof, however most Australian properties have the house, significantly in the event that they use excessive effectivity PV panels and tools.
Booming demand
That Aussie house photo voltaic and battery methods are getting greater can be backed up by new market information. This data was revealed in a Guardian article from a few weeks in the past that quoted Tristan Edis, the director of research and advisory at Inexperienced Vitality Markets.
Edis famous that of the brand new PV methods being bought in Australia this 12 months, many purchasers are opting to exchange their smaller present methods with bigger ones as they search to make the most of reducing costs and the truth that every panel can produce rather more energy.
“No brainer”
Moreover, on the again of the extensively reported hovering electrical energy costs, Edis stated demand for rooftop photo voltaic methods from Aussie owners and small companies is selecting up, with roughly 1.46 GW of recent methods added to residential properties and companies within the first half of 2023. June particularly witnessed stellar progress, with 13.2% extra installations recorded than the earlier 12 months, at 250 MW, he stated.
You’ll be able to try the set up numbers within the chart above, with the orange line displaying the 2023 installations. It’s probably it is going to head upwards for the rest of the 12 months.
Given one other improve 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 report achieved in 2021 crushed.
“It’s monitoring on the second highest it’s ever been,” Edis informed the Guardian. “I feel it’s going to proceed to be a sturdy 12 months when it comes to gross sales due to energy costs … and by the top of the 12 months, [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 could be the time to behave, in accordance with client advocacy group CHOICE. Certainly, given the excessive electrical energy costs and improved payback occasions on photo voltaic methods of 4 to 5 years, CHOICE says that “there’s by no means been a greater time to make the leap.”
Based mostly on a 6.6 kW system that self-generates 35% of a family of 5’s whole vitality consumption, photo voltaic skilled Chris Barnes stated that quarterly funds could possibly be beneath $100 {dollars} in comparison with a whole bunch of {dollars}.
“What you get to your greenback is mostly 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 to your photo voltaic panel system to pay for itself from the financial savings in your decreased electrical energy payments.”
General, 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 the most effective time to get photo voltaic was a 12 months in the past, and the following greatest 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 may be nonetheless a strategy to go within the Australian market, with challenges to beat, together with constructing client confidence, lowering present excessive automobile costs, and putting in ample charging infrastructure, there’s a large alternative within the nation to drive this trade ahead.
This sentiment was underscored by a current report launched by Schneider Electrical, which said that 1% of companies have expressed a need 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 vitality generated when the EVs aren’t in use. As occasion panelist Brett Milne, Managing Director and Founder, Karit, identified when addressing considerations round grid stability and cargo administration, digital energy crops are a key resolution.
“There are numerous completely different definitions of a digital energy plant however one of many predominant advantages is the power 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 methods, and shifting in direction of 100% electrification, vitality storage can be a key element.
In line with the 2023 Australian Battery Market Report by SunWiz – Warwick Johnston’s outfit – Australia’s house vitality storage system market grew “considerably” in 2022 throughout all states and territories. The annual improve was a whopping 55%, reaching a complete of 589 MWh of house vitality storage.
What’s extra, methods mixed with PV grew from 8% in 2021, and even surpassed 2017’s report of 12%, to achieve 15% in 2022, thus bringing cumulative capability to 180,000 properties in Australia, or 1,920 MWh.
We are able to’t overlook about sensible vitality administration methods both. As we at Pure Photo voltaic highlighted final October: “For the efficient decarbonisation of Australian properties, photo voltaic vitality may even have for use effectively within the house and in an elevated variety of methods. Fossil-fuel utilizing heaters, cooktops, and vehicles have to be electrified, and the powering of those with rooftop photo voltaic isn’t solely achieved greatest with a house battery, but in addition with a sensible vitality administration system.”
These methods mark a transition from pure residential photo voltaic 1.0 to a sensible vitality home based business 2.0.
An integral a part of that is our sensible vitality 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 vitality methods now, it does warn in regards to the risks of client exploitation by “shark” corporations that aren’t adequately certified.
“Don’t fall for traditional traps equivalent to ‘restricted time presents’, and get the total specs of the photo voltaic system in writing earlier than signing up, to keep away from the supplier substituting different manufacturers on the final minute,” suggested Barnes. As an alternative, go for a professional and pre-vetted photo voltaic installer that additionally presents trusted and established tools manufacturers.
With a confirmed background that features being an Permitted Provider of the NSW Empowering Houses Program – the objective is to ship photo voltaic batteries to as much as 300,000 NSW properties throughout the following 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 will be relied upon to go the space.
