More than half a million Australian homes have installed a home battery since 1 July 2025, when the Cheaper Home Batteries Program commenced.

The milestone reflects the rapid growth in household battery uptake over the past year, supported by Australian homeowners, installers responding to increased demand and the rollout of the federal program.

Smart Energy Council Premium Member Amber Electric has had a front-row view of this growth through its work with households using automated battery technology.

Below, Amber reflects on the milestone, how Australia’s home battery market has changed since the program began, what the growth means for households and the grid, and what could come next.

What is the Cheaper Home Batteries Program?

The Australian Government’s Cheaper Home Batteries Program began on 1 July 2025 to reduce the upfront cost of installing eligible household and small business battery systems.

Following higher-than-anticipated uptake, the Australian Government increased funding for the program to $7.2 billion and doubled its original 2030 target from one million to two million battery installations.

From steady growth to rapid uptake 

Australia’s residential battery market had been growing steadily before the introduction of the Cheaper Home Batteries Program, but at a considerably slower rate. 

Around 47,100 new residential battery systems were installed in 2022, followed by 57,000 in 2023 and a then-record 72,500 systems in 2024. 

By the end of 2024, just over 320,000 residential batteries had been installed across Australia. 

Despite Australia’s high uptake of rooftop solar, batteries remained comparatively uncommon. Clean Energy Regulator data showed around 10 per cent of new solar installations in 2024 included a battery, while Australian Government figures at the launch of the program showed that around one in three Australian homes had rooftop solar but only one in 40 had a battery. 

What the rebate changed

That picture has changed considerably since July 2025 once the rebate began.

SunWiz reported 221,000 residential batteries were installed during the 2025 calendar year, around 205 per cent higher than the previous year.

More than 457,000 batteries were installed nationally during the program’s first 12 months, with installations subsequently passing the 500,000 milestone. Growth that had taken Australia’s residential battery market years to build was more than doubled within a single year.

What more household batteries mean for the grid 

More batteries in more homes means more opportunities for households to store rooftop solar generated during the day and use it later, including during the evening when electricity demand increases.

Solar generation is abundant during the middle of the day, when many households are using less electricity. A battery allows households to store some of that energy and use it later, rather than drawing as much electricity from the grid during peak periods.

As more households do this, batteries have the potential to reduce pressure on the electricity system during periods of higher evening demand.

It represents a significant shift for household energy. A battery remains a substantial household investment, even with the rebate, but uptake indicates it is moving from a relatively niche addition towards something a growing number of Australian households are choosing, much as rooftop solar did in earlier years.

Many battery owners can reduce their electricity costs by using stored solar during the evening. Amber customers can also use the company’s automated platform to respond to wholesale electricity prices, including exporting stored energy to the grid when prices rise.

The changing energy market is also reflected in wholesale prices. The International Energy Agency’s Electricity Mid-Year Update 2026 found Australia’s wholesale electricity prices fell around 30 per cent year-on-year in the first half of 2026.

The year in batteries

Half a million installations later, the national picture is even bigger than the rebate alone.

When batteries installed before the program are included, Amber estimates roughly one in 14 Australian houses now has a home battery. 

The growth is also notable internationally. Federal Minister for Climate Change and Energy Chris Bowen has highlighted during his National Press Club address that, despite the United States having a population around 12 times larger than Australia’s, Australia installed more home battery capacity in a single year than the US had installed throughout its history.

Some of the strongest growth has come from postcodes across the country.

Minister Bowen marked the 500,000 milestone from Castle Hill in Sydney’s Hills District, which has recorded the highest number of Cheaper Home Batteries installations of any postcode nationally.

It also reflects a broader pattern, with a significant share of installation growth occurring across outer suburbs and growing regional communities rather than city centres.

The Clean Energy Regulator’s most recent published data, current to 30 June 2026, showed New South Wales leading the country, with more than 150,000 installations since the rebate began – roughly one in every three batteries installed nationally – followed by Queensland and Victoria.

Amber sees the shift firsthand

Amber’s own customer base is reflecting the broader growth in household batteries.

Since the rebate launched, Amber says its battery customer base has grown fivefold, while 80 per cent of new customer sign-ups are now battery owners.

Amber’s technology automates home batteries to respond to wholesale electricity prices, helping customers determine when to charge, use stored energy or export electricity to the grid.

The company is also approaching its own milestone of 100,000 customers overall.

What’s next

For the more than half a million households that have installed a battery since 1 July 2025 – as well as Australians who already had one – the growing number of batteries creates opportunities both for individual households and the wider electricity system.

Households can use stored energy to reduce their reliance on the grid during peak periods. Where batteries are capable of exporting or sharing electricity back to the grid, they can also provide additional flexibility to the electricity system.

The 500,000 milestone is also an early marker in the Australian Government’s target of two million batteries by 2030, with the program reaching 25 per cent of that target in just over a year.

As Amber observes, the coming years are likely to see more households adopting batteries, more batteries becoming intelligently managed and greater use of stored rooftop solar across the electricity system.

Find out more

Households considering a battery can find more information about the Australian Government’s Cheaper Home Batteries Program, including eligibility requirements and how the discount works, through the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water.

Those interested in Amber’s approach to household battery management can also explore its battery offering or use its return-on-investment calculator to see what a battery could mean for their household.

Get a personalised quote from Amber

Use Amber’s battery ROI calculator

Amber Electric is a Premium Member of the Smart Energy Council.

Media Contact

Xavier Peña – Marketing Director – Australia : xavier.pena@fox-ess.com

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