Australia’s Rooftop Solar and Battery Installations Are Surging Despite Broader Lag in Renewables
(Bloomberg) -- Australia is on track to overshoot its 2030 rooftop solar targets, with enthusiasm for panels and batteries offsetting drops in broader renewable investment and large projects.
About 27 gigawatts of rooftop solar had been installed by homes and small businesses by end-June, the Clean Energy Council said in a report. That is set to rise to 37.2 gigawatts by the middle of 2030, beating the nation’s target by more than 4%, the renewable energy advocacy group said.
Australia’s roughly 11 million households have the world’s highest level of solar installations, helping to drive the nation’s transition away from its aging fleet of coal-fired power generators. The government is eager to tap that enthusiasm as it seeks to meet an ambitious target to more than double renewable generation by 2030, and in July launched a program to cut upfront costs of home batteries.
Residential battery sales almost tripled in the first half of 2025 from a year earlier in the lead up to the program, the CEFC said. Meanwhile, about 1.1 gigawatts of rooftop solar was installed, surpassing the 1 gigawatt of commissioned large-scale renewable energy projects.
A weak grid, limited interconnector capacity between states and the slow rollout of key transmission projects pose big risks for new large renewable energy developments, according to BloombergNEF, which forecasts Australia won’t meet its goal for renewables to supply 82% of electricity until 2036. Many flagship emissions-reduction projects — including green hydrogen and offshore wind — have faced setbacks.
©2025 Bloomberg L.P.
