22,000 Western Australians Go Solar Battery in Six Months

Western Australia just doubled its home battery installations in half a year, with more than 100 systems going up every single day since July.

The numbers tell a story of rapid change. Over 22,000 households and businesses across the state have added battery storage to their solar panels under the federal Cheaper Home Batteries Program. That's more than 100 installations daily, transforming how families power their homes.

The timing matters because nearly half of Western Australian homes already have rooftop solar. Now they're adding batteries to store that sunshine for evening use, cutting electricity bills and reducing grid strain when everyone gets home from work.

Outer Perth suburbs like Canning, Armadale and Gosnells are leading the charge. Six Western Australian postcodes now rank in the national top 20 for battery adoption, and the state accounts for 12 percent of all federal program installations despite typically representing just 10 percent of Commonwealth programs.

The momentum extends nationwide, with over 190,000 households and small businesses joining the program. About three quarters of those installations are happening in suburban and regional areas, not just wealthy inner city neighborhoods.

The federal government recently expanded the program's funding to $7.2 billion over four years. The new settings aim to support more than 2 million battery installations by 2030, delivering an estimated 40 gigawatt hours of storage capacity—nearly four times the original projection.

The Ripple Effect

This battery boom creates benefits that extend far beyond individual electricity bills. When thousands of homes store solar energy and release it during evening peak demand, the entire grid becomes more stable and efficient.

The stored energy reduces pressure on coal and gas power plants during the hours when electricity is most expensive to produce. That helps lower costs for everyone on the grid, not just battery owners.

Communities are becoming mini power stations, with battery systems potentially connecting into virtual power plants that can support the grid during emergencies. Member for Moore Tom French noted over 1,200 battery installations in his electorate between July and November alone, creating local energy resilience.

The program also accelerates Australia's shift away from fossil fuels without waiting for massive infrastructure projects. Every home battery installed is another step toward cleaner, cheaper, more reliable power for the entire community.

Western Australia's abundant sunshine makes it ideal for solar power, but batteries solve the storage puzzle that kept renewable energy from replacing fossil fuels around the clock. Now families are proving the technology works at scale, creating a model other regions can follow toward energy independence and climate action.