Nine In Ten Queensland Solar Homes Now Buy A Battery, And They’re Twice The Size They Were Two Years Ago

QVolt Rooftop Report 2026: the battery went from optional extra to default in a single month, and almost half of this year’s jobs are batteries bolted onto roofs that already have solar

By Julius Ewudo, Cyber Era NG ASEAN Region Representative

Ninety-three per cent of home solar installs carried out by Queensland installer QVolt Solar in 2026 include a battery, up from 63 per cent in 2025 and just 14 per cent in 2024, according to the inaugural QVolt Rooftop Report just released.

The report, built from QVolt internal data across 57 council areas in Queensland and northern New South Wales, shows the switch happened almost overnight: 54 per cent of installs included a battery in June 2025, and 92 per cent in July 2025, the first month of the federal Cheaper Home Batteries Programme.

The rate has stayed above 87 per cent every month since.

“For years a battery was a nice-to-have on roughly one install in ten. Then in July 2025 it became the default, and it hasn’t looked back,” said Managing Director of QVolt Solar Daniel Quinn.

“Families aren’t asking us whether they should get a battery any more. They’re asking how big.”

The average battery QVolt fitted in 2026 holds 23.1 kWh of usable storage, roughly double the 11.4 kWh average of 2024. Fifty-seven per cent of this year’s batteries are 20 kWh or larger.

Households are also paying less for each unit of storage. The out-of-pocket cost per usable kilowatt-hour, after federal and state rebates and including installation, is 30% lower than in 2023.

“Cheaper cells, bigger units and the federal discount have all landed at once,” Quinn said. “A 20 kWh battery used to be something you’d see on a big rural property. Now it’s a normal choice in Ormeau or Narangba.”

The report also shows a shift in who is buying. In 2024, 66 per cent of QVolt jobs were a home’s first solar system. In 2026, 76 per cent of jobs are at homes that already had solar.

Forty-four per cent of all 2026 jobs are a battery added to an existing system, up from 35 per cent in 2025 and 6 per cent in 2024. Many of the remaining jobs replace small early-2010s arrays.

“There’s a huge base of Queensland roofs that went solar a decade ago and are now exporting most of their power for a few cents,” Quinn said. “A battery lets them keep that energy for the evening, and that’s where most calls are coming from.”

Panels have grown from an average of 438 W in 2024 to 475 W in 2026, so a typical system now uses 19 panels instead of 23 for similar output.

Even homes that skip a battery are preparing for one: 96 per cent of new systems use a battery-ready hybrid inverter, up from 80 per cent in 2024. Meanwhile the hot-water timer, fitted on 52 per cent of jobs in 2023, now appears on just 4 per cent, as batteries take over the job of soaking up daytime solar.

The first EV chargers are also appearing in the mix, bundled into 1.7 per cent of 2026 installs after being effectively absent in every previous year.

• 93 per cent of 2026 home installs include a battery (63% in 2025, 14% in 2024)

• One month: battery share jumped from 54 per cent in June 2025 to 92 per cent in July 2025, when the Cheaper Home Batteries Programme began

• 23.1 kWh average battery in 2026, double the 11.4 kWh of 2024; 57 per cent of this year’s batteries are 20 kWh or larger

• 44 per cent of 2026 jobs add a battery to an existing solar system (35 per cent in 2025, 6 per cent in 2024)

• 76 per cent of 2026 jobs are at homes that already had solar

• 88 per cent of new solar systems in 2026 were sold with a battery from day one (42% in 2025, 9% in 2024)

• 475 W average panel in 2026 (438 W in 2024): 19 panels per system instead of 23

• 96 per cent of new systems use a battery-ready hybrid inverter (80% in 2024)

• 30 per cent lower household cost per kWh of storage, after rebates, than in 2023

• July is the busiest month for installs (23% above average) and June the quietest

Toowoomba leads battery take-up, with 91 per cent of installs there in 2025–26 including a battery, followed by Somerset (82%), Brisbane City and Moreton Bay (both 81%) and Ipswich (80%). Bayside and coastal councils trail slightly, partly because more of their jobs are smaller system replacements.

Gold Coast City accounts for the largest share of installs (22.9%), followed by Brisbane City (15.6%), Moreton Bay (13.8%) and Logan (13.6%). The busiest suburbs in 2026 are Ormeau, Morayfield, Narangba, Pimpama and Flagstone, with the growth corridors between Brisbane and the Gold Coast and north to Caboolture dominating the list.

The report’s online suburb explorer lets readers look up 275 suburbs by name or postcode to see average system size, battery take-up and battery size.

A leading indicator for the national market

QVolt’s figures point the same way as national data. The Clean Energy Council reports a record 276,011 home batteries were installed across Australia in the first half of 2026, and that 153 batteries were installed for every 100 rooftop solar systems in that period. AEMO’s 2026 Integrated System Plan forecasts that two-thirds of solar homes will have a battery by 2050.

“National numbers tell you how many megawatts went onto the grid. They don’t tell you what a family decides at the kitchen table when a quote lands,” Quinn said. “On our roofs, the battery is already standard on nine installs in ten. That’s where the rest of the country is heading.”

Figures are published as shares, averages and indices; install volumes and prices are not disclosed. The sample is weighted to south-east Queensland and NSW figures are indicative.